8 Climate Governance beyond the United Nations Climate Regime

Subject(s):

Responsibility of non-state actors — Climate change — Environmental disputes — Responsibility of states

This chapter examines the four central features of climate change governance outside of the FCCC. First, it is multi-level: it operates through institutions at different geographic scales, ranging from global to regional to national to sub-national. Second, it is multi-actor, involving both public and private institutions, including states, sub-national governments, international organizations, environmental and other civil society organizations, and business. Third, it involves different degrees of legalization, from ‘hard law’ rules set forth in treaties such as the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, to ‘soft law’ norms such as the ‘gold standard’ for carbon credits or the ‘carbonneutral protocol’. Finally, it is polycentric, in that there is no central, organizing authority.