From Marrakesh to Glasgow: Looking Backwards to Move Forward on Emissions Trading

The Paris Rulebook – nearly complete, but with the ―markets‖ text tied to article 6 of the Paris Agreement unadopted after nearly three years – invites comparison with a similar effort under the Kyoto Protocol, the Marrakesh Accords. An in-depth analysis of the negotiating history as well as the text of both instruments yields trenchant and perhaps unexpected conclusions. This Article employs a comparison between the Paris Rulebook and the prior Marrakesh Accords implementing the Kyoto Protocol as a vehicle for further exploring the similarities and differences in regulatory design between the two sub-regimes, and their implications for sustainability and climate integrity. The piece then offers conclusions about the fundamentally different purpose of the ―markets‖ text of the Paris Rulebook by comparison to its Kyoto/Marrakesh precursor