Further to my post on the take-aways from COP15, Rob Stavins has posted on the institutional implications of the Copenhagen conference for the UNFCCC. Stavins suggests that the UNFCCC is troubled by four major problems:
1. Too many voices: at a current membership of 196, the UNFCCC is just too cumbersome. Having been witness to the process, it is hard to disagree with this evaluation. Precious time is taken up with procedural discussions, pro forma statements, and political posturing. Considerations of process legitimacy support an open and inclusive forum for international negotiations that deal with the ultimate public good (the atmosphere and global ecosystem). But when it comes to crafting a political agreement between states, this concern for inclusion and formal equality may need to be suppressed.