The role of international agreements in climate policy

Abstract

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Climate change can occur as a result of natural processes on Earth (e.g., tectonic motion of continents), as a result of external influences on the planet (e.g., changes in the intensity of solar radiation), or even as a result of human activity (e.g., greenhouse gas production). Human activities have boosted emissions of carbon dioxide, pushing up the temperatures. One potential impact is extreme weather and melting polar ice. There are natural climate fluctuations, but it is a fact that temperatures are growing higher now than at many other periods. This is related to the greenhouse effect which describes how some of the Sun's energy is trapped in the Earth's atmosphere. Solar energy from the Earth's surface, radiating back to space, is absorbed by greenhouse gases and re-emitted in every direction. This present paper discusses the impact of climate change and summarises the role of legal regulations in the process of this major environmental problem.