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 New Power Structures and Shifted Governance Agendas Disrupting Climate Change Adaptation Developments in Kenya and Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Renner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
National Level ◽  
World Market ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
East African Community ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
The Impact

Kenya and Uganda are currently two of the fastest growing countries in the East African Community. The political leaderships’ prioritization of sociopolitical and economic development, combined with the wish for a closer integration into the world market, shifted the countries’ governance structures and agenda setting. Undertaken economic projects, including oil explorations, mining and gold extractions, flower farming and intense rice growing, put conservation areas at great risk and led to a decrease of the country’s wetland and forest cover. Accordingly, the impact of climate change on the vulnerability of countries is increasing. The paper critically investigates how particularly recent economic investments by national and international companies question the coherence between the institutional framework on climate policies, especially on a sub-national level of decision-making. Based on two field visits to the area, this paper raises the question of how the institutional frameworks shape climate governance processes in Kenya and Uganda. Looking at both political and climate governance structures from a pragmatic perspective, this paper concludes that the insufficient implementation of existing governance structures hampers the better integration of climate policies. National actors do not consider climate financing as an important issue which results in the fragmentation and undermining of climate policy processes.

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.

scholarly journals The Obligation to Cooperate in the Fight against Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 184-196
Author(s):  
Jason Rudall
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Cooperation has a relatively long history under international law. This duty is evident in and has been developed by a variety of international instruments as well as the jurisprudence of courts and tribunals, treaty-bodies and other international institutions. This article examines cooperation as it pertains to climate governance. It appraises the current and emerging dimensions of cooperation, the relationship with other obligations, principles and concepts in this area, as well as asking which aspects of cooperation must be ameliorated to better serve the fight against climate change.

Oil Companies and Climate Change: Inconsistencies between Strategy Formulation and Implementation?

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvild Andreassen Sæverud ◽  
Jon Birger Skjærseth
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Strategy Formulation ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Corporate Strategies ◽  
International Climate ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Level 2 ◽  
Insight Into

This article examines major oil companies in terms of climate strategies and their implementation. More specifıcally, it takes a critical look at Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil, and the relationship between rhetoric and action regarding investments in climate-friendly activities. Empirical evidence indicates a generally high degree of consistency between what these companies say and what they do, but interesting differences are also found: ExxonMobil has done somewhat more than its climate strategy formulations would suggest; Shell has done somewhat less; whereas BP's activities are mainly in line with its statements. Factors at three levels contribute to explaining these differences: (1) the company level, 2) the political framework conditions in the various regions where the companies operate, 3) international climate cooperation. The fındings and explanations, although restricted to the three oil companies with regard to climate change, provide insight into the relationship between corporate strategies and implementation more generally. They offer understanding and analytical categories for assessing how well and why such multinational entities put into practice stated objectives.

scholarly journals Staying Alive: Science Fiction in the Age of the Anthropocene — Philip K. Dick’s Pessimistic Humanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tallulah Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Human Species ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Scientific Advancement ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

In recent years, literary studies have become increasingly invested in environmentalism. As science reveals the negative impacts of climate change, and demonstrates a growing concern for humanity’s contribution, literature operates as a form of cultural documentation. It details public awareness and anxieties, and acts as a conduit for change by urging empathetic responses and rendering ecological controversy accessible.To explore the relationship between literature and environmental politics, this paper will focus on the work of science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, and his dystopian visions. In his particular brand of sci-fi, there is no future for humanity. Science and technology fail to pave the way for a better and fairer society, but rather towards, as far as Dick is concerned, extinction. He argues that scientific advancement distances us from reality and from a sense of “humanness”. His pessimistic futures are nihilistic but tender; nurturing a love for humanity even in, what he considers to be, its final hours.Unlike the work of other prominent sci-fi writers, Dick’s fiction does not look towards the stars, but is in many ways a return to earth. The barren landscapes of Mars and other planets offer no comfort, and the evolution of the human into cyborgs, androids and post human species is depicted as dangerous and regressive. Dick’s apocalyptic visions ground his readers in the reality around them, acting in the present for the sake of the earth and humanity’s survival. His humanism is critical of grand enlightenment ideas of “progressivism”, and instead celebrates ordinariness. In the shadow of corporate capitalism and violent dictatorial governments, Dick prefers the little man, the ordinary everyday domestic hero for his narratives. His fiction urges us to take responsibility for our actions, and prepares us for the future through scepticism and pessimism, and a relentless fondness for the human.

scholarly journals How news media (de-)legitimize national and international climate politics – A content analysis of newspaper coverage in five countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (6-8) ◽  
pp. 518-540
Author(s):  
Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw ◽  
Senja Post ◽  
Mike S Schäfer
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate Change ◽  
News Media ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
National Level ◽  
Newspaper Coverage ◽  
Climate Politics ◽  
Climate Change Policies ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
International Climate

Implementing global climate change policies on the national and sub-national level requires the support of many societal actors. This support depends on the perceived legitimacy of climate policies, which can be sustained by legitimation debates in domestic news media. This article analyses legitimation statements on climate politics in newspapers of five countries for three Conferences of the Parties in 2004, 2009 and 2014 ( n = 369 legitimation statements). According to our data, it is mainly the legitimacy of international climate policies (instead of national ones) which is evaluated in national fora, and it is usually portrayed negatively. However, there is a noticeable shift in the arguments used over our 10-year period of analysis, moving from efficiency as the dominating evaluation criterion to questions of fairness in the distribution of costs and gains.

A Climate of Change? The Oil Industry and Decarbonization in Historical Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marten Boon
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Oil Industry ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Oil Companies ◽  
Regulatory Pressure ◽  
Climate Policies ◽  
Fuel Demand ◽  
Vested Interests

Decarbonization has been identified as necessary to preventing catastrophic climate change, creating a dilemma for the global oil industry. This article examines the industry's reaction to this dilemma and focuses on its historical response to market and governmental regulatory pressure. The article argues that differing national climate policies provoked some oil companies to develop proactive decarbonization strategies. However, the continued growth of fossil fuel demand, the industry's vested interests, and the voluntary nature of climate governance have resulted in the industry taking very little meaningful action to achieve decarbonization.

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.

scholarly journals Perceived Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategy of Indigenous Community (Chepangs) in Rural Mid-hills of Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 48-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pragya Khanal ◽  
Bishnu H. Wagle ◽  
Suraj Upadhaya ◽  
Prayash Ghimire ◽  
Suman Acharya
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Marginalized Communities ◽  
Indigenous Group ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is projected to increase in vulnerable areas of the world, and marginalized communities residing in rural areas are more vulnerable to the change. The perceptions of climate change and adaptation strategies made by such communities are important considerations in the design of adaptation strategies by policy-makers. We examined the most marginalized indigenous group "Chepang" communities' perceptions towards this change, variability, and their attitudes to adaptations and adapted coping measures in mid-hills of Nepal. We interviewed 155 individuals from two Chepang communities, namely, Shaktikhor and Siddhi in Chitwan district of Nepal. We also analyzed biophysical data to assess the variability. The findings showed that the Chepang community has experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. They attributed crop disease, insect infestation, human health problem, and weather-related disaster as the impacts of climate change. Strategies they have adopted in response to the change are the use of intense fertilizers in farmland, hybrid seeds cultivation, crop diversification, etc. Local level and national level adaptation policies need to be designed and implemented as soon as possible to help climate vulnerable communities like Chepangs to cope against the impacts of climate change.

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