Le casse-tête de l'effet de serre au crible du développement durable

By its own the global warming issue synthesises all the relevant dimensions and difficulties met by the project of sustainable development: long term effects and threats, real global dimensions, need of incentives for decentralizing action to billions of people, scientific uncertainty. More than fifteen years were necessary to build a new global regime of climate protection. In spite of that, the situation is still blocked in 2004 and seemingly condemned to lead to dead-ends, failing to grasp problems at their true level. The initial question was the following: how can countries that are opposed by any criterion succeed in finding an agreement to protect a public good that is felt essential by some of them, while no superior political authority exists that could impose a common law to all countries? An exploration of this question with the help of the three main theoretical approaches used to think the issue of international coordination shows that none can lead to success. An examination of a few alternatives strategies does not allow finding a convincing solution. Hence the headache.