CIEL’s Climate Change Program works to develop and strengthen the rules within the international climate change legal regime. Although we were disappointed by the failure of the Parties to reach agreement at the Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP6) in The Hague, our primary goal remains the same: to get the rules right so that the Protocol can become a genuine tool for environmental protection and sustainable development.

During the course of the climate negotiations, proposals developed by CIEL have been included in the negotiating texts and supported by governments and international institutions.  CIEL is widely recognized as a leading legal research institution in the area of climate change.  We provide high quality analysis and legal advice to governments and environmental groups, and author technical papers and reports that are timely and persuasive.

The 4 key areas of focus for CIEL's Climate Change Program Include:

• Accounting rules that ensure verifiable emissions reductions, promote sustainable development, conserve biological diversity and respect other ecological values; 

• Compliance and monitoring systems for enforcing the Kyoto Protocol;

• Participation of the public, including directly affected local communities and civil society in the Kyoto Protocol; and

• Domestic policy to combat global warming,