The Growing Recognition of Transnational Climate Governance Initiatives in the UN Climate Regime: Implications for Legal Scholarship

Climate Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 183-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Mai
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Interstate Cooperation ◽  
Legal Scholarship ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Transnational Climate Governance

The UN climate regime has served as the focal point for interstate cooperation on climate change in the political and legal domains for the last twenty-six years. However, since the lead-up to the Paris Agreement, the regime’s interstate elements have been complemented by an evolving transnational sphere of governance in which sub-national and non-state actors engage in voluntary cross-border initiatives. These initiatives serve two key functions: first, they facilitate and implement climate action at the sub-national level and in the private sector, and second, they promote transnational normative frameworks which require members to take active steps to address climate change. This article describes how the UN climate regime has developed to recognize transnational climate governance initiatives, and it reflects on the implications of this development for legal scholarship on international climate change law.

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 The Anarchical Society and Climate Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Falkner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
English School ◽  
Transnational Governance ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
School Text ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Cooperative Solutions

The Anarchical Society is the first major English School text that addresses the rise of global environmentalism. Based on a close reading of Bull’s classic text, this essay applies his pluralist perspective to the international politics of climate change. Bull’s pluralism offers valuable insights into the scope for, and limitations of, international climate action: it identifies the persistent value and interest differences that prevent deep international cooperation; it highlights the centrality of inter-state bargaining; and it stresses the importance of crafting cooperative solutions that reflect the realities of power asymmetry. However, while Bull acknowledges the need to move towards deeper, solidarist, forms of cooperation, his perspective is found to be wanting when it comes to understanding the modalities of such a shift. Bull has little to say on how to construct a solidarist response and how non-state actors might develop new forms of transnational governance beyond the state-centric climate regime.

Climate shocks and the supply and demand for climate governance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Rowan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Climate Shocks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

<p>Existing studies have demonstrated substantial and robust effects of temperature shocks on economic growth, agricultural output, labor productivity, conflict, and health. These studies help clarify the impacts of climate change on social and economic systems, yet the relationship between climate shocks and political outcomes are less well identified. What effect do climate shocks have on states' climate policies? In this paper, I estimate the relationship between national-level temperature and rainfall shocks and the supply and demand for international climate governance. Temperature shocks may increase the salience of climate change in national politics and lead political leaders to adjust policies to match. Similarly, temperature shocks may have material consequences that induce adaptation---one avenue being to use international institutions to coordinate a global response to climate impacts. I argue that the responsiveness of national governments to climate shocks is conditioned by the political and natural context in which governments operate. Specifically, I expect that democratic governments will be more responsive to climate shocks, as will countries that are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. I assess whether countries that experience more frequent and more severe climate shocks participate more in international climate politics and adjust their climate policies. I examine four sets of outcomes at the national level: (1) membership in international institutions that govern climate change, (2) the provision and receipt of climate finance, (3) representation at the UN climate conferences, and (4) national climate policies. As the climate changes, we are developing stronger evidence about the underlying natural relationships, but the heterogenous effects across socio-political contexts are less well understood. This paper contributes to our understanding of how climate change shapes national policy and with it the ability of countries to manage and adapt to climate change.</p>

scholarly journals Testing the Boundaries of Subnational Diplomacy: The International Climate Action of Local and Regional Governments

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Setzer
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Legal Capacity ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
The World ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
International Climate ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Regional Governments

AbstractSince the 1990s, a number of local and regional governments around the world have started to engage in a real international or ‘paradiplomatic’ climate agenda. While the multilevel governance approach has advanced the examination of the actors and levels involved in climate governance, there is within this body of literature a limited consideration of the legal capacity of non-state actors to act across scales. This article addresses this gap and examines the potential limitations imposed on subnational diplomacy by international and domestic legal orders. The article draws upon the example of Brazil where, despite constitutional limitations on the involvement of subnational governments in international relations, paradiplomacy has been termed ‘federative diplomacy’ and institutionalized within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and within the Presidency of the Republic. The article shows that the diplomatic activity of local and regional governments is still constrained by international and domestic legal frameworks. If cities and regions are to help in addressing the inadequacies of the international climate regime, then domestic and international legal frameworks will need to further accommodate subnational diplomatic activities.

The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
National Level ◽  
First Century ◽  
Trading Systems ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
International Climate Change

Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time, and has become one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. The radical changes which both developed and developing countries will need to make, in economic and in legal terms, to respond to climate change are unprecedented. International law, including treaty regimes, institutions, and customary international law, needs to address the myriad challenges and consequences of climate change, including variations in the weather patterns, sea level rise, and the resulting migration of peoples. This book provides an authoritative overview of all aspects of international climate change law as it currently stands, with guidance for how it should develop in the future. This book sets out to analyse the legal issues that surround this vitally important but still emerging area of international law. This book addresses the major legal dimensions of the problems caused by climate change: not only in the content and nature of the international legal frameworks, which need implementation at the national level, but also the development of carbon trading systems as a means of reducing the costs of meeting emission reduction targets. After an introduction to the field, the book assesses the relevant institutions, the key applicable principles of international law, the international mitigation regime and its consequences, and climate change litigation, before providing perspectives focused upon specific countries or regions.

The Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol: A model for financing adaptation to climate change?

Climate Law ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Horstmann ◽  
Achala Chandani Abeysinghe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Kyoto Protocol ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
National Level ◽  
Aid Effectiveness ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Climate

The Adaptation Fund of the Kyoto Protocol is seen by many as a model for financing adaptation activities, which should also play a strong role in the institutional design of the Green Climate Fund under the UNFCCC. The article analyses whether the status of operationalization of the Adaptation Fund meets international institutional criteria and requirements for an effective and efficient fund arrangement. These are derived from the UNFCCC and the Paris Agenda on Aid Effectiveness. The analysis shows that the Adaptation Fund meets most of the funding requirements. Due to its institutional features, particularly the direct-access modality, the Adaptation Fund has the potential to practically link international climate change with development finance for adaptation to climate change. However, the analysis also shows that there are a number of challenges remaining, including criteria which the fund does not meet yet and the practical implementation of fund operations, particularly at the national level.

India and international norms of climate governance: a constructivist analysis of normative congruence building

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 997-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAYLEY STEVENSON
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Diffusion Process ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
Important Player ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Climate Change Politics ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis article explores the process by which norms of international climate governance have diffused and evolved over time. The author develops a constructivist explanation for observed normative shifts in international climate governance. This explanation highlights the importance of building and maintaining congruence between domestic conditions and international norms. Due to the inherently fluid nature of both domestic conditions and international norms, it is argued that normative congruence building should be understood as an integral and iterative aspect of the norm diffusion process. This argument is substantiated through an analysis of the norm diffusion process in the context of India: a state commonly identified as an important player in international climate change politics, but one that has received surprisingly little scholarly attention in this area.

Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate: Blockade or Impe- tus for the International Climate Regime?

elni Review ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 23-27
Author(s):  
Christoph Holtwisch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Climate Regime ◽  
International Climate Policy ◽  
The Usa ◽  
International Climate

The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate [APP or AP6] is a very new phenomenon in international climate policy. It has important effects on the traditional climate regime formed by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [FCCC] and its Kyoto Protocol [KP]. From its own point of view, the APP is a grouping of key nations to address serious and long-term challenges, including anthropogenic climate change. The APP partners - Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the USA - represent roughly half the world economy and population, energy consumption and global greenhouse gas emissions. For this reason, this “coalition of the emitting” is – and will be – a central factor in international climate policy.

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.

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