20. Australia and global climate change

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt McDonald
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Key Drivers

This chapter examines Australia’s engagement with the international politics of global climate change. It first provides an overview of the problem of global climate change and its likely effects, focusing on key complexities and dilemmas regarding climate change, and the evolution of the climate change regime through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. It then considers key drivers of climate diplomacy, from the ideology and foreign policy perspectives of different governments to the role of public opinion and the ebb and flow of international cooperation. It shows that Australia’s changing approach to climate change cooperation underscores the profound challenges for the climate change regime.

1. What is climate change?

2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Maslin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Profound Influence

‘What is climate change?’ examines the role of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in moderating past global climate; why they have been rising since the industrial revolution; and why they are now considered dangerous pollutants. It considers which countries have produced the most GHGs and how this is changing with rapid global development. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regularly collates and assesses the most recent key research and evidence for climate change. Its assessments have a profound influence on the negotiators of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As more carbon is emitted into the atmosphere the effects of climate change will increase, which will threaten and challenge human society.

Global Climate Change: Real or Myth?

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael H. Fox
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
An Inconvenient Truth ◽  
The World ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
The One

We, the teeming billions of people on earth, are changing the earth’s climate at an unprecedented rate because we are spewing out greenhouse gases and are heading to a disaster, say most climate scientists. Not so, say the skeptics. We are just experiencing normal variations in earth’s climate and we should all take a big breath, settle down, and worry about something else. Which is it? A national debate has raged for the last several decades about whether anthropogenic (man-made) sources of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and other so-called “greenhouse gases“ (primarily methane and nitrous oxide) are causing the world to heat up. This phenomenon is usually called “global warming,” but it is more appropriate to call it “global climate change,” since it is not simply an increase in global temperatures but rather more complex changes to the overall climate. Al Gore is a prominent spokesman for the theory that humans are causing an increase in greenhouse gases leading to global climate change. His movie and book, An Inconvenient Truth, gave the message widespread awareness and resulted in a Nobel Peace Prize for him in 2008. However, the message also led to widespread criticism. On the one hand are a few scientists and a large segment of the general American public who believe that there is no connection between increased CO2 in the atmosphere and global climate change, or if there is, it is too expensive to do anything about it, anyway. On the other hand is an overwhelming consensus of climate scientists who have produced enormous numbers of research papers demonstrating that increased CO2 is changing the earth’s climate. The scientific consensus is expressed most clearly in the Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 by the United Nations–sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the fourth in a series of reports since 1990. The IPCC began as a group of scientists meeting in Geneva in November 1988 to discuss global climate issues under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program.

Global Climate Change by Wetland Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

2022 ◽  
pp. 182-196
Author(s):  
Madhavi Konni ◽  
Vara Saritha ◽  
Pulavarthi Madhuri ◽  
K. Soma Sekhar ◽  
Manoj Kumar Karnena
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Management ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Radiative Balance ◽  
Gas Fluxes ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Fluxes ◽  
Ghg Fluxes

Wetlands (WLs) in the landscapes are important for the GHGs production, ingesting, and exchange with the atmosphere. In this chapter, the authors illustrated how the WLs influence climate change, even though it is typical for determining the climatic role of WLs in the broader perspective. The conclusions might be wary based on the radiative balance as the radiative forcing since the 1750s or climatic roles are continuously changing in the wetlands. Degradation of WLs leads to reducing their functioning, and GHG fluxes might change and alter the climatic roles of the WLs. The chapter demonstrated that WL disturbances might cause global warming for a longer duration even though the WLs are restored or managed by replacing them with the mitigation WLs. Thus, activities that cause disturbance in the WLs leading to carbon oxidation in the soils should be avoided. Regulating the climate is an ecosystem service in the WLs; during the planning of the WLs, protection, restoration, and creation, environmental management should be considered.

Climate Change in Foreign Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Below
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
International System ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Environmental Threat ◽  
Academic Scholarship

Climate change emerged in the late 20th century as a topic of global concern and thus a prominent foreign policy issue. Academic scholarship on the international community’s response to the environmental threat was not far behind. Scholars apply a number of theoretical constructs in their search to explain why states behave the way they do in their coordinated approaches to addressing climate-related activities. Of these, systemic theories such as realism, liberalism, and constructivism figure prominently. State-centric theories that consider changing power dynamics in the international system, the importance of evolving coalitions, as well as the role of hegemonic and leadership states, provide contending explanations. Nonstate actors, especially the climate regime itself which has received substantial attention, are similarly considered important variables affecting foreign policy. Constructivist arguments emphasizing the influence of ideas, norms, and identity have become increasingly common, especially as they relate to developmental disparities, “common but differential responsibilities,” and climate justice. While there has been less focus on the role of individual actors, domestic-level variables such as concerns for economic growth, reputation, and capacity to act, as well as multivariable explanations, continue to provide insight. In contrast to the diversity of explanations proposed, the young field is relatively homogeneous in terms of methodological approaches, with qualitative case studies or small-N analyses being most common. If history is a trustworthy guide, however, as on-the-ground, practical approaches to global climate governance evolve, so too will scholarly approaches to its study.

scholarly journals The role of small ruminants on global climate change

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 43124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alda Lúcia Gomes Monteiro ◽  
Amanda Moser Coelho da Fonseca Faro ◽  
Mylena Taborda Piquera Peres ◽  
Rafael Batista ◽  
Cesar Henrique Espirito Candal Poli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Small Ruminants

Russia and the Kyoto Protocol: Seeking an Alignment of Interests and Image

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Henry ◽  
Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Kyoto Protocol ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
Emissions Reductions ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
The Russian Federation

On November 5, 2004, the Russian Federation ratified the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, effectively saving the treaty. Battling domestic interests, in which a majority of pro-Kyoto voices were countered by a small but powerful minority of Kyoto opponents, had little influence on the decision due to the centralized institutional environment in Russia which allows the President great autonomy in foreign policy. President Putin ratified the treaty because Russia would likely gain leverage in other international negotiations and contribute to an image of itself as a good member of the club of advanced industrialized states. He delayed ratification to clarify evidence about gains versus losses from Kyoto provisions and to secure concessions from other Kyoto ratifiers in other international negotiations. Existing implementation efforts are slow but indicate that Russia's strategy will emphasize maximizing profits through treaty mechanisms over maximizing emissions reductions.

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