INSTITUTIONS FOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL-CHANGE

The forthcoming Kyoto Protocol will make an interesting comparison wit h the Montreal Protocol in some ten years time. Doubtless many Ph. D. theses will be produced on the basis of that tantalizing prospect. The Montreal Protocol was always designed to be self-implementing and it is probably unwise to draw too many lessons for the future of global e nvironmental diplomacy. The stock of ozone-depleting chemicals was tec hnically discoverable and calculable, and substitutes were for the mos t part already present or on offer. Global corporations could see a lu crative future in creating less depleting agents, and in designing the technology to guarantee their consumption. At least the Protocol has created a modest success in international regime design as Robert Falk ner shows in the article that follows. By making side-payments through an international ozone fund to encourage reluctant parties to partici pate, the industrialized country Parties have successfully expanded th e membership of the regime and addressed the thorny questions of justi ce and historical responsibility. But continued ozone depletion will o verreach the coming century, black markets will continue to flourish a nd the Northern economies will generate additional profits from less t han perfect solution. is this what sustainable development is supposed to be about? Copyright (C) 1998. All rights reserved.