International environmental governance : a case for increased regulation in the carbon markets

Includes bibliographical references.International consensus exists in that any route towards re-writing past wrongs in environmental governance must include a mechanism for internalizing the social costs of emissions by the major polluters - mainly energy intensive industries and utilities companies, providing heightened financial motivation to adopt cleaner modes of production. It is widely agreed upon that to do so value must be attached to emissions reductions, and with the Kyoto Protocol one such mechanism has been established. At the forefront of Kyoto is an economic quantity instrument known in the carbon markets as 'cap and trade'. The central question[s] in this research paper [are:] Are carbon trading and emissions offsetting feasible in the context of international environmental governance? What are the obstacles posed by the carbon cap and trade system in a free-market