TY - INPR A1 - Sprinz, Detlef F. T1 - Long-Term environmental policy challenges for research T2 - The journal of environment & development : a review of international policy N2 - Long-term policy issues are a particularly vexing class of environmental policy issues which merit increasing attention due to the long-time horizons involved, the incongruity with political cycles, and the challenges for collective action. Following the definition of long-term environmental policy challenges, I pose three questions as challenges for future research, namely 1. Are present democracies well suited to cope with long-term policy challenges? 2. Are top-down or bottom-up solutions to long-term environmental policy challenges advisable? 3. Will mitigation and adaptation of environmental challenges suffice? In concluding, the contribution raises the issue of credible commitment for long-term policy issues and potential design options. KW - anniversary issue KW - long-term policy KW - definition KW - design options KW - environmental policy Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1070496511435667 SN - 1070-4965 VL - 21 IS - 1 SP - 67 EP - 70 PB - Sage Publ. CY - Thousand Oaks ER - 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 -