Democratizing global climate governance? The case of indigenous representation in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reviews scientific literature on climate change in an attempt to make scientific knowledge about climate change accessible to a wide audience that includes policymakers. Documents produced by the IPCC are subject to negotiations in plenary sessions, which can be frustrating for the scientists and government delegations involved, who all have stakes in getting their respective interests met. This paper draws on the work of Bruno Latour in order to formulate a so-called ‘diplomatic’ approach to knowledge assessment in global climate governance. Such an approach, we argue, helps to make climate governance more inclusive by helping to identify values of parties involved with the IPCC plenaries, and allowing those parties to recognize their mutual interests and perspectives on climate change. Drawing on observations during IPCC plenaries, this paper argues that a Latourian form of diplomacy can lead to more inclusive negotiations in climate governance

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International Governance on Carbon Tariff and Its Vacuum in International Regime

Chinese Journal of Urban and Environmental Studies ◽

10.1142/s2345748113500085 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 01 (01) ◽

pp. 1350008 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mou WANG

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

International Trade ◽

Global Climate ◽

Developed Countries ◽

International Governance ◽

International Consensus ◽

Climate Governance ◽

Emission Quota ◽

Carbon Tariff

Drawing on the idea that countries are eligible to implement differentiated emission reduction policies based on their respective capabilities, some parties of UNFCCC attempt to weaken the principle of “Common but differentiated responsibilities(CBDR)” and impose carbon tariff on international trade. This initiative is in fact another camouflage to burden developing countries with emission cut obligation, which has no doubt undermined the development rights of developing countries. This paper defines Carbon Tariff as border measures that target import goods with embodied carbon emission. It can be import tariffs or other domestic tax measures that adjust border tax, which includes plain import tariffs and export rebates, border tax adjustment, emission quota and permit etc. For some developed countries, carbon tariffs mean to sever trade protectionism and to build trade barriers. Its theoretical arguments like “loss of comparative advantage”, “carbon leakage decreases environmental effectiveness” and “theoretical model bases” are pseudo-propositions without international consensus. Carbon tariff has become an intensively debated issue due to its duality of climate change and trade, but neither UNFCCC nor WTO has clarified this issue or has indicated a clear statement in this regard. As a result, it allows some parties to take advantage of this loophole and escape its international climate change obligation. Carbon tariff is an issue arising from global climate governance. To promote the cooperation of global climate governance and safeguard the social and economic development of developing countries, a fair and justified climate change regime and international trade institution should be established, and the settlement of the carbon tariff issue should be addressed within these frameworks. This paper argues that the international governance of carbon tariff should in cooperation with other international agreements; however, principles and guidelines regarding this issue should be developed under the UNFCCC. Based on these principles and guidelines, WTO can develop related technical operation provisions.

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Advances in the data rescue and digitization of historical wind speed observations in Sweden: the WINDGUST project

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-5848 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Erik Engström ◽

Cesar Azorin-Molina ◽

Lennart Wern ◽

Sverker Hellström ◽

Christophe Sturm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Wind Speed ◽

Global Climate ◽

Current Status ◽

Weather Data ◽

Climate Data ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

Staff Members ◽

The 1960S

Here we present the progress of the first work package (WP1) of the project &#8220;Assessing centennial wind speed variability from a historical weather data rescue project in Sweden&#8221; (WINDGUST), funded by FORMAS &#8211; A Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (ref. 2019-00509); previously introduced in EGU2019-17792-1 and EGU2020-3491. In a global climate change, one of the major uncertainties on the causes driving the climate variability of winds (i.e., the &#8220;stilling&#8221; phenomenon and the recent &#8220;recovery&#8221; since the 2010s) is mainly due to short availability (i.e., since the 1960s) and low quality of observed wind records as stated by the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).The WINDGUST is a joint initiative between the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) and the University of Gothenburg aimed at filling the key gap of short availability and low quality of wind datasets, and improve the limited knowledge on the causes driving wind speed variability in a changing climate across Sweden.During 2020, we worked in WP1 to rescue historical wind speed series available in the old weather archives at SMHI for the 1920s-1930s. In the process we followed the &#8220;Guidelines on Best Practices for Climate Data Rescue&#8221; of the World Meteorological Organization. Our protocol consisted on: (i) designing a template for digitization; (ii) digitizing papers by an imaging process based on scanning and photographs; and (iii) typing numbers of wind speed data into the template. We will report the advances and current status, challenges and experiences learned during the development of WP1. Until new year 2020/2021 eight out of thirteen selected stations spanning over the years 1925 to 1948 have been scanned and digitized by three staff members of SMHI during 1,660 manhours.

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Climate governance in an international system under conservative hegemony: the role of major powers

Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional ◽

10.1590/s0034-73292012000300002 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 55 (spe) ◽

pp. 9-29 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Eduardo Viola ◽

Matías Franchini ◽

Thaís Lemos Ribeiro

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

International Relations ◽

Global Climate ◽

International System ◽

Exploratory Research ◽

Climate Governance ◽

Major Powers ◽

Common Character ◽

Do So

In the last five years, climate change has been established as a central civilizational driver of our time. As a result of this development, the most diversified social processes - as well as the fields of science which study them - have had their dynamics altered. In International Relations, this double challenge could be explained as follows: 1) in empirical terms, climate change imposes a deepening of cooperation levels on the international community, considering the global common character of the atmosphere; and 2) to International Relations as a discipline, climate change demands from the scientific community a conceptual review of the categories designed to approach the development of global climate governance. The goal of this article is to discuss in both conceptual and empirical terms the structure of global climate change governance, through an exploratory research, aiming at identifying the key elements that allow understanding its dynamics. To do so, we rely on the concept of climate powers. This discussion is grounded in the following framework: we now live in an international system under conservative hegemony that is unable to properly respond to the problems of interdependence, among which - and mainly -, the climate issue.

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1. What is climate change?

10.1093/actrade/9780198867869.003.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-9

Author(s):

Mark Maslin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Economic Development ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

Local Politics ◽

Global Climate ◽

Intergovernmental Panel

‘What is climate change?’ discusses what climate change is. Climate change is no longer just a scientific concern, but encompasses economics, sociology, geopolitics, national and local politics, law, and health just to name a few. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) play an important role in moderating past global climate. Why they have been rising since before the Industrial Revolution, and why are they now considered dangerous pollutants? Which countries have produced the most anthropogenic GHGs and how is this changing with rapid economic development? It is important here to consider the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and how it regularly collates and assesses the most recent evidence for climate change.

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An Overview of CMIP5 and the Experiment Design

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society ◽

10.1175/bams-d-11-00094.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 93 (4) ◽

pp. 485-498 ◽

Cited By ~ 8089

Author(s):

Karl E. Taylor ◽

Ronald J. Stouffer ◽

Gerald A. Meehl

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Models ◽

Global Climate ◽

Experiment Design ◽

Global Climate Models ◽

Model Output ◽

Earth System ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

System Models ◽

Earth System Models

The fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) will produce a state-of-the- art multimodel dataset designed to advance our knowledge of climate variability and climate change. Researchers worldwide are analyzing the model output and will produce results likely to underlie the forthcoming Fifth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Unprecedented in scale and attracting interest from all major climate modeling groups, CMIP5 includes “long term” simulations of twentieth-century climate and projections for the twenty-first century and beyond. Conventional atmosphere–ocean global climate models and Earth system models of intermediate complexity are for the first time being joined by more recently developed Earth system models under an experiment design that allows both types of models to be compared to observations on an equal footing. Besides the longterm experiments, CMIP5 calls for an entirely new suite of “near term” simulations focusing on recent decades and the future to year 2035. These “decadal predictions” are initialized based on observations and will be used to explore the predictability of climate and to assess the forecast system's predictive skill. The CMIP5 experiment design also allows for participation of stand-alone atmospheric models and includes a variety of idealized experiments that will improve understanding of the range of model responses found in the more complex and realistic simulations. An exceptionally comprehensive set of model output is being collected and made freely available to researchers through an integrated but distributed data archive. For researchers unfamiliar with climate models, the limitations of the models and experiment design are described.

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China’s Evolving Development Dilemma in the Context of the North-South Climate Governance Debate

Perspectives on Global Development and Technology ◽

10.1163/15691497-12341324 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 13 (5-6) ◽

pp. 699-727 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Joyeeta Gupta ◽

King Yip Wong

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Global Climate ◽

Political Process ◽

Green Economy ◽

Industrialized Countries ◽

Climate Governance ◽

Climate Change Negotiations ◽

The North ◽

Zero Sum

This paper examines China’s policy and position in relation to the evolving climate change negotiations in order to explain how China is dealing with the dilemma of meeting its growing development needs while reducing ghg emissions. It argues that global climate governance requires steering and leadership to deal with the interlocked political process; that the developing countries (dcs) right to develop is challenged by the need for ecosystemic standards especially as climate change is seen as a zero-sum game as the more one country emits the less another one can. This is especially problematic as Industrialized countries (ics) appear to be both unwilling and unable to increase growth without increasing emissions. This explains China’s policy of insisting on its right to develop, of demanding that ics reduce their emissions and that they fulfil their obligations under the fccc, while expressing its willingness to take on a voluntary target. The paper argues that China’s state-led transition has eight unique characteristics that may allow it to lead as it moves beyond a no-regrets policy to a circular and green economy, cooperating with other dcs and mobilizing conscious green values in citizens. The question remains—will the initial success and scale of state-led transition lead the global green transition to a sustainable world?

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Agro-ecological field vulnerability evaluation and climate change impacts in Souma area (Iran), using MicroLEIS DSS

Biologia ◽

10.2478/s11756-009-0104-9 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Farzin Shahbazi ◽

Ali Jafarzadeh ◽

Mohammad Shahbazi

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Heavy Metal Contamination ◽

Global Climate ◽

Global Environmental Change ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Climate Data ◽

Intergovernmental Panel ◽

North West ◽

Evaluation Approach

AbstractSoil erosion and contamination are two main desertification indices or land degradation agents in agricultural areas. Global climate change consequence is a priority to predict global environmental change impacts on these degradation risks. This agro-ecological approach can be especially useful when formulating soil specific agricultural practices based on the spatial variability of soils and related resources to reverse environmental degradation. Raizal and Pantanal models within the new MicroLEIS framework, the Ero&Con package, are database/expert system evaluation approach for assessing limitations to land use, or vulnerability of the land to specified agricultural degradation risks. This study was performed in Souma area with approximately 4100 ha extension in the North-West of Iran (west Azarbaijan). Based on 35 sampling soils, Typic Xerofluvents, Typic Calcixerepts, Fluventic Haploxerepts and Fluventic Endaquepts were classified as main subgroups. Climatological data, referred to temperature and precipitation of more than 36 consecutive years were collected from Urmieh station reports and stored in monthly Climate Database CDBm, as a major component of MicroLEIS DSS (CDBm) program. Climate data for a hypothetical future scenario were collected from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports for the 2080s period. The evaluation approach predicts that attainable water erosion vulnerability classes were none (V1) very low (V2) and moderately low (V4) in the total of 72%, 13% and 15% of the Souma area, respectively and they will not affected by climate change. On contrary, attainable wind erosion vulnerability classes will increase. Also, phosphorous and heavy metal contamination vulnerability risks will not differ in two compared scenarios while nitrogen and pesticides vulnerability classes will be improved.

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The Paris Climate Agreement and China’s Role in Global Climate Governance

China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies ◽

10.1142/s2377740016500160 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 02 (02) ◽

pp. 185-200

Author(s):

Hongyuan Yu

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Global Climate ◽

Legal Framework ◽

International Community ◽

Climate Governance ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions ◽

Paris Climate Agreement ◽

Combat Climate Change ◽

Growth Approach

Since the first global summit on climate change was held in 1992, the international community has managed to adopt a series of agreements and action plans to coordinate efforts of all countries to tackle the existing and potential challenges caused by climate change. Yet due to a lack of legally binding mechanisms and the huge discrepancy between developed and developing countries in their respective responsibilities, little progress has been made in international climate negotiation over the past decade. With the joint endeavor of major greenhouse gas emitters, especially emerging economies like China, the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal, the Paris Climate Agreement, was adopted in December 2015, setting up the legal framework of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) and relevant international institutions to combat climate change on a reinterpreted principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR).” Conducive as it is to the institutions and working model of global climate governance, the agreement will attach more responsibilities to developing countries including China. Having developed a strong resolution and given many open international commitments to assume more responsibilities in combating climate change, China should develop a green-growth approach while providing more public goods for the international community, so as to make its best contributions to future global climate governance.

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Regional Governance of Global Climate Change: The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Global Environmental Politics ◽

10.1162/glep.2007.7.2.11 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 11-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Michele M. Betsill

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

North American ◽

Global Climate ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Regional Governance ◽

Governance System ◽

Environmental Cooperation ◽

Climate Governance ◽

The North

Over the past decade the governance of global climate change has evolved into a complex, multi-level process involving actors and initiatives at multiple levels of social organization from the global to the local in both the public and private spheres. This article analyzes the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) as one component of this multilevel governance system. Specifically, it evaluates the CEC as a site of regional climate governance based on three potential advantages of governance through regional organizations: a small number of actors, opportunities for issue linkage, and linkage between national and global governance systems. On each count I find that the benefits of a CEC-based climate governance system are limited and argue for greater consideration of how such a system would interact with other forms of climate governance in North America.

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