International Climate Change Law and State Compliance

Alexander Zahar is Senior Lecturer at Macquarie Law School, Macquarie University, Australia, where he teaches climate change and environmental law. His research interests include the impact of international climate finance in Southeast Asia.

"Among the burgeoning legal literature on climate change issues, this book stands out—not only for its sober analysis of state compliance with the proclaimed basic multilateral commitments (perceived as ‘mitigation’ and ‘accountability’ rules), but especially for its critical long-term vision of an emergent ‘individualized’ international law of the atmosphere." –Peter H. Sand, University of Munich, Germany"Much has been written about existing and proposed international climate agreements, but much less about whether what we have is actually working. Alexander Zahar’s book fills an important gap. It probes the inconsistent compliance with the obligations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change and related agreements, it explores the usually feeble consequences of noncompliance, and it provides the lessons we should learn from this experience. This work will be invaluable to those working with the existing laws and those trying to craft better ones." –Michael B. Gerrard, Columbia University, USA"Compliance is a critical and often neglected part of the global climate regime. This book’s most unique contribution is that it looks beyond individual emission reduction commitments and reporting obligations to consider a more complete range of individual and collective commitments under the existing climate regime to better understand the compliance challenge. This alone makes it essential reading for anyone interested in compliance with international environmental law." –Meinhard Doelle, Dalhousie University, Canada"Compliance is the elephant in the room in international climate law. This book offers a careful and timely analysis of why and when states choose (or not) to comply with international climate rules." –Christina Voigt, University of Oslo, Norway"A must for understanding the normative content of climate law. While providing a thorough analysis of procedural and substantive obligations imposed on states under the climate change legal regime, it sheds a new light on the interplay between individual and collective state compliance obligations." –Massimiliano Montini, University of Siena, Italy

• 1. Law, Compliance and the Climate Change Regime 2. State Compliance with Rules on National Reporting and Assessment 3. Facilitation and Enforcement of Rules Through the Kyoto Protocol's Compliance Committee 4. State Compliance with Emission-Limitation Obligations 5. Financial Support for Mitigation Actions in Developing Countries 6. Climate Law and 'Optional' Mitigation Mechanisms 7. Compliance Lessons from the Climate Change Regime