International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

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International Agreements on Climate Change:

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Summary

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened for signature

in 1992 and soon thereafter was ratified by the United States. The UNFCCC does not set

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets, and during ratification hearings, the George

H.W. Bush Administration represented that any protocol or amendment to the UNFCCC creating

binding GHG emissions targets would be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent.

The Kyoto Protocol (the Protocol) to the UNFCCC was intended as a first step towards

implementing the UNFCCC. To that end, it sets quantitative emission reduction targets for the

high income countries listed in its Annex B. The Protocol’s goal is to reduce each parties’ overall

emissions by at least 5% below 1990 levels by 2012. Although the United States signed the

Protocol in 1998, it did not submit the Protocol to the Senate. The George W. Bush

Administration announced in 2001 that it would not pursue U.S. accession to the Protocol. The

Obama Administration has followed this policy.

In 2007, the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali adopted a framework for negotiations over

the post-2012 climate regime. It established two tracks for negotiation: (1) a track by which

Kyoto Protocol parties would pursue an amendment to the Protocol for a “second round” of

emission targets for its Annex B parties, and (2) a track by which UNFCCC parties would set

GHG mitigation targets or actions for all parties. However, consensus under either track proved

difficult to achieve at the 2009 Copenhagen Conference of the Parties. The outcome, the

Copenhagen Accord (the Accord), is consequently considered a non-binding political agreement.

The Accord allows each high income party listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC to define its own

GHG emissions target level. “Non-Annex I” parties wishing to associate with the Accord must

identify and commit to undertaking “nationally appropriate mitigation actions,” which may

receive international support subject to certain international reporting requirements.

The labels “convention,” “protocol,” and “accord” are not clear indicators of whether these three

climate change agreements are binding internationally and/or domestically. Under international

law, an agreement is considered binding only if it conveys the intention of its parties to create

legally binding relationships and has entered into force. However, some have suggested that

enforceability, rather than intentions, should govern whether an agreement is “legally binding.”

Under U.S. law, a legally binding international agreement may take the form of a treaty or an

executive agreement. In order for the United States to enter a treaty, the agreement must be

approved by a two-thirds majority of the Senate and subsequently be ratified by the President. An

executive agreement does not require the Senate’s advice and consent in order to be legally

binding. Historically, executive agreements have arisen in a limited set of circumstances, and

certain subjects, including significant global environmental issues, have traditionally been

handled as treaties that require the Senate’s approval.

Of the three agreements discussed, only the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol are considered

legally binding agreements under international law, and the United States is bound only by the

former. The United States has, however, indicated its intent to associate with the Copenhagen

Accord. In doing so, it voluntarily committed to reduce U.S. emissions by 17% below 2005 levels

by 2020. The Accord does not implicate the treaty power of Congress, which will likely shape the

domestic effect of the Copenhagen Accord through appropriations and lawmaking. The Accord

does not appear to empower the Executive to implement it solely by agency actions.

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Contents

Background on Global Climate Change Negotiations ..................................................................1

What Is the Difference Between a “Convention,” a “Protocol,” and an “Accord”? .......................3

What Makes Some International Agreements “Legally Binding” but Not Others?........................4

How Does the United States Become a Party to an International Agreement by Way of

Treaty?.....................................................................................................................................5

What Effect Does an Agreement Have Domestically Once the United States Becomes a

Party to It? ...............................................................................................................................6

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ..............................7

Is the United States Legally Bound by the UNFCCC? ...........................................................7

When Is an Agreement Formally Adopted Under the UNFCCC? ...........................................9

The Kyoto Protocol................................................................................................................... 10

Is the United States Legally Bound by the Kyoto Protocol? ................................................. 10

What Obligations Did the United States Incur by Signing the Kyoto Protocol and to

What Extent Does It Remain Bound by Those Obligations? ............................................. 11

Can the Kyoto Protocol Be Treated as an Executive Agreement Rather Than as a

Treaty?............................................................................................................................. 12

The Copenhagen Accord ........................................................................................................... 15

Is the United States Legally Bound by the Copenhagen Accord?.......................................... 16

Does the U.S. Constitution Require the President to Submit the Copenhagen Accord

to the Senate for Its Advice and Consent?......................................................................... 17

Can the Copenhagen Accord Be Used as a Basis for Regulations Imposing Emissions

Restrictions on Industry?.................................................................................................. 18

Contacts

Author Contact Information ...................................................................................................... 19

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Background on Global Climate Change

Negotiations

Formal international negotiations to address human-driven climate change were launched in

December 1990. These negotiations yielded the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992. The U.S. Senate gave its advice and consent to ratification

of the agreement that same year. The UNFCCC entered into force on March 21, 1994. The

UNFCCC provides a structure for international consideration of climate change. In particular, it

divided countries into “Annex I countries,” which are the high income countries listed in Annex I

of the UNFCCC, and “non-Annex I parties,” which are considered to be relatively low income

countries as well as emerging markets.1 The UNFCCC does not set binding targets for greenhouse

gas (“GHG”) emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (the Protocol) was negotiated as the first step towards

implementing the UNFCCC. It establishes quantitative emission reduction targets for the high

income countries listed in the Protocol’s Annex B2 and market-based mechanisms, including

emissions trading, for achieving those targets. The Protocol and decisions adopted under it also

establish an elaborate compliance system. Prior to the conclusion of the Protocol on December

11, 1997, the Senate adopted a resolution expressing the view that the United States should not

sign any agreement at Kyoto that would either commit developed, but not developing, nations to

reduce or limit GHG emissions by a certain date or do “serious harm” to the U.S. economy. 3

Nevertheless, the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol on November 12, 1998. Although, in

2001, President George W. Bush announced that the United States would not become a party to

the Protocol, most other countries approved it, and it entered into force for its parties on February

16, 2005. The Protocol has not been submitted to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent to

ratification.

Recognizing that the emissions reductions for the Kyoto Protocol were set for a period that would

end in 2012, the 2007 UN Climate Change Conference in Bali adopted the “Bali Road Map” as a

framework for negotiations over the post-2012 climate regime. In doing so, the parties established

two tracks for negotiation: (1) a track by which Kyoto Protocol parties would pursue an

amendment to the Protocol for a “second round” of emission targets for Annex I parties, and (2) a

track by which UNFCCC parties would seek agreement on GHG mitigation targets or actions for

all parties. This second “track” was called the Bali Action Plan, and the deadline for the

conclusion of its negotiations was the December 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The two-track structure of the negotiating process created uncertainty and disagreement over

whether the goal at Copenhagen was to reach a single agreement under the UNFCCC that could

Among the countries listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC are: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the United States,

the United Kingdom, and most European countries. Countries that are, therefore, considered non-Annex I parties

include Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and all least-developed countries. Annex I can be found at the end of the

UNFCCC, which is available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf.

Among the countries listed in Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol are: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the United

Kingdom, and most European countries. Annex B can be found at the end of the Kyoto Protocol, available at

http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf. Note that Annex I of the UNFCCC and Annex B of the Kyoto

Protocol have substantially similar, but not identical, lists of countries.

S.Res. 98, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., 143 CONG. REC. 8138 (daily ed. July 25, 1997).

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replace the Kyoto Protocol, or, rather, two agreements, one under the Kyoto Protocol and the

other under the UNFCCC.4 Perhaps because of this uncertainty, there were high expectations

about what the outcome of the Copenhagen Conference might be, even though, in the months

before the Conference, it became clear that a legally binding agreement was highly unlikely. At

the Conference, the 193 delegations were unable to reach a consensus. Consequently, the

Copenhagen Accord (the Accord) is the product of negotiations among a much smaller group of

countries, including the United States, China, India, Brazil, and South Africa.

The Copenhagen Accord is the first U.N. document to explicitly set a goal for capping the rise of

global temperatures. It establishes a process that allows each Annex I party to define its own

GHG emissions target level. However, delivery of these reductions is subject to measurement,

reporting, and verification in accordance with set guidelines. Non-Annex I parties wishing to

associate with the Copenhagen Accord should identify and commit to undertaking “nationally

appropriate” GHG “mitigation actions” (NAPAs). Those NAPAs for which international support

is provided are subject to international measurement, reporting, and verification requirements.

Most UNFCCC parties appeared willing to adopt the Accord, but adoption was blocked by

Bolivia, Cuba, Sudan, and Venezuela. Consequently, the Conference of the Parties of the

UNFCCC (COP) “took note” of the text but did not adopt it. Willing countries are invited to

“associate” with the Copenhagen Accord, but the Accord is not subject to signature. To indicate

their intent to associate with the Accord, countries need only submit a letter or a note verbale (an

unsigned diplomatic communication prepared in the third person) to the UNFCCC Secretariat.

The United States submitted its note verbale to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC on

January 28, 2010 with a voluntary GHG emissions reduction target of 17% below 2005 levels by

2020.5 Seventy-six of the 193 countries represented at the Copenhagen Conference, including

China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa, have submitted GHG emissions targets or, as

appropriate, NAPAs to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.6 More countries are expected to

follow suit despite missing the “soft” deadline for submissions of January 31, 2010.7

See Daniel Bodansky, The Copenhagen Climate Change Accord, ASIL INSIGHTS (February 2010), available at

http://www.asil.org/files/insight100212pdf.pdf.

Letter from Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, to Yvo de Boer, Executive Sec’y of the UNFCCC

(January 28, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/application/pdf/unitedstatescphaccord_app.1.pdf. For

more on the history of international climate change negotiations, read CRS Report R40001, A U.S.-centric Chronology

of the International Climate Change Negotiations, by (name redacted).

Press Release, UNFCCC, UNFCCC Publishes Reports Summing Up Results of 2009 UN Climate Change Conference

in Copenhagen (March 31, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/press_releases_and_advisories/

application/pdf/20100331_pr_cop_report_v2.pdf. For links to the submissions of Annex I parties relating to the

Copenhagen Accord, visit http://unfccc.int/home/items/5264.php. For links to the submissions of non-Annex I parties

relating to the Copenhagen Accord, visit http://unfccc.int/home/items/5265.php. Another 44 countries have provided

“additional information” relating to the Copenhagen Accord. See Additional Information Provided by Parties to the

Convention Relating to the Copenhagen Accord, http://unfccc.int/meetings/items/5276.php. E.g. Letter from Fatima

Fetibegovic (Minister of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering, and Ecology of the Republic of Srpska-Bosnia and

Herzegovina) to Mr. Yvo De Boer (Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC) (January 29, 2010) (expressing Bosnia and

Herzegovina’s intent to associate with the Accord).

Thai Phi Stone, Global Warming: Where Do We Go From Copenhagen? WASHINGTON LAWYER, March 2010, (D.C.

Bar Assoc., Wash. D.C.) March 2010, at 37.

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

What Is the Difference Between a “Convention,” a

“Protocol,” and an “Accord”?

A variety of terms are used in the titles of international agreements, including treaty, convention,

protocol, declaration, agreement, act, covenant, statute, concordat, and exchange of notes. Despite

their air of formality, these terms are not dispositive of the agreement’s legal status.8 Indeed, some

writers suggest that names are assigned to treaties by chance or at the whim of their drafters.9

However, others have cataloged recurring titles of international agreements in an effort to identify

patterns in their usage. 10 These studies suggest that, while an agreement’s title is not

determinative of that agreement’s substance or legal effect, it can help contextualize the

agreement in light of historical practices. 11

These studies suggest, for example, that the word “convention” typically refers to an agreement

that defines or expands upon an area of international relations that is not necessarily fundamental

to inter-state relations.12 In general, the distinguishing characteristic of conventions is their

narrow scope. 13 A convention typically addresses a single clearly determined object, although it

may also complement other existing rights and obligations.14 The bulk of major multi-state

agreements coordinated by an international organization like the United Nations are called

“conventions.”15 In addition framework conventions, like the UNFCCC, are generally understood

in international environmental law as setting guidelines by which parties are expected to address

an issue and the details for implementation which will be developed by subsequent, more

specific, agreements.

Unlike conventions, protocols are rarely foundational agreements in a field of inter-state

relations.16 Instead, a protocol typically supplements, clarifies, interprets, or modifies the

provisions of a primary instrument (most often a convention). 17

Relative to “convention” and “protocol,” the word “accord” has been used infrequently in the

titles of international agreements and, consequently, does relatively little to suggest what the

agreement it describes might have in common with previous international agreements.18

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: THE ROLE OF THE UNITED

STATES SENATE; A STUDY PREPARED FOR THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 48 (1984).

See Denys P. Myers, The Names and Scope of Treaties, 51 AM. J. INT’L L. 574, 574 n.1 (1957) (mentioning examples

where writers have argued that the choice of nomenclature used when drafting international agreements is often

arbitrary).

See e.g. John King Gamble Jr., Multilateral Treaties: The Significance of the Name of the Instrument, 10 CAL. W.

INT’L L. J. 1 (1980); Myers, supra note 9.

See e.g. Gamble, supra note 10; Myers, supra note 9.

Myers, supra note 9, at 583.

See id. at 583.

Id. at 583, n. 44-45 (1957).

Gamble, supra note 10, at 6; Myers, supra note 9, at 583.

See Gamble, supra note 10, at 6; Myers, supra note 9, at 587.

Gamble, supra note 10, at 6; Myers, supra note 9, at 587.

See Gamble, supra note 10, at 5 (identifying the five most commonly used titles as “treaty, convention, agreement,

protocol, and exchange of notes”); Myers, supra note 9, at 587 (charting the use of certain words in the titles of

international agreements and finding that, between 1920 and 1945, the word “convention” was used in 353 multilateral

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Nevertheless, when it is used, the word “accord” appears to indicate that the agreement is

reciprocal, restricted in subject matter, and less formal than other types of agreements.19

What Makes Some International Agreements

“Legally Binding” but Not Others?

Binding and non-binding agreements go by many names, but an agreement is considered binding

only if it (1) conveys the intention of its parties to create legally binding relationships under

international law and (2) has gone into force. 20 Frequently, the intention of the parties to create

legally binding relationships is expressed by the use of mandatory, rather than hortatory,

language21 and the inclusion of “final clauses” relating to ratification, entry into force, and other

legal formalities.22 Moreover, statements by the parties that an agreement is not legally binding,

or that it invokes only political obligations, are generally evidence that the instrument is not a

legally binding agreement. 23

While some might wish there was a provision or turn of phrase that positively identified an

international agreement as “binding,” international law’s emphasis on the parties’ intent has roots

in contract law, to which the law of treaties is sometimes compared.24 Accordingly, the

Department of State adopts and expands upon this approach, deeming an agreement legally

binding if it (1) is between parties that are states, state agencies, or intergovernmental

organizations and who intend their undertaking to be both legally binding and governed by

international law; (2) constitutes a significant undertaking or arrangement; (3) includes objective

criteria for determining enforceability; and (4) necessarily entails two or more parties so that it is

not unilateral in nature.25 Despite the apparent obliqueness of relying on the parties’ intent at all,

in most cases, the parties’ intent, and therefore the legal nature of the agreement, is clear.26

Although legally binding agreements are often touted for being stronger than non-legal

agreements, the latter have certain advantages. For example, agreements that are not legally

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agreements, the term “protocol” in 290, and the term “accord” in only one).

Myers, supra note 9, at 583.

Congressional Research Service, supra note 8, at 55.

DANIEL BODANSKY, THE ART AND CRAFT OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW 156 (2010). For example,

substituting the word “will” for “shall” in an international agreement is generally understood to deprive the agreement

of any legally binding effect. See id. at n.6.

Id. at 156.

Id.; Congressional Research Service, supra note 8, at 46. While these statements are occasionally included in the

instrument itself, they may also be made verbally. Bodansky, supra note 21, at 156. For example, President Gerald

Ford reportedly made an explicit statement when adopting the 1975 Helsinki Accords that the Accords were not legally

binding. Id. at n.6.

See Bodansky, supra note 21, at 157 (stating that treaties have “traditionally” been understood as “contracts between

states” and explaining the reasons for this comparison). E.g. RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF CONTRACTS (1981), § 21

(stating that a manifestation of a party’s intent that a promise does not affect legal relations may prevent the formation

of a contract).

22 C.F.R. 181.2(a).

Bodansky, supra note 21, at 156 (“[I]n most cases the parties’ intent is clear from the agreement’s context and

language.”)

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binding can generally be negotiated, adopted, and changed more quickly (largely because they do

not require ratification), and they enable states to test and perfect an approach to an international

problem that they are unsure how to best address.27

How Does the United States Become a Party to an

International Agreement by Way of Treaty?

In order for the United States to become bound by an international agreement, it must first

complete the steps necessary to become a party. When the United States seeks to enter an

agreement by way of treaty,28 a three-step process must occur before the agreement can become

the “Law of the Land.”29 First, the United States must sign the treaty; second, the agreement must

be submitted by the Executive to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent to treaty ratification

and two-thirds of the Senators present must give their approval (sometimes inaccurately referred

to as “ratification by the Senate”30); and third, the President must ratify the agreement by

following the terms of the agreement for ratification or accession.31 International agreements

generally require parties to exchange or deposit instruments of ratification in order for them to

enter into force.32

In some instances, the United States may enter legally binding international agreements by means

other than treaty. Historically, however, the United States has generally entered significant legally

binding environmental agreements by way of treaty.33

Some agreements, however, take slightly different routes to becoming U.S. law. One such

category of agreements, “executive” agreements, can become U.S. law without receiving the U.S.

Senate’s advice and consent.34 Another category, non-self-executing agreements, require

Bodansky, supra note 21, at 156.

The term “treaty” has a different meaning in the context of international law and domestic U.S. practice. For

purposes of international law, the term “treaty” may be used to refer to any legally binding international agreement. For

purposes of U.S. domestic law, however, “treaty” more narrowly refers to those binding international agreements that

are contemplated under Article II, § 2 of the Constitution.

U.S. CONST. art. VI, § 2.

To say the Senate ratified a treaty is a commonly used but technically imprecise way of conveying that the United

States became a party to a treaty after the Senate gave its advice and consent to its ratification and the Executive

thereafter completed the ratification process. LORI F. DAMROSCH ET. AL., INTERNATIONAL LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS

679 (5th ed. 2009).

Generally, this process entails depositing the requisite instrument of ratification or accession with the treaty

depository. The President is, however, under no duty to proceed with ratification of, or accession to, a treaty after the

Senate has given its approval, and consequently may decide to oppose the treaty after obtaining the Senate’s advice and

consent or decline to file the papers necessary to give effect to the Senate’s consent. Id.; Oona A. Hathaway, Treaties’

End: The Past, Present, and Future of International Lawmaking in the United States, 117 YALE L. J. 1236, 1323-24

(2002).

See infra at “Can the Kyoto Protocol Be Treated as an Executive Agreement Rather Than as a Treaty?”

See John C. Yoo, Laws as Treaties? The Constitutionality of Congressional-Executive Agreements, 99 MICH. L. REV.

757, 799-813 (2001) (discussing historical U.S. practice of treating international agreements concerning certain

matters, including the environment, as treaties).

RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, § 303 n.8 (1987); LOUIS HENKIN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE U.S.

CONSTITUTION 217 (2d ed. 1996). There are two kinds of executive agreements: (1) sole executive agreements; and (2)

congressional-executive agreements. The former can become U.S. law without Congress taking action to either

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Congress to enact implementing legislation to transform the provisions of the agreement, even if

it is an executive agreement, into U.S. law.35

What Effect Does an Agreement Have Domestically

Once the United States Becomes a Party to It?

Once the United States binds itself to the terms of either an executive agreement or a treaty, the

domestic legal effect of that agreement’s provisions depends largely on whether the obligations

imposed by those provisions are self-executing, i.e. whether they have the force of law without

need for further congressional action. In cases where treaty provisions are “non-self-executing,”

however, implementing legislation may be required to provide U.S. agencies with the domestic

legal authority necessary to carry out duties and functions contemplated by the agreement or to

make the agreement’s obligations enforceable by private parties in U.S. court.36 While

agreements, particularly those providing that certain acts shall not be done, are generally

presumed to be self-executing, agreements have been found to be non-self-executing for at least

three reasons: (1) the agreement manifests an intention that it shall not become effective as

domestic law without the enactment of implementing legislation; (2) the Senate in giving consent

to a treaty, or Congress by resolution, requires implementing legislation; or (3) implementing

legislation is constitutionally required.37

Self-executing provisions (i.e., provisions that can be carried out or implemented without

subsequent congressional action) generally carry the same legal weight as a federal statute: they

(...continued)

approve or adopt the obligations contained in the agreement. The latter becomes U.S. law following approval from a

majority of Congress, rather than simply the Senate. For more on these two categories of agreements, see CRS Report

RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law, by (name redacted). A discussion of

congressional-executive agreements in the context of trade is also available in CRS Report 97-896, Why Certain Trade

Agreements Are Approved as Congressional-Executive Agreements Rather Than as Treaties, by (name redacted).

See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 111(4). Non-self-executing agreements should be contrasted with self-executing

agreements, which can also be classified as either a treaty or an executive agreement, but which, unlike non-selfexecuting agreements, can become U.S. law only after Congress enacts implementing legislation. See id. at § 111cmt.

h. However, as discussed in the next section of this report, some international agreements defy classification as selfexecuting or non-self-executing because they contain both self-executing and non-self-executing provisions. Id.

E.g. Medellin v. Texas, 552 U.S. 491, 505 (2008) (“In sum, while treaties may comprise international commitments

... they are not domestic law unless Congress has either enacted implementing statutes or the treaty itself conveys an

intention that it be ‘self-executing’ and is ratified on these terms.”) (internal citations and quotations omitted); Whitney

v. Robertson, 124 U.S. 190, 194 (1888) (“When the [treaty] stipulations are not self-executing, they can only be

enforced pursuant to legislation to carry them into effect, and such legislation is as much subject to modification and

repeal by congress as legislation upon any other subject.”). There is some scholarly debate concerning both the

differences between self-executing and non-self-executing agreements and the ability of U.S. courts to enforce their

provisions. See, e.g., Jordan J. Paust, Self-Executing Treaties, 82 AM. J. INT 'L L. 760 (1988); Carlos Manuel Vázquez,

Treaties as Law of the Land: The Supremacy Clause and the Judicial Enforcement of Treaties, 122 HARV. L. REV. 599

(2008); John C. Yoo, Globalism and the Constitution: Treaties, Non-Self-Execution, and the Original Understanding,

99 COLUM. L. REV. 1955 (1999).

See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 111(4), §111 reporters note 5. In general, provisions in treaties of friendship,

commerce, and navigation have been given effect as self-executing agreements. Id. For more detail on self-executing

and non-self-executing agreements, read CRS Report RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon

U.S. Law, by (name redacted).

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are superior to state laws but inferior to constitutional requirements.38 For their part, non-selfexecuting provisions are considered to have limited legal status domestically because it is the

implementing legislation or regulations that transform these provisions into U.S. law.39

The United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC)

The UNFCCC was the first formal international agreement addressing human-driven climate

change. The U.S. Senate provided its advice and consent to the UNFCCC’s ratification in 1992,

the same year that it was concluded. The UNFCCC entered into force for the United States in

1994. As a framework convention, the UNFCCC provides a structure for international

consideration of climate change but does not contain detailed obligations for achieving particular

climate-related objectives in each party’s territory. It recognizes that climate change is a

“common concern to humankind,” and, accordingly, requires parties to (1) gather and share

information on GHG emissions, national policies, and best practices; (2) launch national

strategies for addressing GHG emissions and adapting to expected impacts; and (3) cooperate in

preparing for the impacts of climate change. The UNFCCC does not set binding targets for GHG

emissions.

Is the United States Legally Bound by the UNFCCC?

The UNFCCC is a legally binding international agreement because its parties intended it as such

and it has entered into force. It was signed by President George H. W. Bush and received the

advice and consent of the U.S. Senate in 1992. On March 21, 1994, the ninetieth day following

the date of deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification or acceptance, the UNFCCC entered

force for the United States and the other fifty-one countries who ratified the treaty by that time.40

Since that date, the terms of the UNFCCC have been binding on the United States under both

international and domestic law. The United States implemented the UNFCCC under existing

statutes without passing new implementing legislation. 41

Although the United States is legally bound by the UNFCCC, the UNFCCC does not provide the

Executive with an independent source of authority for imposing quantitative emissions

restrictions on industry. When a treaty is ratified, any self-executing provisions it contains are the

“Law of the Land.” Accordingly, the Executive may promulgate regulations to implement these

provisions’ requirements just as it could in the case of an authorizing federal statute.42 However,

For more detail on self-executing and non-self-executing agreements, read CRS Report RL32528, International Law

and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law, by (name redacted).

See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 115 cmt. c.

UNFCCC, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Status of Ratification (August 22, 2007),

available at http://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/status_of_ratification/application/pdf/

unfccc_conv_rat.pdf. See also UNFCCC, Art. 23 (stating the prerequisites for the UNFCCC’s entry into force).

Letter of Submittal to the President (August 28, 1992), S. TREATY DOC. NO. 102-28, , at VII (“The United States will

implement this obligation through a variety of measures, including the Clean Air Act and its 1990 Amendments, the

National Energy Strategy, and the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act of 1991.”); Nigel Purvis, Essay, The Case for

Climate Protection Authority, 49 VA. J. INT’L L. 1007, 1047 (2009).

See Whitney, 124 U.S. at 194 (1888) (“By the constitution, a treaty is placed on the same footing, and made of like

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neither the Senate nor the Executive appears to view the UNFCCC as an agreement that, once

ratified, provides a legal basis for new regulations restricting GHG emissions by U.S. industries.43

Evidence from the ratification history of an agreement may illustrate the Senate’s understanding

of the agreement when it gave its approval.44 During the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

hearing on UNFCCC ratification, the George H.W. Bush Administration stated that Article 4.2 of

the UNFCCC, which commits the parties to, inter alia, adopt national policies and, accordingly,

mitigate climate change by limiting GHG emissions did “not require any new implementing

legislation nor added regulatory programs.”45 Perhaps most importantly, it stated that an

amendment or future agreement under the UNFCCC to adopt targets and timetables for emissions

reductions would be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent.46 In the subsequent report,

the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations wrote:

... [A] decision by the Conference of the Parties to adopt targets and timetables would have

to be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent before the United States could

deposit its instruments of ratification for such an agreement. The Committee notes further

that a decision by the executive branch to reinterpret the Convention to apply legally binding

targets and timetables for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to the United States would

alter the “shared understanding” of the Convention between the Senate and the executive

branch and would therefore require the Senate’s advice and consent.47

The George H.W. Bush Administration’s commitment to submit any agreed upon timetables or

GHG targets to the Senate was later cited during the Senate debate on advice and consent to

ratification as an important element of the Senate’s consent.48 Accordingly, should an executive

agency claim that the UNFCCC authorizes it to adopt and implement quantitative emissions

restrictions, and, subsequently, face a legal challenge from an affected industry for the imposition

of those restrictions, the court hearing the case would most likely deem the Executive’s action an

unconstitutional usurpation of congressional power because of the UNFCCC’s ratification

history. 49

(...continued)

obligation, with an act of legislation. Both are declared by that instrument to be the supreme law of the land, and no

superior efficacy is given to either over the other.”).

See generally Letter of Submittal to the President (August 28, 1992), S. TREATY DOC. NO. 102-28.

See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 314, cmts. b, d; Damrosch, supra note 30, at 722 (“The Senate may express its

understanding of a treaty provision that is arguably ambiguous. If the Senate indicates its interpretation of such a

provision, the President must honor it: the treaty as so understood is the treaty to which the Senate consents.”). See also

Rainbow Navigation v. Dep’t of Navy, 699 F. Supp. 339, 343 (D.D.C. 1988) (stating that the Executive Branch must

stand behind its representations to the Senate regarding a treaty and comply with any formal, or informal, conditions

that the Senate attaches as part of ratification so as not to “undermine the authority of the Senate under Article 2 section

2 of the Constitution to concur or to fail to concur in treaties made by the Chief Executive.”).

Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change,

102d Cong., 2d Sess. (1992), at 93 (emphasis added).

Id. at 106.

S. Exec. Rept. 102-55, 102d Cong., 2d Sess. (1992), at 14.

E.g. 138 CONG. REC. 33521 (October 7, 1992) (statement of Sen. McConnell). Senator McConnell stated that

amending or interpreting the treaty to commit the United States to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions or as a binding

commitment to targets and timetables would be subject to ratification by the Senate and “the record on this point is

absolutely clear.” Id.

See Medellin v. Texas, 553 U.S. 491, 518, 530 (2008) (stating that provisions of treaties are held to be self-executing

when there is indication that the President and Senate intended them to have domestic effect and the Executive cannot

(continued...)

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

When Is an Agreement Formally Adopted Under the UNFCCC?

Articles 15, 16, and 17 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change govern

the adoption of amendments, annexes, and protocols to the UNFCCC. Amendments, annexes and

protocols are to be adopted at ordinary sessions of the Conference of the Parties.50 The text of an

amendment, annex, or protocol must be communicated to the parties at least six months before

the meeting at which it is proposed for adoption. 51 The parties must make every effort to reach an

agreement on a proposed amendment or annex, but, if all efforts at consensus are exhausted, the

amendment or annex can be adopted by a three-fourths majority vote of the parties present and

voting at the meeting. 52 In the absence of adoption by at least a three-fourths majority vote, the

amendment or annex is not considered legally binding under the UNFCCC.53 Some view these

consensus procedures as blocking progress under the UNFCCC, a position which could draw

support from the Conference of the Parties’ failure to reach an agreement under the UNFCCC

process at Copenhagen compared to the relatively quick progress made on initiatives launched

outside of that process. 54

Unlike the adoption of amendments and annexes, the UNFCCC does not provide a rule for the

adoption of protocols.55 The parties have, moreover, failed to reach an agreement on a voting rule

in this context despite years of trying.56 In the absence of an agreed upon rule for the number of

votes necessary to adopt a protocol, protocols are adopted by consensus.57

The UNFCCC provides that, once adopted, an amendment enters into force under international

law for the parties that have accepted it.58 An adopted annex enters into force under international

law for all parties to the Convention that have not notified the Depository of instruments of their

(...continued)

unilaterally execute a non-self-executing treaty). In Medellin, the case was brought by a Mexican national who had

been convicted and sentenced in a Texas state court for murder. Id. at 497-98. In a case brought by Mexico before the

International Court of Justice (ICJ), the ICJ found that Medellin was entitled to reconsideration of his conviction

because of U.S. violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Id. at 498. Accordingly, Medellin filed an

application for a writ of habeas corpus in state court. Id. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Medellin’s

application. Id. Medellin than applied to the Supreme Court for review of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeal’s

dismissal. Id. For a complete overview of the Supreme Court’s decision in Medellin, read CRS Report RL34450, Can

the President Compel Domestic Enforcement of an International Tribunal’s Judgment? Overview of Supreme Court

Decision in Medellin v. Texas, by (name redacted).

UNFCCC, Arts. 15.2, 16.2, 17.1.

Id. at Arts. 15.2, 16.2, 17.2.

Id. at Arts. 15.3, 16.2.

See id.

See e.g. Richard Ingham, Progress Seen on Forest Scheme, Germany to Join, AFP (March 11, 2010) (writing that a

plan to stem deforestation was launched “on the sidelines” of Copenhagen and has made laudable progress outside of

the UNFCCC’s consensus rules, which have “bedevilled efforts to build a worldwide treaty on climate change after

2012.”).

CLIMATE CHANGE SECRETARIAT, A GUIDE TO THE CLIMATE CHANGE CONVENTION PROCESS 33 (2002), available at

http://unfccc.int/resource/process/guideprocess-p.pdf.

See id. (“As there is no agreed voting rule, almost all decisions must be adopted by consensus.”). Moreover, the

failure to adopt a voting rule has also prevented the Conference of the Parties’ from adopting general rules of

procedure. Id.

UNFCCC, Art. 17.3; Climate Change Secretariat, supra note 55, at 33.

UNFCCC, Art. 16.3

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

non-acceptance.59 Protocols must define their own entry into force procedures.60 These rules

regarding how agreements relating to the UNFCCC enter into force solely govern the process by

which they enter into force for the purposes of establishing parties’ obligations under

international law. Depending on the circumstances, a party might need to modify its domestic

statutes through, for example, implementing legislation, to provide its agencies with the necessary

legal authority to regulate relevant matters or to make the agreement’s obligations enforceable by

private parties in a domestic court.

The Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was negotiated as a first step towards implementing the UNFCCC, largely by

establishing quantitative emission reduction targets for the high income countries listed in its

Annex B. The Protocol’s goal is to reduce the overall emissions of those parties by at least 5%

below 1990 levels by 2012. The Kyoto Protocol was concluded on December 11, 1997 and signed

by the United States a year later (on November 12, 1998). The Kyoto Protocol entered into force

for parties on February 16, 2005, four years after the detailed rules for its implementation, the

“Marrakesh Accords,” were adopted.

In addition to emission reduction targets, the Kyoto Protocol establishes market-based

mechanisms, including emissions trading among the parties, for achieving those targets. The

Protocol and decisions adopted under it also create a compliance system that requires parties to

gather GHG emissions data, communicate that information to the UNFCCC Secretariat, and then

subject that information to international review by expert review teams. If a party does not meet

its obligations under the Protocol, two penalties are available: (1) an increase in the country’s

emissions reduction target required during the period following the one in which the country

failed to comply, and (2) exclusion of that country from the emission trading scheme. 61

In 2001, President George W. Bush announced that the United States would not become a party to

the Protocol. Among the reasons given for U.S. non-participation in the Protocol were that it did

not include GHG commitments by all large emitting countries and would cause serious harm to

the U.S. economy. The Kyoto Protocol has not been submitted to the Senate for its approval.

Is the United States Legally Bound by the Kyoto Protocol?

The United States is not legally bound by the Kyoto Protocol. While the Kyoto Protocol is a

binding international agreement, the United States is not currently a party. The United States

signed the Kyoto Protocol on November 12, 1998, but the Protocol has not been submitted to the

Senate for its advice and consent. Ratification of the Protocol by the United States would be

necessary before the United States may become legally bound by the agreement.

Id.

Id. at Art. 17.3; Climate Change Secretariat, supra note 55, at 33.

UNFCCC, An Introduction to the Kyoto Protocol Compliance Mechanism, http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/

compliance/introduction/items/3024.php; Sean Cumberlage, Multilateral Environmental Agreements: From Montreal

to Kyoto—A Theoretical Approach to an Improved Climate Change Regime, Dev. J. 37 INT’L L. & POL’Y 303, 326

(2009).

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

What Obligations Did the United States Incur by Signing the

Kyoto Protocol and to What Extent Does It Remain Bound by Those

Obligations?

As discussed, the United States generally is not bound by the terms of an international agreement

simply on the basis of its signature unless the agreement constitutes an executive agreement that

does not require subsequent congressional action. However, signing does create new obligations.

First, it authenticates the text of an agreement, confirming that the text expresses the agreement

reached by the negotiating states. Second, it represents a “moral obligation” by the United States

to pursue accession to the Protocol, in this case, by seeking the Senate’s advice and consent. 62

Third, the signature ostensibly obligates the United States to “refrain from acts which would

defeat the object and purpose” of the agreement.63 Article 18 of the Vienna Convention on the

Law of Treaties states the matter more completely as follows:

A State is obliged to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of a treaty

when:

(a) it has signed the treaty or has exchanged instruments constituting the treaty subject to

ratification, acceptance or approval, until it shall have made its intention clear not to become

a party to the treaty; or

(b) it has expressed its consent to be bound by the treaty, pending the entry into force of the

treaty and provided that such entry into force is not unduly delayed.64

International law does not provide a procedure by which a nation can remove its signature from a

treaty. Nevertheless, a signatory state may eliminate the legal consequences of signature by

making clear its intent not to ratify the treaty.65 The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(VCLT) does not prescribe a method by which such an intention must be expressed. However, it

is generally accepted that a letter from the Secretary of State to the treaty depositary (in this case,

the United Nations) would suffice. For example, the George W. Bush Administration sent such a

letter in 2002 to extinguish any legal obligations arising from its signature of the “Rome Statute,”

which established the International Criminal Court. The United States has not sent a similar

notice of its disavowal of the Kyoto Protocol to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.66

Instead, the Bush Administration merely stated, albeit on multiple occasions, that the United

Restatement, supra note 34, at § 312(3), § 312 cmt. d. (stating that a country’s signature to an agreement is normally

“deemed to represent political approval and at least a moral obligation to seek ratification”). Note that by describing the

obligation as “moral,” the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) suggests that it is not a legally

enforceable obligation.

Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Art. 18. The United States signed the VCLT but has not ratified it.

Nevertheless, the U.S. considers most of the VCLT to constitute customary international law on the law of treaties.

Customary international law is a set of practices that all, or nearly all, states consistently follow because they consider

themselves legally bound to do so. CRS Report RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S.

Law, by (name redacted).

VCLT, Art. 18. See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 312(3), § 312 cmt. i.

VCLT, Art. 18 (stating that the obligation to refrain from acts that would “defeat the object and purpose of a treaty”

applies only until such time as a signatory “shall have made its intention clear not to become a party to the treaty.”).

Curtis A. Bradley, Unratified Treaties, Domestic Politics, and the U.S. Constitution, 48 HARV. INT’L L. J. 307, 312

(2007).

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

States would not participate in the Protocol.67 What, if any, legal effect these statements have is

debatable, but the fact that the George W. Bush Administration followed the most formal

procedure with the Rome Statute and a less formal procedure with the Kyoto Protocol could

suggest that the United States saw a meaningful distinction between the results achieved by the

two procedures and chose which process to follow in each instance accordingly.68 However, in the

absence of an institutional mechanism for enforcing the obligations that arise from a nation’s

signature, it appears that it is largely up to the United States to determine (1) whether it is still a

signatory to the Kyoto Protocol under customary international law and (2) what acts would be

inconsistent with those obligations. 69

Can the Kyoto Protocol Be Treated as an Executive Agreement

Rather Than as a Treaty?

Amendments and agreements entered into pursuant to an existing treaty can be a source of

binding international obligations.70 In general, all contracting states to the original agreement

must have an opportunity to (1) take part in the negotiations regarding an amendment; and (2)

become parties to the agreement as amended. 71 Under international law, an amendment to a

multilateral agreement, like the UNFCCC, only has legal effect for those countries that become

parties to the amending agreement. 72

Under U.S. law, amendments are subject to the same requirements as treaties and other binding

international agreements.73 U.S. law, however, permits some kinds of legally binding international

agreements, namely some forms of executive agreements, to avoid taking the form of a treaty.

These agreements can, therefore, avoid the constitutional requirements imposed on the United

States’ participation in treaties.

Executive agreements, which may or may not be authorized by Congress, are binding agreements

entered into by the executive branch that are not submitted to the Senate for its advice and

consent.74 Generally, executive agreements arise in three situations: (1) when Congress has

previously or retroactively authorized the international agreement, in which case the agreement is

called a congressional-executive agreement; (2) when the agreement is authorized by a ratified

treaty; and (3) when the President had independent constitutional authority to enter the agreement

so that further congressional action is not necessary (in which case the agreement is called a sole

executive agreement). 75 Although not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the use of

executive agreements has been validated by historical practice and judicial decision.76

Id.

See Edward T. Swaine, Unsigning, 55 STAN. L. REV. 2061, 2079 (2003).

See id.

See Restatement, supra note 34, at § 334.

See id.

See id. at § 334 cmt. a.

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS: THE ROLE OF THE UNITED

STATES SENATE, A STUDY PREPARED FOR THE SENATE COMM. ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 5 (2001 S. Prt. 106-71), available

at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=106_cong_senate_print&docid=f:66922.pdf.

Id.

E.g. Am. Ins. Assoc. v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396, 415 (2002) (“[O]ur cases have recognized that the President has

(continued...)

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Nevertheless, the full scope of the President’s authority to conclude and implement executive

agreements, particularly sole executive agreements, remains a subject of scholarly and political

debate.

When asked to give its advice and consent to the UNFCCC, the Senate expressed concern that, if

ratified, the UNFCCC might be interpreted as authorizing the treatment of subsequent protocols

and amendments as executive agreements. During the hearing on the Convention, the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee propounded to the Administration the general question of whether

protocols and amendments to the Convention and to the Convention’s Annexes would be

submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent. As discussed, the George H.W. Bush

Administration responded as follows:

Amendments to the convention will be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent.

Amendments to the convention’s annex (i.e., changes in the lists of countries contained in

annex I and annex II) would not be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent. With

respect to protocols, given that a protocol could be adopted on any number of subjects,

treatment of any given protocol would depend on its subject matter. However, we would

expect that any protocol would be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent.77

The committee also asked more specifically whether a protocol containing targets and timetables

for emissions reductions would be submitted. The Administration responded in the affirmative:

If such a protocol were negotiated and adopted, and the United States wished to become a

party, we would expect such a protocol to be submitted to the Senate.78

In light of these statements, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations stated in its report on the

resolution that a decision by either the UNFCCC parties or the Executive to implement the

UNFCCC by adopting targets and timetables would need to be treated as a new treaty and

therefore submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent.79 In doing so, the Committee

provided a clear statement of its view that any future agreement containing legally binding targets

and timetables would have to be submitted to the Senate. These statements lack the strength of a

formal condition to the Senate’s resolution of ratification for the UNFCCC, but they carry both

legal and political significance and, consequently, would be potentially dangerous for any

administration to disregard.

While it should be noted that no executive agreement appears to have been invalidated by a court

on the grounds that it was not submitted to the Senate as a treaty,80 history also shows that the

(...continued)

authority to make ‘executive agreements’ with other countries, requiring no ratification by the Senate ... this power

having been exercised since the early years of the Republic”); U.S. v. Belmont, 301 U.S. 324, 330 (1937) (“[A]n

international compact ... is not always a treaty which requires the participation of the Senate”). See also Congressional

Research Service, supra note 8, at 70.

Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change,

102d Cong., 2d Sess. (1992), at 105.

Id. at 106.

S. Exec. Rept. 102-55, 102d Cong., 2d Sess. (1992), at 14. Additionally, the H.W. Bush Administration’s

commitment was again cited during the Senate debate on the resolution of ratification as an important element of the

Senate’s consent. See 138 CONG. REC. 33521 (October 7, 1992) (statement of Sen. McConnell).

For example, in the late nineties, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to determine whether an executive

agreement between the United States and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and its implementing

(continued...)

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

United States consistently enters multilateral agreements concerning significant environmental

issues by way of treaty.81 Given the nature of the Protocol and the Senate’s statements on the

ratification of the UNFCCC, it is unlikely that an Administration would opt to deviate from the

usual U.S. approach to environmental agreements by adopting the Kyoto Protocol without Senate

approval. Moreover, the failure of the parties to reach an agreement on post-2012 emissions

targets at Copenhagen may detract from the future significance of the Kyoto Protocol and give

the Executive yet another reason not to desire the Protocol’s adoption as an executive agreement.

Because the United States has not completed the legal prerequisites by which the Kyoto Protocol

would become binding domestic law,82 the Kyoto Protocol cannot serve as independent legal

authority for imposing quantitative emissions restrictions on U.S. industry. There have, however,

been rare occasions when treaties have been given provisional application (temporary

implementation) prior to their receipt of the Senate’s advice and consent.83 Nevertheless, the

Protocol appears to lack the legal authority to sustain its provisional application because, unlike

other agreements that have received provisional application, neither the Protocol’s text nor

statements by its parties suggest that the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated with an expectation of its

provisional application.

In general, the provisional application of a treaty requires that the President have independent

constitutional authority, or, potentially, some form of approval from the legislative branch, to

enter into a binding executive agreement that would undertake what provisional application of the

treaty entails.84 However, the President presumably lacks the authority to enter into an executive

agreement that would temporarily implement the Protocol.85 Finally, rather than expressly or

implicitly authorizing the provisional application of the Protocol, in 1997 the Senate adopted a

resolution on a vote of 95-0 expressing the view that the United States should not sign any

(...continued)

statute created valid authority for U.S. extradition of a prisoner to the ICTR. Ntakirutimana v. Reno, 184 F.3d 419 (5th

Cir. 1999), cert. denied 528 U.S. 1135 (2000). Ultimately, the court ruled that it did and emphasized that a treaty, i.e.

an agreement ratified by the President and approved by two-thirds of the Senate, is not the only method by which the

United States can enter a binding international agreement. Id. at 426. Several years later, the Eleventh Circuit Court of

Appeals ruled that the issue of whether an agreement, in that case the North American Free Trade Agreement, which

was treated as a congressional-executive agreement, should have been approved as a formal treaty was a nonjusticiable

political question. Made in the USA Found. v. United States, 242 F.3d 1300 (11th Cir. 2001) cert. denied sub nom

United Steelworkers of America et. al. v. U.S., 534 U.S. 1039 (2001).

E.g. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), March 3, 1973,

T.I.A.S. No. 8249; Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, March 22, 1985, T.I.A.S. No. 11097; Montreal

Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, September 16, 1987, 26 I.L.M. 1541. See also Yoo, supra note

33, at 822 (“[T]he President and Senate have reserved the treaty form for significant international obligations in several

areas, such as political/military agreements, arms control, extradition, the environment, and human rights.”).

Recall that the Protocol has not been submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent on ratification, and,

accordingly, the United States has not deposited an instrument of ratification with the Secretary-General of the United

Nations.

E.g. Maritime Boundary Agreement between the United States and Cuba, Exec. G, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. (1979);

Maritime Boundaries Agreement between the United States and Mexico, Exec. F, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. (1979).

Restatement, supra note 34, at § 312 cmt. l.

See generally Medellin, 552 U.S. at 530-32 (holding that presidential memorandum ordering state court to give effect

to non-self-executing- treaty requirement did not constitute federal law preempting the state’s procedural default rules);

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952) (rejecting President’s claim of independent

constitutional authority to take control of and operate the nation’s steel mills to ensure continued production during the

Korean War).

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

agreement at Kyoto that would commit developed, but not developing, nations to reduce or limit

GHG emissions by a certain date or that would do “serious harm” to the U.S. economy. 86

The Copenhagen Accord

The Copenhagen Accord is the first U.N. document to explicitly state the goal of limiting global

temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to pre-industrial levels.

It establishes a process that allows each Annex I party to define its own GHG emissions target

level. However, delivery of these reductions is subject to measurement, reporting, and verification

in accordance with set guidelines. It asks non-Annex I parties wishing to associate with the

Copenhagen Accord to identify and commit to undertaking “nationally appropriate” GHG

“mitigation actions” (“NAPAs”). All NAPAs, regardless of whether their receipt of international

support, are subject to provisions for “international consultations and analysis” and domestic

measurement, reporting, and verification. Those NAPAs for which international support is

provided, however, are also subject to international measurement, reporting, and verification

requirements. The Accord calls for $30 billion in funding between 2010-2012 to help poorer

countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Accord could not be adopted under the UNFCCC because it failed to garner sufficient

support to meet the UNFCCC’s consensus rules. Consequently, the Conference of the Parties only

“took note” of the text. Willing countries are invited to join the Copenhagen Accord, but the

Accord is not subject to signature.

The United States submitted a note verbale to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC on

January 28, 2010, declaring U.S. intent to associate with the Copenhagen Accord.87 Pursuant to

the terms of the Accord, the United States attached a voluntary GHG emissions reduction target

of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020.88 Seventy-six of the 193 countries represented at the

Copenhagen Conference, including China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa, have

submitted GHG emissions targets or, when appropriate, NAPAs to the Executive Secretary of the

UNFCCC.89 More countries are expected to follow suit despite missing the “soft” deadline for

submissions of January 31, 2010.90

S.Res. 98, 105th Cong., 1st Sess., 143 CONG. REC. 8138 (daily ed. July 25, 1997).

For more on the history of international climate change negotiations, read CRS Report R40001, A U.S.-centric

Chronology of the International Climate Change Negotiations, by (name redacted).

Letter from Todd Stern, U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, to Yvo de Boer, Executive Sec’y of the UNFCCC

(January 28, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/application/pdf/unitedstatescphaccord_app.1.pdf.

Press Release, UNFCCC, UNFCCC Publishes Reports Summing Up Results of 2009 UN Climate Change

Conference in Copenhagen (March 31, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/press/news_room/

press_releases_and_advisories/application/pdf/20100331_pr_cop_report_v2.pdf. For links to the submissions of Annex

I parties relating to the Copenhagen Accord, visit http://unfccc.int/home/items/5264.php. For links to the submissions

of non-Annex I parties relating to the Copenhagen Accord, visit http://unfccc.int/home/items/5265.php. Another 44

countries have provided “additional information” relating to the Copenhagen Accord. See Additional Information

Provided by Parties to the Convention Relating to the Copenhagen Accord, http://unfccc.int/meetings/items/5276.php.

E.g. Letter from Fatima Fetibegovic (Minister of Physical Planning, Civil Engineering, and Ecology of the Republic of

Srpska-Bosnia and Herzegovina) to Mr. Yvo De Boer (Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC) (January 29, 2010)

(expressing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s intent to associate with the Accord).

Stone, supra note 7, at 37.

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International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Is the United States Legally Bound by the Copenhagen Accord?

The United States is not legally bound by the Copenhagen Accord. Statements of the parties to the

Copenhagen Accord show that the parties understood the Accord as political agreement, rather

than a legally binding one. This understanding has since been reflected in statements by both the

UN Secretary General and the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.91 Consequently, the Accord

is not a legally binding international agreement.

In light of the voluntary nature of the Accord, countries may “associate with,” rather than sign,

the Copenhagen Accord. 92 To communicate their intention to associate with the Accord, countries

were asked to submit a note verbale, an unsigned diplomatic communication prepared in the third

person, to the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC.93 The United States has submitted a letter to

the Executive Secretary indicating its intention to be associated with the Accord, 94 however,

because the agreement is not legally binding, this association does not necessarily require U.S.

adherence with the Accord’s provisions.

The Conference of the Parties’ failure to formally adopt the Copenhagen Accord means that, in

addition to being voluntary, the Accord lacks legal standing under the UNFCCC.95 As noted

above, because a small group of countries objected to the Accord, the COP could not achieve the

consensus required by the UNFCCC for formal adoption. Accordingly, the COP agreed only to

“take note of” the Copenhagen Accord. The Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC explained that

this decision means the provisions of the Accord “do not have any legal standing with the

UNFCCC process even if some Parties decide to associate themselves with it.”96

E.g. China’s Submission of Views on the AWG-LCA and AWG-KP ¶4 (February 15, 2010), available at

http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/ad_hoc_working_groups/application/pdf/chinawp2010.pdf (describing the Copenhagen

Accord as a “political agreement”); India’s Submission on the Work of AWG-LCA and AWG-KP, available at

http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/ad_hoc_working_groups/application/pdf/indiawp2010.pdf (stating that the Copenhagen

Accord reflects a “political understanding”); Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General, United Nations, Remarks to the General

Assembly on the outcome of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (December 21, 2009) (stating that the

commitments enshrined in the Copenhagen Accord should be converted into a legally binding climate change treaty);

Notification to Parties from Yvo de Boer, Executive Sec’y of the UNFCC, to the Conference of the Parties on a

Clarification Relating to the Notification of 18 January 2010 (January 25, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/

parties_and_observers/notifications/application/pdf/100125_noti_clarification.pdf (describing the legal nature of the

Accord as “a political agreement, rather than a treaty instrument ...”).

See Notification to Parties from Yvo de Boer, Executive Sec’y of the UNFCC, to the Conference of the Parties on

Information Relating to the Copenhagen Accord (January 18, 2010) available at http://unfccc.int/files/

parties_and_observers/notifications/application/pdf/notification_to_parties_20100118.pdf.

Notification to Parties from Yvo de Boer, Executive Sec’y of the UNFCC, to the Conference of the Parties on a

Clarification Relating to the Notification of 18 January 2010 (January 25, 2010), available at http://unfccc.int/files/

parties_and_observers/notifications/application/pdf/100125_noti_clarification.pdf.

Letter from Todd Stern, supra note 88.

See supra notes 50- 60 and accompanying text.

Notification to Parties from Yvo de Boer, supra note 93. Cf. Daniel Bodansky, supra note 4 (stating that the decision

to “take note of” the Copenhagen Accord gives the Accord “some status in the UNFCCC process but not as much as

approval by the COP.” (emphasis added)).

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Does the U.S. Constitution Require the President to Submit the

Copenhagen Accord to the Senate for Its Advice and Consent?

The Constitution does not appear to require the President to submit the Copenhagen Accord to the

Senate for its advice and consent. The Senate’s advice and consent is only required if the

executive branch is considering action to legally bind the United States to an international

agreement.97 As is, the Copenhagen Accord is a voluntary agreement: no party has a legal

responsibility to fulfill the commitments therein, 98 but states might use political actions to

discourage a party’s noncooperation.99 From the international law perspective then, the

Copenhagen Accord is not a treaty.100

From a constitutional perspective, the practice of the Executive adopting voluntary, or political,

commitments has largely evaded a serious examination of its constitutional foundations. 101

However, the Constitution explicitly affords treaties a unique domestic legal status as part of the

“supreme Law of the Land,” a position that voluntary agreements, which go unmentioned in the

Constitution, necessarily lack.102 This presence of constitutional language regarding treaties and

its corresponding absence regarding voluntary agreements strongly suggests that the Copenhagen

Accord, as a voluntary agreement, does not require the Senate’s approval.103

Nevertheless, some commentators have recently suggested that voluntary agreements and other

international political commitments have evolved over time to become functionally akin to

Congressional Research Service, supra note 8, at 4. The drafters of the Constitution may have intended the Senate’s

advice and consent to begin earlier in the treaty-making process than it does today. Id. According to this view, the

Senate would help formulate instructions to negotiators and act as a council of advisers to the President in addition to

approving each treaty entered into the United States. Id. Presumably, this larger level of participation seemed feasible

because the United States was not expected to enter very many treaties and the original Senate contained only twentysix Members. Id. This enhanced role of the Senate quickly became problematic and the current practice was developed

in which not all agreements require the Senate’s approval, and, for those agreements that do, the Senate is usually asked

for its approval only as the final step before ratification. Id.

See Oscar Schachter, Editorial Comment, The Twilight Existence of Nonbinding International Agreements, 71 AM. J.

INT’L L. 296, 300 (1977). There is general agreement that a nonbinding agreements means that noncompliance by a

party is not a ground for a claim of reparation, sanctions, or some form of judicial remedy. Id. In addition, nonbinding

agreements are not governed by the obligations of customary international law that are included in the Vienna

Convention on the Law of Treaties, such as a signatory’s obligation to refrain from undermining the object and purpose

of the signed agreement. Id. Nevertheless, Schachter suggests that the doctrine of estoppel might apply to nonbinding

agreements, so that a signatory of a nonbinding agreement must not deny that another signatory’s course of action that

was necessitated by, or perhaps simply pursuant to, the agreement is lawful. Id. at 301.

Duncan B. Hollis and Joshua J. Newcomer, Political Commitments and the Constitution, 49 VA. J. INT’L L. 507, 512,

540 (2009). Hollis and Newcomer go on to suggest that this distinction is not always so meaningful, as countries may

opt to respond politically to breaches of both treaty and voluntary commitments. Id. at 540.

100

Damrosch, supra note 31, at 122. In international law, the term “treaty” refers only to binding agreements between

subjects of international law that are governed by international law. Id. In the case of the Copenhagen Accord, it would

not be considered a treaty in either sense because it is nonbinding. See id. Note that in U.S. usage, the term “treaty”

signifies an agreement that has been approved by the Senate. Id.

101

Hollis and Newcomer, supra note 99, at 540.

102

U.S. CONST. art. VI, § 2.

103

See id.; Damrosch, supra note 31, at 122. In U.S. usage, the term “treaty” signifies an agreement that has been

approved by the Senate. Id. In international law, the term “treaty” is used more generally to cover binding agreements

between subjects of international law that are governed by international law. Id. In the case of the Copenhagen Accord,

it would not be considered a treaty in either sense because it is nonbinding. See id.

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

treaties, and, therefore, should require some level of Senate approval prior to their adoption.104

Regardless of the merits of this argument, the Senate will presumably influence the domestic

effect of the Copenhagen Accord through its role in appropriations, oversight, and the enactment

of domestic legislation. It may be difficult for the United States to achieve its voluntary

commitment to reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions by 17% below 2005 levels by 2020

without congressional support.

Can the Copenhagen Accord Be Used as a Basis for Regulations

Imposing Emissions Restrictions on Industry?

The Copenhagen Accord cannot be used as an independent basis for agency regulations imposing

emissions restrictions on industry. When a treaty is ratified, any self-executing provisions it

contains are the “Law of the Land.” Accordingly, the Executive could promulgate regulations to

implement these provisions’ requirements just as it could to implement a federal statutory regime

that authorizes agency rulemaking.105 As the Copenhagen Accord is neither the “Law of the

Land” nor self-executing, 106 the Copenhagen Accord is an unlikely basis for regulations imposing

emissions restrictions on industry.

Although the Executive branch may not rely on the Copenhagen Accord as a basis for regulations,

it may be able to rely on authority under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7521 et. seq.) to

implement some GHG emission reducing measures.107 Domestic climate change legislation

would not require Senate approval of the Accord or any other international climate change

agreements. Congress may enact laws that support provisions of the Copenhagen Accord under

one or more of its enumerated powers in Article I, § 8 of the Constitution.

104

E.g. Hollis and Newcomer, supra note 99, at 547 (“Why should we constitutionalize political commitments? Even

as differences remain, political commitments and treaties have come to overlap significantly in terms of the

international functions they perform.”).

105

See Whitney, 124 U.S. at 194 (1888) (“By the constitution, a treaty is placed on the same footing, and made of like

obligation, with an act of legislation. Both are declared by that instrument to be the supreme law of the land, and no

superior efficacy is given to either over the other.”).

106

See infra notes 83-86 (explaining why the Kyoto Protocol can’t be used as a basis for regulations).

107

Mass. v. Envtl Prot. Agency, 549 U.S. 497 (2007). For a summary of the case, read CRS Report RS22665, The

Supreme Court’s Climate Change Decision: Massachusetts v. EPA, by (name redacted). In that context, there is some

debate over the President’s authority to initiate an agency rulemaking process that would result in GHG emissions

regulations. E.g. Michel Estrin Gilman, President as Scientist-in-Chief, 45 WILAMETTE L. REV. 565 (2009); Joshua

Westmoreland, Note, Global Warming and Originalism: The Role of the EPA in the Obama Administration, 37 B.C.

ENVT’L AFF. L. REV. 225 (2010). This discussion is part of a longstanding conversation among legal scholars about

presidential control of the agency rulemaking process. E.g. Lisa Schultz Bressman, Procedures as Politics in

Administrative Law, 107 COLUM. L. REV. 1749 (2007); Elena Kagan, Presidential Administration, 114 HARV. L. REV.

2245 (2006); Kevin M. Stack, The President’s Statutory Powers to Administer the Laws, 106 COLUM. L. REV. 263

(2006). However, discussion of the relationship of domestic law to agency rulemaking is outside of the scope of this

report, which is focused only on the relationship of international agreements to domestic law. For a review of the issues

involved in regulating GHG-emitting sources under the Clean Air Act, read CRS Report R40585, Climate Change:

Potential Regulation of Stationary Greenhouse Gas Sources Under the Clean Air Act, by (name redacted) and (name red

acted), and CRS Report R40506,

Cars and Climate: What Can EPA Do to Control Greenhouse Gases from Mobile

Sources?, by (name redacted).

Congressional Research Service

International Agreements on Climate Change: Selected Legal Questions

Author Contact Information

(name redacted)

Legislative Attorney

[redacted]@crs.loc.gov, 7-....

Congressional Research Service

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