TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bang, Guri
A1  - Hovi, Jon
A1  - Sprinz, Detlef F.
T1  - US presidents and the failure to ratify multilateral environmental agreements
JF  - Climate policy
N2  - Whereas the US President signed the Kyoto Protocol, the failure of the US Congress to ratify it seriously hampered subsequent international climate cooperation. This recent US trend, of signing environmental treaties but failing to ratify them, could thwart attempts to come to a future climate agreement. Two complementary explanations of this trend are proposed. First, the political system of the US has distinct institutional features that make it difficult for presidents to predict whether the Senate will give its advice and consent to multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and whether Congress will pass the required enabling legislation. Second, elected for a fixed term, US presidents might benefit politically from supporting MEAs even when knowing that legislative support is not forthcoming. Four policy implications are explored, concerning the scope for unilateral presidential action, the potential for bipartisan congressional support, the effectiveness of a treaty without the US, and the prospects for a deep, new climate treaty.
 Policy relevance
 Why does the failure of US ratification of multilateral environmental treaties occur? This article analyses the domestic political mechanisms involved in cases of failed US ratification. US non-participation in global environmental institutions often has serious ramifications. For example, it sharply limited Kyoto's effectiveness and seriously hampered international climate negotiations for years. Although at COP 17 in Durban the parties agreed to negotiate a new agreement by 2015, a new global climate treaty may well trigger a situation resembling the one President Clinton faced in 1997 when he signed Kyoto but never obtained support for it in the Senate. US failure to ratify could thwart future climate agreements.
KW  - enabling legislation
KW  - environmental treaties
KW  - Kyoto Protocol
KW  - political processes
KW  - ratification
KW  - United States
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2012.699788
SN  - 1469-3062
VL  - 12
IS  - 6
SP  - 755
EP  - 763
PB  - Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
CY  - Abingdon
ER  -