Global Climate Change Policy and Carbon Markets: Transition to a New Era

Climate policy is tested not only by the ambition of its goals, but by whether its institutions and markets can deliver. In Global Climate Change Policy and Carbon Markets: Transition to a New Era, Richard H. Rosenzweig looks back at the first generation of U.S. and international responses to climate change and asks what their record can teach policymakers about what comes next.

What the first climate-policy era tried to do

From U.S. policy debates to the Kyoto Protocol and the carbon markets associated with it, the book follows efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Rosenzweig considers both the policy plans and the practical, political, and market conditions that shaped their implementation.

Why design and politics matter

The chapters assess why earlier approaches fell short of slowing rising emissions, examining the difficulties of top-down, complex policy frameworks as well as the performance and administration of carbon markets. The result is a historical account attentive to the gap between a policy’s stated aims and its operation in practice.

From “Climate Change 1.0” to new approaches

The book’s structure moves from climate policies of the Clinton administration through the carbon market’s development and the end of the first policy era in the United States and internationally. It then considers the emergence of a second phase and closes with recommendations for future policymaking.

Policy lessons grounded in practice

Rosenzweig draws on experience in government and carbon markets to discuss how technology, regulation, and markets may contribute to a more effective response. His analysis offers readers a way to examine policy choices through their political feasibility and practical performance, not ambition alone.

For readers of climate policy and governance

Advanced students, researchers, and readers working in environmental policy, law, business, and climate governance will find a focused account of the debates and mechanisms behind climate action. For anyone studying carbon markets, the book connects their design to the broader challenge of building durable policy.