{"id":299,"date":"2010-12-17T12:06:24","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T17:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/?p=299"},"modified":"2010-12-20T16:13:29","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T21:13:29","slug":"consensus-and-unanimity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/","title":{"rendered":"“The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cancun closed with a bang, not least because Mexican Foreign Secretary and Cancun talks chief Patricia Espinosa declared that, “The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity.”<\/p>\n

\"PatriciaThat sentence alone should occupy legal scholars for years to come. Most economists would only applaud. Getting 190-odd countries to agree on anything is extremely difficult. Unanimous consent is almost always out.<\/p>\n

If the Espinosa consensus stands, it will certainly insert some new vigor into the UN climate talks. It proved to be crucial to breaking the logjam in Cancun, which would otherwise have been held up by Bolivia as the lone dissenter. (Bolivia is now appealing Espinosa’s decision.)<\/p>\n

The building blocks for a global deal are still elusive. Cancun punted on some of the most important issues. Some other crucial ones like Avoiding Deforestation (REDD+) and the basic building blocks for a Green Climate Fund saw some real progress.<\/p>\n

Head over to EDF’s Climate Talks blog for a rundown of the most important issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the end Michael Levi has it exactly right:<\/p>\n

The Cancun agreement should be applauded not because it solves everything, but because it chooses not to.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It focuses on what the UN does well, and avoids the rest.<\/p>\n

That, and the Espinosa consensus\u2014if it withstands Bolivia’s appeal\u2014may well be the most important legacies of Cancun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cancun could.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":850,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16683,330],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-agreement","category-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity" - Market Forces<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity" - Market Forces\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cancun could.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Market Forces\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gernot Wagner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gernot Wagner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gernot Wagner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a\"},\"headline\":\"“The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity”\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":230,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/patricia_espinosa.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"International\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity\\\" - Market Forces\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/patricia_espinosa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/patricia_espinosa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/wp-content\\\/blogs.dir\\\/32\\\/files\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/patricia_espinosa.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/2010\\\/12\\\/17\\\/consensus-and-unanimity\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/\",\"name\":\"Market Forces\",\"description\":\"Economic Incentives = Environmental Gains\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a\",\"name\":\"Gernot Wagner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=gb2339d45dd0824feb4b6a542a1cc2c3b\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gernot Wagner\"},\"description\":\"\u00a0\u00a0 Consultant Gernot Wagner, Ph.D., works closely with EDF\u2019s Office of Economic Policy and Analysis, participating in projects relating to climate damages and tipping points, the social cost of carbon, empirical modeling of climate change and human activity, and others.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.edf.org\\\/gwagner\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/markets\\\/author\\\/gwagner\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity\" - Market Forces","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity\" - Market Forces","og_description":"Cancun could.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/","og_site_name":"Market Forces","article_published_time":"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Gernot Wagner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gernot Wagner","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/"},"author":{"name":"Gernot Wagner","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a"},"headline":"“The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity”","datePublished":"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/"},"wordCount":230,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg","articleSection":["International","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/","name":"\"The rule of consensus doesn't mean unanimity\" - Market Forces","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg","datePublished":"2010-12-17T17:06:24+00:00","dateModified":"2010-12-20T21:13:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/32\/files\/2010\/12\/patricia_espinosa.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/2010\/12\/17\/consensus-and-unanimity\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“The rule of consensus doesn’t mean unanimity”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/","name":"Market Forces","description":"Economic Incentives = Environmental Gains","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/#\/schema\/person\/848fa9daa71b0c5e7795b5938249145a","name":"Gernot Wagner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=gb2339d45dd0824feb4b6a542a1cc2c3b","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0d66a48dd6a3d249bbcced735900500b81779d508e4c8e4ecb8e694ea6517820?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gernot Wagner"},"description":"\u00a0\u00a0 Consultant Gernot Wagner, Ph.D., works closely with EDF\u2019s Office of Economic Policy and Analysis, participating in projects relating to climate damages and tipping points, the social cost of carbon, empirical modeling of climate change and human activity, and others.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.edf.org\/gwagner"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/author\/gwagner\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/850"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/markets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}