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Resource‐intensive, high‐carbon, Western lifestyles are frequently criticised as unsustainable and deeply unsatisfying. However, these lifestyles are still attractive to the majority of Westerners and to a high proportion of the developing world's middle classes. This paper argues that the imminent threat of catastrophic climate change constitutes an immediate political, economic and ethical challenge for citizens of the developed world that cannot be tackled by appeals to asceticism or restraint. There can be no solution to climate change until sustainable conceptions of the good life are developed that those in the West want to live and which others might want to live. While the ultimate solution to climate change is the development of low carbon lifestyles, it is important that government initiatives, governance arrangements and economic incentives support rather than undermine that search. Like the global financial crisis, the climate change crisis also demonstrates what happens when weaknesses in national, corporate and professional governance are exacerbated by weaknesses in global governance. In tackling the latter, it is critical the mistakes now evidenced in the former are avoided – including a rethinking of carbon market and carbon tax alternatives. It is also critical that individuals must take responsibility for their actions as consumers, voters and investors.

The rule of law is widely seen as the cornerstone of any effective polity and increasingly a vital component of the international political system. If the international rule of law were to be strengthened, it would greatly contribute to trade, security, human rights and global cooperation in a range of fields. Yet, in many areas the rule of law seems almost absent in international affairs.This book explores the institutions that support the effectiveness of the rule of law domestically. It focuses on the extent to which similar institutions already exist at international level and analyses the