Theoretical approaches to the effectiveness of International Climate Agreements

Despite the fact that several treaties were adopted in order to protect the Earth”™s climate, there have been lots of critiques on the effectiveness of these instruments. The key point in that is the determination of effectiveness. The effectiveness of climate agreement is understood as getting some social outcomes, and it is to be assessed through the analysis of the results achieved after the adoption, especially it concerns the main objective of the act. However, using solely this approach the existing international treaties regulating the climate change issues can hardly be considered as effective.Meanwhile, this approach may not be the adequate way to address a problem as complex as global warming. The multifaceted nature of the problem of climate change seems to require a reassessment of the notion of effectiveness (Schiele,2014; 11). In this regard, several criteria need to be taken into account. Firstly, it is a broad participation (especially, of the world”™s biggest GHG emitters) achieved by different means from the form of agreement to flexibility mechanisms. Secondly, to make a real difference for curbing climate change the agreement must reflect high ambitions and commitment to deep emissions reductions (Bang;2016, 210). Thirdly, the agreement must contain well-developed financing and capacity-building clauses. Finally, the agreement must achieve high compliance rates. Moreover, all of these requirements (not just one or two) are to be fulfilled to ensure effectiveness.