meaningfully recognised within the framework of international treaties.
It is true perhaps that matters with more immediate repercussions such as acid rain face
a greater probability of success in finalising international treaties than problems such as the
greenhouse effect or ozone hole that are unlikely to cause immediate symptoms.
Nevertheless, the 1987 Montreal Protocol did attempt to freeze the production of CFCs to
1986 levels while giving developing countries breathing time to conform to the norms over
a longer period.
The few existing treaties could be said to comprise a limited first step to clean up the
environment. Experience reveals that treaty negotiations are fraught with moral hazard in the
guise of equity bargaining. Selected important developing countries with low pollution
emission histories have arguably positioned themselves as having the right to exploit and
pollute, to catch up on the development race, since they did not pollute earlier. Developed
countries such as the United States itself have argued that it should be compensated for
reductions in pollution through the introduction of catalytic converters for vehicles. Other
states such as in Scandinavia, may feel that they may actually gain from global warming. 19
It is clear that there is an inertia to finalise international treaties on the environment
to alleviate future environmental problems (Choucri and North, 1993); perhaps this reflects
a perception that there are more immediate global problems to be addressed. While a global
carbon tax will also have to be achieved through negotiations, it may be seen as a more
directly interventionist yet complementary instrument that would perhaps work better in a case
where the consequences are not as immediate as acid rain but are of a longer run nature, such
as the greenhouse effect or ozone hole. Nevertheless, it will require a fundamental
transformation in the thinking on energy policies of major energy consuming states.
Indeed, relating to the environment in general, the United States has been called "a
cautious champion", a phrase that has taken hold after the 1994 Rio Summit. And.
relating to acid deposition in particular, "upwind" sates such as the United Kingdom
and the United States have been called "least cooperative" (Soroos, 1991, p.213).
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