The climate change negotiations: the case for differentiation

The major elements of the climate change negotiations since the negotiation in 1995 of the Berlin Mandate to the Framework Convention on Climate Change are outlined and background on the greenhouse effect is provided in this article. It is shown that the same uniform emission reduction target for all countries is inefficient and that such targets would not lead to an equal sharing of the economic burden of achieving a given commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is concluded that the negotiation of differentiated targets can help to solve this problem.