Institutional Control and Climate Change Activism at COP 21 in Paris

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon K. Orr
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Institutional Control ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Civil Society Participation ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Security Concerns ◽  
The City

The 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris faced two particular challenges: the growth of civil society participation in the negotiations, and significant security concerns following the terrorist attacks on the city two weeks prior to the start of the negotiations. This report reflects on the impacts of these two challenges through an overview of civil society participation at the COP, highlighting the implications for the accountability of the negotiations.

Issue-linkages to Climate Change Measured through NGO Participation in the UNFCCC

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miquel Muñoz Cabré
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Higher Education ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Civil Society Participation

NGOs comprise over half the cumulative number of delegates attending the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) for the 1995–2009 period. These NGOs represent a wide array of issues, including sustainable development, business, and higher education, to name just a few. Based on UNFCCC publicly available participation statistics, this article analyzes NGO participation from a quantitative issue-based perspective, and compares the results with the relevant conclusions drawn by the other contributors to this special issue. The findings of this analysis confirm informed expectations about issue-driven NGO participation. In particular, three main findings are that: (1) environment and conservation, academic, business, and energy NGOs dominate civil society participation in the UNFCCC; (2) UNFCCC constituencies do not adequately capture the range of issues addressed by observer NGOs; and (3) since 2007, NGO participation has sig-nificantly increased and diversified.

scholarly journals Why the frustration?

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 84-103
Author(s):  
Sebastian Levi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Loss And Damage ◽  
The United Nations

Civil society organizations play an increasingly important role in global politics. However, during the last years, civil society has become frustrated from the negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This frustration reached a new quality when civil society organizations walked out in the middle of the 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) in 2013. Drawing from empirical data from the COP19 and the negotiations on Loss and Damage, this thesis seeks to explain the low level of influence which has lead to this frustration. It can be shown that neither civil society capabilities, nor changing state attitudes towards civil society can explain their contemporary low influence. Instead, this paper argues that the increasing financial and legal relevance of the negotiations substantially constrain civil society from exercising influence.

Paris Agreement

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara A. Horowitz
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
Global Response ◽  
United Nations Framework Convention ◽  
The United Nations

The Paris Agreement sets forth a new international legal regime aimed at strengthening the global response to climate change. It was adopted in December 2015 at the annual gathering of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Paris Agreement sits within and implements the Convention.

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