Gesellschaftswissenschaften
Fachbereich 03

International climate change negotiations are converging on a policy arrangement commonly
known as “pledge and review.” Countries will independently make pledge reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions; and progress towards realizing those pledges will be subject to
some kind of international review. The virtue of this policy is that it seems capable of eliciting
widespread agreement among a great many states. One significant drawback is that the total
reductions pledged are very likely to be less than the deep cuts required to keep cumulative
historical emissions of carbon below one trillion tons. Therefore, the likelihood of limiting
warming to the internationally recognized goal of 2°C will be low. The agreement is likely to
be wide, but the reductions not deep.

This conference is devoted to a number of questions regarding this expected state of affairs:
Is it reasonable to hope that the effects on the energy market of a wide agreement on
mitigation policy will nonetheless lead to innovations making it possible to achieve the 2°C
goal? Should some other international goal for mitigation be set? Or is international policy
best pursued without any such a goal? How much protection can we reasonably expect from
adaptation? And what should the aims of adaptation be? What is the appropriate account of
responsibility for adaptation? Can a satisfactory costs and damages policy be developed? Has
humanity’s relationship to nature fundamentally changed? If so, are new norms of interaction
with nature required? Should efforts at the assisted migration of species be accelerated?
Should the research and deployment of carbon dioxide removal be emphasized? Should the
development and testing of solar radiation management be accelerated? What would be
required in order for the governance of solar radiation management to be legitimate?

Times
1 Oct.: 9:45-18:10
2 Oct.: 9:45-16:15

For information and registration please call Ellen Niess at +49 69 798 31521, or e-mail her at
ellen.niess@normativeorders.net. Special hotel rates may be available for out of town guests.

Poster

Conference Schedule

The Lehrstuhl for International Political Theory Excellence Cluster Normative Orders