Climate Governance Research Articles

Localization vs globalization of carbon emissions trading system (ETS) rules: how will China’s national ETS rules evolve?

ABSTRACT China’s national carbon emission trading system (C-ETS) is central to its climate action. Previous studies have largely focused on the unique ETS design and/or regulatory details to determine whether the ETS functions successfully. However, less attention has been paid to crucial questions of how China adapts ETS rules to its unique political, legal, economic, and social contexts; and, given China’s climate ambitions, how those rules will develop in future global climate governance. Adding to discussions on how to design the ETS legal infrastructure, this study takes the world’s largest ETS (C-ETS) as an example to discuss the critical question of what rules should be differentiated and what rules should be harmonized (e.g. in alignment with the arguable prototype EU ETS and/or those of strategic partners). First, by examining China’s general ETS institutional framework, its legal evolution, and related legal disputes, this study highlights a ‘central government-promoted model’ underlying China’s ‘localization’ of ETS rules. A Functional Comparative Legal Analysis Framework is proposed to identify China’s key, distinctive, and long-lasting ETS legal features and to examine their collective potential to provide effective, efficient, and just abatement incentives. Further situating the C-ETS in global climate governance, this study provides insights into the potential future development of China’s ETS rules, with policy priorities that vary across stages. Finally, we draw lessons for other jurisdictions and discuss how our analysis might assist in the transnational understanding and potential coordination of different ETS rules.

Is transparency furthering clarity in multilateral climate governance? The case of climate finance

AbstractDeveloping countries’ ambitious climate action hinges on the provision of climate finance from developed countries. Yet, despite decades of debate and contestation over this, substantial controversies continue to persist over whether and how much climate finance is flowing, including whether it is ‘new and additional’ to existing development assistance, whether it targets climate mitigation or adaptation, and whether it is delivered as grants or loans. In this article, we draw on a little-examined source of self-reporting by countries to shed light on these persisting climate finance controversies. Elaborate transparency arrangements have been set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whereby countries report on climate finance provided and received. We examine transparency reports submitted by 26 countries from 2014 to 2021 by both developed and developing countries, and international review of these reports, to ascertain the extent to which country self-reporting under the UNFCCC sheds light on the nature of climate finance flows between developed and developing countries. We find that both the reports submitted and the international review of these reports are not furthering clarity around climate finance provided and received. This is because of (a) a persisting lack of multilaterally agreed definitions of key aspects of climate finance provided, and a resulting heterogeneity of definitions used by countries to self-report; and (b) because international review of country self-reporting is subject to politically negotiated limitations. We conclude that clarity remains elusive on climate finance provided and received under the UNFCCC, a situation that seems likely to continue under the Paris Agreement’s enhanced transparency framework, due to be implemented in 2024.

Global Climate Governance: Evaluating Policy Responses in an Era of International Cooperation and Competition

This research paper provides an in-depth analysis of how the global community is working to address climate change through international cooperation and competition. It highlights dual forces that shape global climate governance, focusing on the Paris Agreement as a key framework. The article focuses on the fact that although international cooperation. Most countries fail to achieve the targets they set forth as part of their pledges; the gap between the pledging and the actual reduction of emissions is huge. International competition, especially in the area of renewable energy, would spur innovation and progress. China and the United States have invested heavily in green technologies; these investments have economically and strategically benefited those respective nations. This competition creates unequal disadvantages, especially for developing countries that cannot compete because they do not have sufficient resources. Non-state actors, including cities, corporations, civil society organizations, are also increasingly crucial to filling out national efforts.

Humanization promotes equality over efficiency preference in carbon allocation

Decisions regarding international carbon allocation present an efficiency–equality dilemma. In addition to serving national interests, recent studies have shown the moral value foundations of carbon allocation preferences. Nevertheless, concentrating only on the moral values of the allocator is insufficient; the allocator's moral concern for the allocatees often plays an equally or even more crucial role. Inspired by the moral concern model of humanization, we propose that the humanization of allocatees boosts empathy toward them, thereby promoting equality (versus efficiency) preference in carbon allocation. The results of three studies (N = 911) reveal that humanization increases selection of more equal (versus efficient) allocation proposals (Studies 1–3) and decreases credit allocation differences between allocatees (Studies 2 and 3). Further, enhanced empathy is found to mediate these effects (Studies 2 and 3). By identifying the roles of humanization and empathy in carbon allocation preferences, this research provides a moral concern framework for understanding international carbon allocation controversies and has important implications for promoting climate governance cooperation.

Rainmaking: Observed with social systems theory

AbstractThis article examines contemporary efforts to control climate change through the lens of social systems theory, particularly by drawing comparisons to rain dances and shamanic rituals. It argues that modern climate control strategies bear functional similarities to archaic rituals aimed at influencing weather patterns, despite the absence of direct causality. Using Niklas Luhmann's concepts of autopoietic systems and functional equivalence, the article demonstrates that both historical and contemporary approaches to climate influence rely on blame‐shifting mechanisms and the social production of scapegoats, with failure often attributed not to the rituals or solutions themselves but to noncompliance or impurity among participants. The originality of this article lies in its application of social systems theory to link contemporary climate control strategies with ancient rituals, positioning them as functionally equivalent social phenomena. By drawing comparisons between shamanistic practices, corporate consulting, and global climate governance, the article provides a unique lens for understanding that the primary function of modern climate efforts may be to regulate social behaviour rather than achieving concrete natural environmental outcomes.

Calculative Practices Shaping the Global Accountability Forum for Climate Agenda

ABSTRACTCalculative practices are everywhere, including the enactment and diffusion of sustainable development goals, such as quantifying and monetizing carbon markets, criteria for allocating donations for sustainability programs, and performance measurement of compromises and goals. We critically explore the performativity and counter‐performativity from the calculative practices orbiting and shaping the annual debate on climate governance and how they are related to the vulnerability of populations. Our qualitative analysis comprised a comprehensive set of documents produced by enrolled participants of meetings and workshops between two annual Conferences of the Parties of the United Nations. We identified and exemplified three calculative practices, and despite their intended performativity, some counter‐effects, like social exclusion and criticism by stakeholders, arise.

Bridging the gender, climate, and health gap: the road to COP29.

Focusing specifically on the gender-climate-health nexus, this Personal View builds on existing feminist works and analyses to discuss why intersectional approaches to climate policy and inclusive representation in climate decision making are crucial for achieving just and equitable solutions to address the impacts of climate change on human health and societies. This Personal View highlights how women, girls, and gender-diverse people often face disproportionate climate-related health impacts, particularly those who experience compounding and overlapping vulnerabilities due to current and former systems of oppression. We summarise the insufficient meaningful inclusion of gender, health, and their intersection in international climate governance. Despite the tendency to conflate gender equality with number-based representation, climate governance under the UNFCCC (1995-2023) remains dominated by men, with several countries projected to take over a decade to achieve gender parity in their Party delegations. Advancing gender-responsiveness in climate policy and implementation and promoting equitable participation in climate governance will not only improve the inclusivity and effectiveness of national strategies, but will also build more resilient, equitable, and healthier societies.

Towards minilateral climate governance? Analysing climate club design options through the lens of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities

AbstractIn response to the limitations of the United Nations climate change regime, a range of dynamic climate governance arrangements have emerged, including minilateral ‘climate clubs’. Although proposed as a solution to move international climate policy forward, depending on their specific design, climate clubs could raise implications from the perspective of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR‐RC). Accordingly, this article aims to analyse different climate club design options through the lens of CBDR‐RC. First, it explains the general rationale for climate clubs and presents a spectrum of key club design features. Second, this article describes how CBDR‐RC has been operationalised under the climate regime. Third, drawing on current club‐like arrangements—namely, the Climate Club, the Clean Energy Ministerial and the proposed Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminium—it critically examines whether different design options are (likely to be) compatible with CBDR‐RC.

Role of local governments in EU member states’ climate policy and legislation

This article provides a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that local governments have in achieving climate objectives, both within EU member states’ national climate policy and national climate law, and how this relates to the literature on multi-level governance. More specifically, the differences and similarities between the national climate plans and national climate legislation of four selected member states (Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain) have been examined. The findings from this can be related to the literature on multi-level governance when it comes to opportunities and challenges regarding the role that local governments fulfill. On the one hand, local governments are often seen as potential key drivers that can successfully work together and whose involvement can lead to more effective climate governance. On the other hand, local governments are legally and financially dependent on higher levels of government in the implementation of their assigned climate-related tasks and responsibilities.

Do impoverished regions benefit from climate change mitigation measures? Evidence from the Forest Carbon Sink Project in China

ABSTRACT Forests play a crucial role in achieving global climate change mitigation goals. The Forest Carbon Sink Project (FCSP) was initially proposed by the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, aiming to address externalities in climate governance through ecological compensation mechanisms. For impoverished regions, the FCSP is more attractive than the mandatory administrative approaches to forest protection. This Currently, due to the lack of empirical research, there is still debate in the academic community about whether the FCSP can produce overall positive economic benefits in poor areas. Based on panel data from 634 impoverished counties in China from 2002 to 2019, this study attempts to address this issue using a multi-period Difference-in-Differences (DID) model. The results demonstrate that, compared to non project counties, the implementation of the FCSP led to an increase in actual GDP and per capita GDP of 8.40% and 11.10% in project counties, respectively. That is, the FCSP can expand the economic scale while also promoting economic growth of project counties. The results of the dynamic model show that the economic benefits generated by the FCSP in these counties are long-term and sustainable. Based on the results of theoretical analysis and mechanism testing models, this study concludes that the FCSP generates short-term economic benefits through capital investment. It generates long-term economic benefits by improving the productivity of the primary industry labour force, increasing the level of fixed asset construction, and optimizing the industrial structure in poverty-stricken counties. Additionally, this study also conducted a heterogeneity analysis. In summary, this study concludes that the FCSP is a climate change mitigation measure worthy of promotion in impoverished regions.

Opportunities and challenges for urban climate governance

Opportunities and challenges for urban climate governance

Why Do Global Cities Engage with Global Climate Governance? The Case Studies of Shanghai and Chicago

As climate change intensifies, cities-particularly global cities-are emerging as critical players in addressing its challenges. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and other climate-related impacts threaten urban areas, compelling cities to take action. This article explores the motivations behind global cities' engagement in global climate governance, focusing on both internal and external drivers. Using Chicago and Shanghai as case studies, the research investigates how cities' roles as policy implementers, combined with the pursuit of political and economic gains, push them to the forefront of climate leadership. Externally, the inability of international negotiations to make significant progress, along with gaps in the global governance system, compels cities to intervene and address these shortcomings. By analyzing these dynamics, the paper highlights the growing importance of cities as influential actors in global climate governance and emphasizes their unique capacity to drive climate action.

Climate governance, growth opportunities, and innovation in addressing climate change: Empirical evidence from emerging countries

Emerging economies are often more vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, experiencing devastating floods and a collapse in agricultural production. This study, under the lens of resource dependence theory, aims to determine the role of climate governance and growth opportunities in driving the adoption of climate change mitigation initiatives by the leading listed companies in the 28 most important emerging economies from 2013 to 2022. The results indicate that climate governance mechanisms facilitate the development of innovative solutions to fight climate change. However, further efforts are required to mitigate the negative effects of growth opportunities and disruptive events.

Diversifying climate policy advice: Research agenda on the expertise of national climate councils

Understanding who influences climate policy and how expertise shapes decision-making is crucial in tackling climate change effectively. This perspective piece seeks to unravel the complexities of climate governance by reflecting on the role of experts in shaping climate policies. We suggest a new research agenda for studies on the representation and role of expertise in national climate institutions and in policymaking. With a shift towards national implementation, following the Paris Agreement, greater scholarly attention to the role of domestic institutions, including their scientific foundations, is crucial for our understanding of today's climate governance. Focusing on national climate councils, we debate the role of their expert composition and diversity of scientific expertise. We highlight the need for more research on the epistemic diversity and pay special attention to the role of social sciences, particularly the discipline's ability to address the political dimensions of climate action, such as equity, justice, and public acceptance.

The materiality of youth representation at climate summits: navigating barriers, routes, and spaces

ABSTRACT Recent decades have seen institutionalized procedures for youth representation in global climate governance, and significant visibility for youth climate activists. Despite these improvements, young representatives continue to bear witness about tokenized forms of participation and a lack of influence. This article seeks to address this ambiguous development by focusing on the materiality of youth representation in United Nations climate conferences. Through interviews and participant observations at COP26 and COP27, as well as COY16 and COY17, we analyse the bureaucratic and socio-economic barriers to representation, the knowledge resources and competitiveness of the routes to representation, and the spatial ordering and subversive tactics on site at the summits. We show that these materialities shape youth’s discursive strategies, thus helping to explain who gets to be a representative and what forms of subjectivities, agendas, claims, and strategies that become possible in the global climate governance regime.

Aggregated economic damages and the role of dynamic carbon tax under climate change: A dynamic general equilibrium model

A rational assessment of the aggregated economic damages and a more effective carbon tax are crucial for climate governance. However, existing studies still under-recognize the utility damages and dynamic carbon taxes. In this study, we construct a multi-regional dynamic general equilibrium model considering both production and utility damages. Then, this paper re-estimates the regional aggregated economic damages reasonably (including utility damages) and compares in detail the role of static carbon tax, dynamic carbon tax and regionally optimal dynamic carbon tax (RCT). We found that: (1) As climate change intensifies, the world will suffer >8 % of production damage and 1 % of utility damage by the end of the 21st century. Of these, the US and China face more pronounced economic damage. (2) If the carbon tax is implemented only in some regions, other regions will have a “free rider” benefit. An environmentally friendly dynamic carbon tax (fast and then slow) would be more effective, giving economies room to adapt to the carbon tax. The risk of exacerbating global inequality needs to be guarded against when using carbon tax. (3) Based on the regional social cost of carbon (R-SCC), implementing RCT is most effective for curbing climate change and achieving warming targets. This paper contributes to improving the understanding of assessing regional economic damage from climate change and recognizing the role of dynamic carbon tax.

Showing climate action: exploring Fridays for Future Germany’s visual activism on Flickr

This article examines how Fridays for Future Germany (FFFG) uses photographs of climate protests to convey the politics of climate change to wider audiences. The author argues that FFFG is an ideal-type form of visual activism in which visual imagery is central to its climate activism. The article builds on climate change communication scholarship and visual social movement studies to contribute an inquiry about FFFG’s visual activism. The focus is on FFFG’s visual self-representations on the social media platform Flickr, which promises to give insights into its strategies of self-legitimation. The empirical analysis discusses the recurring visual patterns in FFFG’s visual activism based on illustrative examples and provides an interpretive reading about the implications of certain ways of seeing and showing climate action. The conclusion puts the findings in a wider political context, highlighting the importance of visualization in the (self-)legitimation of FFFG in debates about global climate governance.

Transnational Climate Governance and State Capacity: A Multilevel Analysis of Green Bond Certification

Abstract Green bonds have become a key instrument for combating the climate crisis. To mitigate the risk of greenwashing, nongovernmental organizations and market participants have established transnational standards and certification schemes for the global governance of green bonds. This research aims to explain the variation in the adoption of certification across bonds and countries. By analyzing a data set of 4,682 green bonds from fifty-five countries between 2016 and 2020, the multilevel mixed-effects models indicate that an increase in participants in the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures within a country positively correlates with the likelihood of domestic green bond issuers adopting the certification from the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI). In countries with stronger state capacity to adopt climate laws and policies, green bond issuers are more likely to participate in the CBI certification. This study has implications for addressing the issue of greenwashing in the development of the green bond market.

Negotiating the Climate Long-Term Global Goal

Abstract Global goals play a catalyzing role in orienting efforts to address climate change. Yet, the negotiation of the main goal in climate governance is understudied. This article aims to fill this gap by examining the negotiation, adoption, and refinement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (unfccc) Long-Term Global Goal (ltgg), from the late 1970s to date. I gather insights from semi-structured interviews with climate governance experts, the scientific literature, and official documentation to highlight the developments that shaped the ltgg over time. The study shows that agential, ideational, normative, structural, and contextual factors co-interacted in negotiating, adopting, and refining the ltgg. Drawing lessons from the ltgg experience, the manuscript contributes to knowledge on the politics of global goals, international negotiations, climate governance, and, more broadly, international relations, diplomacy, and global environmental politics.

India’s Security and Climate Policy: Navigating the China Challenge

In a world rich in climate knowledge but short on climate action, it is important to understand the political reasons behind the apparent failure of states to address this planetary crisis. One underexplored dimension of this phenomenon is the impact of broader geopolitics and rivalry, in specific the ability and willingness of potential and actual security and economic rivals to leave their contention at the gates of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This article focuses on India’s multifaceted approach to its ‘China challenge’ with and outside the climate regime. While conventional scholarship focuses on the security and economic dimensions of this rivalry, this study offers a distinct perspective that examines whether this rivalry might lead to a breakdown of cooperation and an increased potential for conflict and weaponisation of seemingly disconnected issue areas. Drawing on a comprehensive triangulation of policy documents, government statements and scholarly literature, this article evaluates the domestic and international factors shaping India’s climate-related China policies, including the countries’ unique economic ambitions, development imperatives, energy needs and global climate commitments. Furthermore, the article examines Sino-Indian interactions in international arenas such as the UNFCCC and Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), and how these interactions influence global climate governance.