日本在国际气候谈判中的立场转变及原因分析

日本是国际气候谈判的主要参与国家之一,在美国退出《京都议定书》的情况下日本最终选择批准议定书,让国际社会对作为京都会议东道国的日本在关键时刻表现出的担当态度赞赏有加。然而《京都议定书》的第一承诺期还未过去,日本就对《京都议定书》的未来表现出消极态度。文章试图分析日本在国际气候谈判中的立场由积极转变为不积极的原因,并在此基础上提出日本的谈判态度对国际气候谈判的启示。     

后京都时代国际气候合作机制的前景分析

1997年以来，《京都议定书》在实施过程中遭遇一系列的困境。在2009年联合国气候变化哥本哈根峰会上，发达国家之间、发达国家与新兴经济体之间再一次展开新一轮的气候外交博弈，会议达成的《哥本哈根协议》缺乏法律约束力，后京都时代国际气候合作仍将面临巨大的挑战。     

People Trafficking: Conceptual issues with the United Nations Trafficking Protocol 2000

This paper examines the UN 2000 Trafficking Protocol in the context of international responses to the issue of people trafficking. Attention is drawn to the conceptual flaws in this new instrument regarding the failure to address domestic trafficking, not incorporating the purchasing and selling of people as defining characteristics of trafficking, and the lack of clarity around issues of prostitution. Framing the discussion within feminist theory, the essay concludes that women’s campaigning will continue to be crucial to putting issues such as human trafficking on the international political agenda. This is extended to affirm that people’s struggle against oppressive circumstances will lead the tackling of the underlying causes of trafficking.     

Japan and the Kyoto Protocol: reconstructing ‘proactive’ identity through environmental multilateralism

The aim of this article is to interpret Tokyo's pivotal role in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations as a practice of reconstructing Japan's identity of an ‘international’ and ‘independent’ country. The text bases this argument in poststructural national identity scholarship, which believes that discursive differentiation to international forces (‘others’) plays a decisive role in formulating state's identity. For most parts of the post-war history, United States served as the most significant other for Japan's self construction. Japan narrated itself as a ‘weak’ and ‘subservient’ country dominated by the ‘dominant’ West. This narrative, however, has been significantly altered after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Japan's identity entrepreneurs began describing Japan as an ‘independent’ or ‘normal’ country, one that proactively contributes to world affairs. Tokyo's legitimization of the Kyoto Protocol was in line with this identity reconstruction. The image of a proactive environmental leader created a symbol of Kyoto that overshadowed the opponents of the Protocol, and lead Japan to ratify it albeit the United States chose to withdraw from it. Once the ratification was over, however, the practical implementation failed to comply with Japan's symbolic commitment.     

Kyoto Mechanisms: Key Issues for Policy-makers for COP-6

This article provides an assessment of the "Kyoto mechanisms" – joint implementation, Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and emissions trading established pursuant to Articles 6, 12 and 17 of the Kyoto Protocol. It focuses on significant policy issues raised by supplementarity, liability, equity and the design considerations relevant to operationalizing the mechanisms nationally and internationally.     

东京基于社区的地震灾害危险度评估:做法与特点

东京在实践中逐步建立了一套基于社区的地震灾害危险度评估体系,以东京各町丁目为评估对象,通过对建筑物危险度、火灾危险度和应急避难危险度进行分类评估,得出各地的综合危险度,为防灾减灾工作提供科学依据.东京基于社区的地震灾害危险度评估具有如下特点:以巨灾为重点,积极开展强烈地震发生后不同地区的危险度评估;以综合为目标,全面评估强烈地震等巨灾对经济社会产生的综合影响；以专项为基础,深入评估震后建筑物、火灾、避难等各类风险；以公开为动力,大力提高全社会的风险防范意识和应急处置能力.     

The Clean Development Mechanism: A Bane or a Boon for Developing Countries?

We analyse the gains to developing countries from the participation in the CDM during the Kyoto period (until 2010) in the event an emissions trading (ET) regime exists in the post-Kyoto period (2010–20). We show that the developing countries will always be better-off participating in the CDM if the emissions quota they get in the post-Kyoto period is not linked to their baseline emissions. However if their quota equals (or is related to) their baseline emissions, CDM participation strategy may be a preferred alternative only if the CDM price is high enough to off-set the losses of the post-Kyoto period (during ET regime) due to participation in the CDM. We simulate the CDM and ET in the Kyoto and post-Kyoto period and show that with the reduction targets given in the Kyoto Protocol for Annex B countries, participation in the CDM is beneficial to non-Annex B (developing) countries, even if their emissions quota in the post-Kyoto period (during ET regime) is determined by their baseline emissions. Abatement supply price in the post-Kyoto period however turns out to be crucial factor in this case.     

Will International Investment Rules Obstruct Climate Protection Policies? An Examination of the Clean Development Mechanism

Rules governing the global environment and the international economy are currently decided in separate arenas. Yet, environmental agreements can have strong economic implications, particularly with the growing use of market mechanisms. Economic liberalization rules, meanwhile, may limit the effectiveness of environmental agreements. This paper assesses the potential interaction between one important market-based environmental mechanism – the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change – and the framework of international investment law.     

Norway and Emissions Trading: From Global Front-Runner to EU Follower

A striking convergence has taken place in the design of the Norwegian and EU greenhouse gas emissions trading systems from 1998 to 2004. This article argues that the Norwegian adaptation to the EU did not take place as a consequence of perceived legal obligations under the European Economic Area agreement. Nor did it take place due to Norwegian actors being persuaded about the merits of the EU design. The main explanation has to do with interests. The EU market and politics are of course generally very important for Norway. However, before the US pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, the Norwegian outlook in climate politics was global. The US pull-out accelerated the development and hence the attractiveness of the EU trading system and resulted in EU emissions trading as the most probable and possibly only international market for Norway to link up to. Hence, this analysis provides further support to the importance of being sensitive to the global context and institutional interaction when analyzing the relationship between the EU and its neighboring countries.