The authors suggest a multi-layered system of three convergence criteria - similar to those used in the run-up to the European monetary union - that define the notion of "demonstrable progress" towards reaching the emission commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. These are the existence of an...

In the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, industrialized countries agreed on binding absolute targets for greenhouse gas emissions and on the admission of flexible market-economy instruments - such as emissions trading, joint implementation and the clean development...