From Kyoto to Durban: The Fits and Starts of Global Climate Change Negotiations

The 2011 outcomes from the UN’s annual climate change meetings have again been met with both cautious optimism and charges that the process shows few signs of effectively addressing global climate challenges. The 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban, South Africa, saw this dichotomy take on amplified relevance in the shadow of an expiring Kyoto Protocol. This NTS Insight takes this as an opportunity to review some of the fundamental structures that define climate change mitigation efforts at the international level, and to illuminate some of the primary points of contention that have dogged international negotiations from their inception. It argues that, while the COP17 did take steps to address some important foundational fracture points, the divisions that have long defined climate change diplomacy will not dissipate quickly. Policymakers would do well to consider this likelihood when accounting for the trajectory of future climatic changes.