Note: [+] Note by the Editor-in-Chief: We publish this scholarly contribution with a deep sense of sorrow. A scholar of international repute, Meinhard Doelle passed away on 17 September 2022. After our multiple communications over several months, Meinhard, provided the finally revised article on 18 July 2022. Thereafter, the page proofs sent by the typesetter remained unchecked. Now I have taken care of the corrections. His promise to provide a stand-alone article for the EPL to examine “to regulate what we want rather than continue to try to regulate what we don’t want” will not materialize. We will greatly miss Meinhard’s splendid scholarship.
Abstract: The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992. It was opened for signature at Rio de Janeiro in June of that year. The 30th anniversary of its adoption offers an opportunity to reflect on more than a quarter of a century of UN climate diplomacy, and to consider the path ahead. This contribution takes a look back at the choices made that have led the regime to its current state. It then takes a look forward and considers the prospects of the regime meeting its ultimate aim of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate system.
