Climate changes, due to global warming by anthropogenic emissions of greenh
ouse gases in a higher rate than their natural remotion from the atmosphere
, ask for adopting effective policies to mitigate those emissions. An impor
tant aspect about the future of such policies must be increasing the mitiga
tion action cost effectiveness. In these lines, the object of this article
is to identify environment policy instruments applied in the international
level, which may grant a reference to improve local environmental policies
in developing countries. Advantages and disadvantages of applying those ins
truments in some countries are analyzed and some mechanisms and instruments
applicable in those realities are discussed.