No Talk, Some Walk: Obama Administration First-Term Rhetoric on Climate Change and US International Climate Budget Commitments

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graciela Kincaid ◽  
J. Timmons Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreign Assistance ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Obama Administration ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fast Start ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Congressional Research

This paper examines the climate rhetoric and climate action of the Obama administration in its first term. It first traces the trajectory of the term “climate change” as used in 1,908 speeches by administration officials from January 2008 to December 2011; after an apex in 2009, the phrase nearly disappeared. Second, the article details the history of US international climate funding since 2009. In the Obama administration's first budget alone (Fiscal Year 2010), dedicated climate change foreign assistance increased from $321 million to $1.008 billion. Using anonymous administration sources, “fast start finance” reports, and the Congressional Research Service, the paper details the numbers and behind-the-scenes details of President Obama's apparent determination to prioritize climate finance despite powerful congressional opposition. Although these seemingly contradictory trends in rhetoric and finance can be seen as cohering in a highly strategic, energy-focused “two-level game” by the administration, the program's longevity is endangered.

IDB Group and Climate Action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Development Bank ◽  
Multilateral Development Banks ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Development Banks ◽  
Bank Group

As one of the leading development partners for Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) is fully committed to lead by example on climate change action. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the IDB Group has provided over $20 billion in Climate Finance, amounting to about 60% of all Climate Finance to the region from Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).

Filling in for Governments? The Role of the Private Actors in the International Climate Regime

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Charlotte Streck
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
State Actor ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Private Actors

The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change abandons the Kyoto Protocol’s paradigm of binding emissions targets and relies instead on countries’ voluntary contributions. However, the Paris Agreement encourages not only governments but also sub-national governments, corporations and civil society to contribute to reaching ambitious climate goals. In a transition from the regulated architecture of the Kyoto Protocol to the open system of the Paris Agreement, the Agreement seeks to integrate non-state actors into the treaty-based climate regime. In 2014 the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Peru and France created the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (and launched the Global Climate Action portal). In December 2019, this portal recorded more than twenty thousand climate-commitments of private and public non-state entities, making the non-state venues of international climate meetings decisively more exciting than the formal negotiation space. This level engagement and governments’ response to it raises a flurry of questions in relation to the evolving nature of the climate regime and climate change governance, including the role of private actors as standard setters and the lack of accountability mechanisms for non-state actions. This paper takes these developments as occasion to discuss the changing role of private actors in the climate regime.

scholarly journals Responding to Climate Change in Tropical Countries Emerging from Armed Conflicts: Harnessing Climate Finance, Peacebuilding, and Sustainable Food

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Augusto Castro-Nunez
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Intractable Problems

Linking climate action with sustainable development goals (SDGs) might incentivize social and political support to forest conservation. However, further examination of the conceptual entry points for linking efforts for reducing forest-based emissions with those for delivering SDGs is required. This review paper aims to contribute to fulfilling this research need. It provides insights into the links between conserving forests for climate change mitigation and peacebuilding. Specifically, the paper examines opportunities to harness climate finance for conserving forests and achieving long-lasting peace and sustainable food. It does so via a literature review and the examination of the Orinoquia region of Colombia. The findings from the literature review suggest that harnessing climate finance for conserving forests and peacebuilding is, in theory, viable if the activities are designed in accordance with social, institutional, and economic factors. Meanwhile, the Orinoquia region provides evidence that these two seemingly intractable problems are proposed to be solved together. At a time when efforts for reducing forest-based emissions are being designed and targeted at (post-) conflict areas in Colombia and elsewhere, the paper’s findings might demonstrate the compatibility of programs aimed at reducing forest-based emissions with efforts relating to peacebuilding and sustainable food to both environmental and non-environmental government agencies.

Negotiating Adaptation: Norm Selection and Hybridization in International Climate Negotiations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frances C. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Level ◽  
Adverse Impacts ◽  
History Of ◽  
International Climate ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Developing Area ◽  
Norm Evolution ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change ◽  
International Climate Negotiations

Adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change is a rapidly developing area of policy and the subject of active negotiation at the international level under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This article applies theories of norm evolution to the adaptation negotiations. It proposes that the history of these negotiations can best be understood as a contest between two proposed framings that can be roughly characterized as “adaptation as development” and “adaptation as restitution.” These two framings have some similar and some contradictory implications for policy. The article shows that the major areas of consensus and controversy around adaptation in the UNFCCC negotiations map closely to these areas of similarity and contradiction, respectively. Though the “adaptation as restitution” norm is relatively disadvantaged on many measures of norm-fitness suggested by previous authors, it nevertheless appears to help explain the development of adaptation institutions both within and outside the UNFCCC. A hybridized norm that can be described roughly as “like development but different” is coming to characterize international adaptation institutions.

Russia will lag on climate action despite policy shift

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Policy Shift ◽  
International Climate

Subject Climate change policy views in Russia. Significance After years of delay, the Russian government has acceded to the Paris Agreement to limit global warming. This is a positive step, although the decision is more symbolism than substance. Moscow's obligations under the agreement are very limited and powerful domestic interests are obstructing implementation of a more active climate policy. Impacts Due to warming in the Arctic, Russia plans to increase cargo traffic along its Arctic maritime route to 80 million tonnes per year by 2024. As Russia promotes itself as an international climate leader, state-owned Rusnano is promoting high-tech solutions to emissions reductions. Objections to radical policy change will not be couched in the language of climate change denial.

Analysis of External Climate Finance Access and Implementation: CIF, FCPF, GCF and GEF Projects and Programs by the Inter-American Development Bank

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofía Viguri ◽  
Sandra López Tovar ◽  
Mariel Juárez Olvera ◽  
Gloria Visconti
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Climate Finance ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Resilient Infrastructure

In response to the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the IDB Group Board of Governors endorsed the target of increasing climate-related financing in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from 15% in 2015 to 30% of the IDB Groups combined total approvals by 2020. Currently, the IDB Group is on track to meet this commitment, as in 2018, it financed nearly US$5 billion in climate-change-related activities benefiting LAC, which accounted for 27% of total IDB Groups annual approvals. In 2019, the overall volume and proportion of climate finance in new IDBG approvals have increased to 29%. As the IDB continues to strive towards this goal by using its funds to ramp-up climate action, it also acknowledges that tackling climate change is an objective shared with the rest of the international community. For the past ten years, strategic partnerships have been forged with external sources of finance that are also looking to invest in low-carbon and climate-resilient development. Doing this has contributed to the Banks objective of mobilizing additional resources for climate action while also strengthening its position as a leading partner to accelerate climate innovation in many fields. From climate-smart technologies and resilient infrastructure to institutional reform and financial mechanisms, IDB's use of external sources of finance is helping countries in LAC advance toward meeting their international climate change commitments. This report collects a series of insights and lessons learned by the IDB in the preparation and implementation of projects with climate finance from four external sources: the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It includes a systematic revision of their design and their progress on delivery, an assessment of broader impacts (scale-up, replication, and contributions to transformational change/paradigm shift), and a set of recommendations to optimize the access and use of these funds in future rounds of climate investment. The insights and lessons learned collected in this publication can inform the design of short and medium-term actions that support “green recovery” through the mobilization of investments that promote decarbonization.

scholarly journals Creating space for reflection and dialogue: Examples of new modes of communication for empowering climate action

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 174-180
Author(s):  
Carolin Fraude ◽  
Thomas Bruhn ◽  
Dorota Stasiak ◽  
Christine Wamsler ◽  
Kathleen Mar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Albert Einstein ◽  
Transformative Change ◽  
Climate Negotiations ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
International Climate Negotiations

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.” This quote by Albert Einstein highlights our need for new formats of communication to address the knowledge-action gap regarding climate change and other sustainability challenges. This includes reflection, and communication spaces, as well as methods and approaches that can catalyze the emergence of transformative change and action. In this article we present and reflect on experiments we carried out at international climate negotiations and conferences.

The climate change problem: is an LNG sectoral agreement part of the solution?

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
David Hodgkinson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Change Problem

Recent reports and papers reveal the scope of the global climate change problem. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics (2012) concludes the sum total of existing policies, in place or pledged, will very likely lead to warming in excess of 2°C. Additionally, a report from Vieweg et al (2012) concludes limiting global warming to below 2°C remains feasible if there is sufficient political ambition and action to introduce the required measures and policy changes now. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol have failed to address this climate change problem; other ways to address the problem should be considered. One alternative way forward would be to break the climate change problem into different pieces, to contemplate a more decentralised arrangement in which particular issues are discussed and negotiated—a regime complex, for example. Indeed, the UNFCCC regime may actually constrain agreement on addressing the climate change problem, and a shift away from a top-down, Kyoto-style architecture for international climate action—to a more bottom-up approach, with smaller agreements between particular groups of states and sectors—could result. An international LNG sectoral agreement could form part of such an approach, or as a stand-alone agreement, because natural gas offers the most immediate method of transitioning to a lower-emissions global economy. After examining the UNFCC/Kyoto regime and other approaches to, and frameworks for, addressing the climate change problem, this peer-reviewed paper outlines the nature of sectoral agreements and their advantages, together with the rationale for, and benefits of, a sectoral agreement for the LNG industry.

scholarly journals Why is everyone talking about climate change … again?

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-96
Author(s):  
Anna Szolucha
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Decisive Role ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Short Article ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
History Of ◽  
Contemporary Climate ◽  
Insight Into

In this short article, I reflect on the last 50 years of environmental mobilisations in Europe and ask why democracy is important for contemporary climate action. Although the current wave of climate protests seems to share many characteristics with its 1970s predecessors, there is also a sense that contemporary movements and campaigns present a new quality in the long history of combating global warming. Are there any lessons that can be drawn from the history of environmentalism that can help us understand the current condition of climate action? I hope that by putting the environmental movement in a historical perspective, we can gain an insight into the factors that play a decisive role in effecting socio-ecological change.

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