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

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-27 ◽  
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.

Global climate change and North American mammalian evolution

Paleobiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (sp4) ◽  
pp. 259-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Alroy ◽  
Paul L. Koch ◽  
James C. Zachos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
North American ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Mammalian Evolution

scholarly journals Hindu Kush Himalayan Ecosystem as a Common Concern of Humankind: Imperative for Better Regional Jurisprudence

2017 ◽  
pp. 42-52
Author(s):  
Debasis Poddar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Mountain Glaciers ◽  
Common Concern ◽  
Hindu Kush ◽  
The World

Hindu Kush Himalayan region (hereafter the HKH) - with 3500 odd kilometres stretched in eight countries- is default resource generation hub for about one-fifth population of the world. The ecosystem-growing delicate these days- seems to play a critical role for the survival of flora and fauna along with the maintenance of all its life-sustaining mountain glaciers. Ten major rivers to carry forward hitherto sustainable development of these peoples fall into question now. Further, in the wake of global climate change today, the delicate HKH ecosystem becomes increasingly fragile to unfold manifold consequences and thereby take its toll on the population. And the same might turn apocalyptic in its magnanimity of irreversibledamage. Like time-bomb, thus, climate ticks to get blown off. As it is getting already too delayed for timely resort to safeguards, if still not taken care of in time, lawmakers ought to find the aftermath too late to lament for. Besides being conscious for climate discipline across the world, collective efforts on the part of all regional states together are imperative to minimize the damage. Therefore, each one has put hands together to be saved from the doomsday that appears to stand ahead to accelerate a catastrophicend, in the given speed of global climate change. As the largest Himalayan state and its central positioning at the top of the HKH, Nepal has had potential to play a criticalrole to engage regional climate change regime and thereby spearhead climate diplomacy worldwide to play regional capital of the HKH ecosystem. As regional superpower, India has had potential to usurp leadership avatar to this end. With reasoningof his own, the author pleads for better jurisprudence to attain regional environmental integrity inter se- rather than regional environmental integration alone- to defendthe vulnerable HKH ecosystem since the same constitutes common concern of humankind and much more so for themselves. Hence, to quote from Shakespeare, “To be or not to be, that is the question” is reasonable here. While states are engaged in the spree to cause mutually agreed destruction, global climate change- with deadly aftermath- poses the last and final unifier for them to turn United Nations in rhetoric sense o f the term.

scholarly journals Toward Assessing NARCCAP Regional Climate Model Credibility for the North American Monsoon: Future Climate Simulations*

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (17) ◽  
pp. 6707-6728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa S. Bukovsky ◽  
Carlos M. Carrillo ◽  
David J. Gochis ◽  
Dorit M. Hammerling ◽  
Rachel R. McCrary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North American ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
North American Monsoon ◽  
The North ◽  
Climate Simulations ◽  
Projected Changes

Abstract This study presents climate change results from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) suite of dynamically downscaled simulations for the North American monsoon system in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The focus is on changes in precipitation and the processes driving the projected changes from the regional climate simulations and their driving coupled atmosphere–ocean global climate models. The effect of known biases on the projections is also examined. Overall, there is strong ensemble agreement for a large decrease in precipitation during the monsoon season; however, this agreement and the magnitude of the ensemble-mean change is likely deceiving, as the greatest decreases are produced by the simulations that are the most biased in the baseline/current climate. Furthermore, some of the greatest decreases in precipitation are being driven by changes in processes/phenomena that are less credible (e.g., changes in El Niño–Southern Oscillation, when it is initially not simulated well). In other simulations, the processes driving the precipitation change may be plausible, but other biases (e.g., biases in low-level moisture or precipitation intensity) appear to be affecting the magnitude of the projected changes. The most and least credible simulations are clearly identified, while the other simulations are mixed in their abilities to produce projections of value.

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 699-727 ◽  
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?

scholarly journals Climate change projections of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP)

2013 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 965-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. O. Mearns ◽  
S. Sain ◽  
L. R. Leung ◽  
M. S. Bukovsky ◽  
S. McGinnis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North American ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Regional Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Change Assessment ◽  
Assessment Program ◽  
The North ◽  
Climate Change Assessment
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