Co-authored by Camille Serre. While the United States is unlikely to pass a climate bill in the near future, there may be greater hope from one of the country’s closest allies: France. A few months ago, France passed a major bill that will deeply transform the country’s environmental law, including its approach to climate change. But while the outcomes of the measure are promising, a variety of criticisms remain. After an exhausting legislative process, the Grenelle de l’Environnement ended with the adoption of the Grenelle 2 bill this May. Enacted on July 13, three years after the process was launched …

Co-authored by Haibing Ma. Just when the U.S. Senate finally admitted to abandoning its plan of issuing a federal climate bill by the end of this year, top Chinese officials were discussing how to launch carbon trading programs under their country’s next five-year plan (2011–15). Serving as China’s overarching social and economic guidance, five-year plans consistently lay out the most crucial development strategies for this giant emerging economy. Once included in the plan, carbon trading will be viewed as part of China’s national goals and will be domestically binding. This occurred most recently with the country’s 2010 energy intensity target, …

Half a year before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, negotiators are far from agreeing on key components of a global climate deal. As envisioned in the 2007 Bali Climate Action Plan (or "Bali Roadmap"), the summit in December is supposed to deliver a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which expires at the end of 2012. Ever since Bali, however, progress in the negotiations has been slow. Only recently have the delegations entered full negotiation mode -- which is necessary right now, the most pivotal year since the 1992 …