In light of the recurring deadlocks within consensus-based climate negotiations, Türkan Gülce Budak’s Beyond Treaties: Rethinking Legal Mechanisms for International Climate Governance presents a thoughtful and considered body of legal scholarship that offers a new perspective on the structure of international climate governance. The book is not merely a critique of treaty law but, rather, a substantive inquiry into its shortcomings, particularly its contribution to efforts to achieve deep decarbonisation. It identifies and analyses alternatives to treaty law, such as multilateral structures and trade-related mechanisms, and then outlines a robust legal and institutional framework encompassing these various aspects.
The eight chapters offer both critical evaluation and normative reconstruction. In the initial chapters, Budak analyses the political economy of climate treaties and provides a clear-headed assessment of the limitations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992), the Kyoto Protocol (1997) and the Paris Agreement (2015). Although these treaties were historically significant, Budak argues that they have generally not lived up to the promises contained in their texts, mainly due to the use of soft language, a lack of enforcement and structural barriers to universal participation.
Chapters 3–5 encompass the intellectual heart of the book. In these chapters, Budak makes a case for utilising ‘climate clubs’, a framework first articulated by William Nordhaus, but further developed here into a thoughtful legal framework. Climate clubs would consist of States willing to adopt a carbon price and agree on specific regulatory coordination, thereby creating exclusive trading advantages for States that are members of the club and imposing trade penalties on States that are not. Budak examines the legal and economic rationale for climate clubs, concluding that the effectiveness of climate clubs depends on the coherence of policies and the effective use of market links such as emissions trading programmes, carbon tariffs and border adjustments, among others.
In Chapter 6, Budak examines whether such clubs align with the principles of the Paris Agreement, including the common but differentiated responsibilities principle and cooperative approaches outlined in Article 6. Budak convincingly argues that far from undermining the spirit of the Agreement, well-designed clubs can galvanise ambition and drive implementation. The author views climate clubs not as replacements but as complementary accelerators to the multilateral process.
The legal tension between club mechanisms and trade law is addressed in Chapter 7. This is the most technically sophisticated chapter, in which Budak undertakes a detailed examination of World Trade Organization jurisprudence, particularly the Most Favoured Nation and National Treatment principles. The author shows that environmental exceptions and evolving case law permit room for carefully calibrated climate-related trade measures, provided these are non-discriminatory and grounded in legitimate policy objectives. The analysis here is both doctrinal and practical, reflecting a command of trade law that complements the author’s expertise in environmental governance.
The book concludes with a measured epilogue, synthesising the findings and setting forth an agenda for future research. Among the avenues Budak identifies are the need to explore subnational and private sector roles in climate clubs, as well as the long-term consequences of club-based governance on developing economies. Although not fully developed in the book, these suggestions provide fertile ground for scholars seeking to build upon the book’s foundations.
The work is clearly intended for an audience well-versed in legal scholarship. Nonetheless, Budak’s writing is accessible and cogent. Technical concepts are well-defined, case law is appropriately cited and the logical progression of the argument is sustained without excessive jargon. Footnotes are extensive yet unobtrusive, allowing readers to follow the author’s reasoning while directing them toward additional sources.
One of the book’s strengths lies in its interdisciplinary fluency. Drawing upon legal theory, economics and political science, Budak integrates perspectives that are often siloed in climate discourse. The use of economic analysis of law, especially in assessing incentives and compliance behaviour, is particularly effective in making the case for clubs as pragmatic instruments of governance. Moreover, the author’s engagement with existing scholarship is both respectful and critical; the reader encounters a writer unafraid to challenge dominant paradigms but careful not to dismiss their historical or symbolic value. The author’s practice illustrates an elegant modesty. The author resists rhetorical grandstanding, allowing the argument to unfold through the slow layering of legal proof. The book is formal but readable, and Budak successfully treads the line between doctrinal precision and normative ambition.
Nonetheless, the book is not without its limitations. While the author recognises the salience of equity questions for developing countries, the discussion of them is superficial. Much more prominence should be accorded to the views of the Global South on climate clubs, for they appear exclusionary or coercive. Likewise, the role of civil society and non-State actors in establishing or contesting club-based governance receives almost no sustained attention, despite it becoming an increasingly salient issue in contemporary climate policy.
The book is a timely and thoughtful contribution to the field of international climate law. Budak is not arguing for the complete abandonment of treaty-based governance. Instead, he offers a compelling legal roadmap for supplementing treaty governance. By carefully analysing climate clubs and trade linkages, Budak envisions how international law could be made both more enforceable and responsive to the climate emergency. This book will be of interest to legal scholars, those working on the institutional architecture of climate governance and policymakers exploring how to address the growing gap between climate promises and climate action.
