We are a step closer to an international agreement on climate change issues

There has been a move from imposed levels on climate change emissions to a system of self regulation, writes Oliver Geden.

THE diplomatic effort to forge an international agreement to mitigate climate change is undergoing a fundamental shift. The top-down approach that has guided the effort since 1992 is slowly being replaced by a bottom-up model.

Rather than attempting to craft an accord based on legally binding restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions, the new approach relies on voluntary commitments by individual countries to rein in their contributions to climate change. This is, in one sense, an admission of failure; such an approach is unlikely to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2C, the target set by the United Nations in 2010.