By Jeffrey D. Sachs, Azernews Professor of Sustainable
Development, Professor of Health Policy and Management, and
Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He is
also Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on
the Millennium Development Goals. Of all major world regions,
Europe has worked the hardest to implement policies aimed at
countering human-caused climate change. Yet the cornerstone of
Europe's approach - a continent-wide emissions trading system
for the greenhouse gases that cause climate change - is in
trouble. That experience suggests a better strategy for both
Europe and the rest of the world. The basic story of human-
caused climate change is becoming clearer to the global public.
Several gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide, warm the planet as their concentrations in the atmosphere
increase. As the world economy grows, so do emissions of these
gases, accelerating the pace of human-caused climate change. The
main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide