Economics professor and climate change researcher Jinhua Zhao

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University researcher Jinhua Zhao says a flexible approach is key to an effective successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. His policy concept won top honors recently in a competition sponsored by Harvard University, and could be put on the table next year when Kyoto II is negotiated in Copenhagen.

Kyoto I failed to bring major emitters such as the United States, China and India into the agreement, and lacked a mechanism to enforce emission reductions, explains Zhao, an associate professor in the Department of Economics. In a Sept. 15 paper he co-authored with Larry Karp of the University of California at Berkeley, Zhao argues that Kyoto II should impose national ceilings on affluent nations’ greenhouse gas emissions, with voluntary abatement by developing countries.

To address participation and enforcement at the same time, the pair advocate an escape clause tied to fines for nations that can’t meet their treaty emissions reduction obligations.

Zhao conducts research in global climate change, carbon sequestration and international environmental agreements, and with Karp expects to consult with Swedish officials as they develop proposals for the Copenhagen gathering in December 2009.

Their paper bested 27 others to win a research paper competition sponsored by the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements. To read it, go to here. 

For more information on the Kyoto Protocol, click here. And for more on the Harvard program, go here.

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