Jolene Lin, Joanne Scott

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 5 (2011), Issue 1, Page 1 - 2

Climate change governance is an emerging, multi-faceted issue area. What is fascinating for scholars working in this area is the emergence of new sites of governance at different levels and in different forums. We find climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives at the city, provincial, regional and international levels. Informal policy and research networks transverse the globe. Apart from the realm of “hard law”, “soft law” abounds in climate governance.

Jolene Lin

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 5 (2011), Issue 1, Page 34 - 43

The promotion of biofuels as a fossil fuel alternative has been a significant aspect of the global quest for solutions to mitigate climate change. However, the quick-fix has proven to be problematic as food security and environmental concerns emerge. To address these concerns, the European Union (EU) Renewable Energy Directive contains sustainability criteria that biofuels must fulfill in order to be counted towards attainment of EU or national renewable energy obligations, or to be eligible for financial support. The European Commission (EC) has adopted the meta-standard approach as the compliance mechanism. The meta-standard approach relies heavily on voluntary certification schemes and is an example of regulatory out-sourcing to private actors in European clean development governance. This paper critically examines the limitations of the meta-standard approach, draws comparisons with the Clean Development Mechanism, and highlights some of the fundamental structural issues that may contribute to agents (the certification schemes) acting in rent-seeking ways to the detriment of the principal (the EC).

Joanne Scott, Jolene Lin

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 5 (2011), Issue 2, Page 133 - 135

This is the second special issue of the Carbon and Climate Law Review containing papers presented at a conference on “Climate Change Governance after Copenhagen”, held in Hong Kong in November 2010. The conference was jointly organized by the Law Faculties of the University of Hong Kong and University College London. In the first of our special issues, the papers examined the emergence of new sites of climate change governance at different levels of governance and in different forums. In this second special issue, the papers explore different elements of the emerging climate change “regime complex”, 1 focussing upon developments taking place in global governance and private governance.