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The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997 was a major achievement in the endeavour to tackle the problem of global climate change at the dawn of the 21st century. After many years of involvement in the negotiation process, the book's two internationally recognised authors now offer the international community a firsthand and inside perspective of the debate on the Kyoto Protocol. The book provides a comprehensive scholarly analysis of the history and content of the Protocol itself as well as of the economic, political and legal implications of its implementation. It also presents a perspective for the further development of the climate regime. These important features make this book an indispensable working tool for policy makers, negotiators, academics and all those actively involved and interested in climate change issues in both the developed and developing world

The need to free the world economy from its dependence on oil & other fossil fuels is stressed, noting that these resources contribute not only to global warming but are the source of international conflicts. The linkage between security policy & responsible industrial growth is argued in this essay addressing several related issues pertaining to both, including: (1) the irrelevance of the traditional notion of national interest in the globalization era, (2) competition for energy resources as a source of armed conflicts, (3) the ecological footprint of industrialized nations reaching far outside their territory, (4) the utilization of the earth's ecological system as a commons vs assets of local peoples (eg, the destruction of habitat through oil drilling or logging), (5) natural resource extraction as the destruction of life style & life foundation for local peoples, (6) the interrelationship between resource-based economy & antidemocratic regimes (7) international competition & conflicts caused by the access to & distribution of energy sources, (8) the small & poor countries as the most threatened with the consequences of global warming, (9) the shift from foreign policy to biosphere policy, & (10) national interest vs global interest as the ultimate objective of the new foreign policy. Plates. Z. Dubiel

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, welche Herausforderungen aus der globalen Umwelt- und Ressourcenkrise für eine Weltinnenpolitik entstehen. So werden hier die Ressourcen- und Umweltkonflikte als Treiber globalen Unfriedens beschrieben, wobei sich vier Konfliktlagen unterscheiden lassen: (1) Überlebenskonflikte indigener Gruppen am Beispiel Ecuadors, (2) Regimekonflikte, (3) Verteilungskonflikte und (4) Verlagerungskonflikte im Zuge des Klimawandels. Die Erkenntnis der physischen Grenzen der Erde führt, zusammen mit der wirtschaftlichen und technologischen Globalisierung, aufgrund der absehbaren Umwelt- und Ressourcenkonflikte zu einem Wechsel der Arbeitsgrundlage für Außenpolitik. Nicht länger kann in nationalen 'Behältern' gedacht werden oder in Kompetenzbereichen: das Innen und Außen gehören zusammen - Klimaaußenpolitik ohne nationale Klimaschutzmaßnahmen ist unsinnig. Nicht länger kann effektive Außenpolitik sich in der Verteidigung enger so genannter nationaler Interessen erschöpfen: das nationale Interesse umfasst heute über eine Vielzahl von Rückkopplungs- und Kaskadenmechanismen das Wohlergehen aller Menschen auf diesem Planeten. Das nationale Wohl ist nicht länger der Bezugsrahmen für eine aufgeklärte Außenpolitik, sondern vielmehr das Gemeinwohl der Weltgesellschaft. (ICG2)

In 2005 two very important milestones of international climate policy were reached: The entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and the installation of a European wide emissions trading system. In Germany, the publication of the fifth report of the inter-ministerial working group on climate policy was published with an evaluation of climate protection policies. In 2004 the Japanese climate protection policy was fully revised so that Japan will also bring forth important developments in this area. The traditional close cooperation in this area between Japan and Germany, must now result in more concrete projects to keep this dynamic going well into the future. There is much potential to achieve a lot. Within the unique framework of the Germany in Japan Year 2005-2006, the German Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry for Innovation of Northrhine-Westfalia, together with the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Japan) and the Wuppertal Institute (Germany) put together a two day event in Tokyo comprising an experts workshop and a one day conference. At the conference, experts and practitioners of the German government, the states, the private sector and environmental organisations from Germany and Europe presented the decisive factors for success as well as the difficulties encountered namely in introducing an eco-tax and the Emissions Trading Scheme. Japanese experts and practitioners reported on Japanese approaches and reviewed the German/European experiences in light of the Japanese situation. At the expert workshop, researchers and decision makers discussed the experiences with policy dialogues and stakeholder involvement. They assessed the transferability of German/European experiences into the Japanese context and the broader inclusion of civil society into the governmental decision making process, that is so say, the opportunities in co-operating with politics, private sector and environmental organisations. This report documents the events and highlights the most outstanding conclusions and ideas for further cooperation in the future. It will begin with the documentation of the conference held on 1 November 2005 followed by the report on the experts workshop held on 31 October 2005. Dr. H. E. Ott will conclude with a short assessment and outlook.