International Climate Change Politics Research Articles

Climate leadership now: Climate finance & political will

Climate leadership now: Climate finance & political will Richard Beardsworth, Professor of International Relations and Head of School from POLIS, University of Leeds, looks at climate finance and political will among national governments and international institutions, aiming to break the stand-off between developed and developing countries. Overall, this evaluation of climate finance provides the key to breaking the deadlock between developed and developing countries by aligning the strategies of mitigation with adaptation and loss and damage. Aiming to understand climate action and ambition, Professor Beardsworth analyses the Conference of the Parties (COPs) and their role in mitigation with development and adaptation. He explains that distrust between the two sets of countries is embedded in the international politics of climate change. In this analysis of climate leadership now, he looks to the COP27 decision text and the G20 Bali joint declaration, which emphasise the need for ‘major international financial reform to support developing countries'. The language of both agreements is informed in part by the Bridgetown Initiative, which Professor Beardsworth explores in extensive detail. As we are in an age of polycrises and deep transformation, he argues, we must change how we respond to the plurality of interdependent and mutually reinforcing crises (climate, health, energy, food, inequality, poverty), our energy systems, our current economic and financial models, as well as our present ways of governing.

Climate Fiction, Climate Theory: Decolonising Imaginations of Global Futures

The international politics of climate change invokes the imagination of various potential global futures, ranging from techno-optimist visions of ecological modernisation to apocalyptic nightmares of climate chaos. This article argues that most dominant framings of the future in climate policy imaginaries tend to be depoliticised and linear visions of universal, homogenous time, with little spatio-temporal or ecological plurality. This article aims to convince IR scholars of climate politics that Africanfuturist climate fiction novels can contribute to the decolonisation of climate politics through radically different socio-climatic imaginaries to those that dominate mainstream imaginations of climate futures. The Africanfuturist climate fiction novels of authors such as Nnedi Okorafor, Lauren Beukes and Doris Lessing imagine different spaces, temporalities, ecologies and politics. Reading them as climate theory, they offer the possibility of a more decolonised climate politics, in which issues of land and climate justice, loss and damage, extractive political economies and the racialised and gendered violence of capitalism are central.

Gender As The Missing Component In The Turkish Climate Change Policies And Academic Papers | İklim Değişikliği Politikalarının ve Akademik Makalelerin Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifi Açısından Sorgulanması

Turkey is extremely vulnerable to the adverse consequences of climate change due to its location. The effects of climate change are not gender neutral and women are more vulnerable than men to adverse effects of climate change. Although the implications of gender in relation to climate change has been extensively researched in the Global South and has started to emerge in the Global North, gender dimensions and analysis of climate change is absent from public policy discussions and academic papers in Turkey. This paper has a dual aim of revealing the gender invisibility with regard to climate change in academic literature and in the national climate change policies in Turkey as well as of increasing the academic understanding of gender dimensions of climate change to inform the public policy in the country. To this end, a combination of broad systematic literature review and document analysis method were used. In addition, decision-making bodies were analysed. I argue that the absence of critical gender analysis in policy and research in relation to climate change reduces the country’s ability to develop adequate adaptation and mitigation strategies since the impacts of climate change can exacerbate existing inequalities with regard to gender. This failure may weaken Turkey’s positions in the international climate change politics and the harmonisation with the European Union.

The european union as a leader in international climate change politics

The european union as a leader in international climate change politics

Understanding Multilateral Institutions in Easy and Hard Times

In my scholarly work, I have sought to understand institutionalized multilateral cooperation in world politics, and the context of such cooperation: extensive economic interdependence, or globalization. What are the political implications of economic interdependence? Under what conditions are states facing globalization willing to share their authority with multilateral organizations over whose policies they exert only indirect and collective influence? I have developed interpretive frameworks and some theory to address these issues. In other work, I have helped to develop precepts for qualitative research design, and I have explored some normative issues associated with institutional accountability and legitimacy. My work on multilateral institutions, which was done in a period of increasing multilateral cooperation, is challenged by increasing inequality in capitalist democracies, financial crisis, and nationalist forms of populism. I am now seeking to understand the international and comparative politics of climate change, which I regard as an existential crisis.

Vinculación entre la política climática doméstica en países emergentes y la política internacional del cambio climático: propuesta de un marco analítico

En este artículo se proponen formular las bases ontológicas, epistemológicas y teóricas para la constitución de un marco analítico vinculando la política internacional del cambio climático con la política climática doméstica y exterior de los países emergentes. Este marco parte desde una triangulación teórica entre una perspectiva ontológica de las relaciones internacionales basada en el liberalismo, una posición epistemológica interpretativista y teorías constructivistas sobre internalización de normas, localización y congruencia normativa y el concepto de gobernanza global. Para alcanzar este objetivo, se parte del supuesto de que la política climática de los países emergentes está fuertemente condicionada por el grado de imbricación entre la política internacional del cambio climático y la política doméstica y exterior de los Estados.

Unpacking the unequal representation of Northern and Southern NGOs in international climate change politics

Limited research has been done on non-governmental organisation (NGO) heterogeneity and its representation in global governance. Using the example of international climate change politics, we demonstrate that Northern and Southern NGOs tend to pursue different perspectives which are very unevenly represented in international climate change negotiations as NGOs from the Global North still constitute the large majority of NGOs taking part in these negotiations. In contrast to more hopeful outlooks, NGOs, hence, do not automatically contribute to a more democratic and legitimate global governance.

Climate change politics and the role of China: a window of opportunity to gain soft power?

In China today, the idea of “soft power” has become important in various realms of society. We analyze the nexus between climate change and soft power with specific emphasis on China. First, we will discuss the concept of soft power, its role in the Chinese context, and the reasons why China has had difficulties to gain soft power up to now. Second, we lay out how international climate change politics are an important arena in which soft power can be won and how the issue has gained importance in China. In a third step, we discuss how the current political environment, in which the US government has changed its stance on climate change and international climate politics, impacts China. Our thesis is that the current political situation represents a “window of opportunity” for China to expand its soft power substantially both in degree and scope. In line with this thesis, so far, China has reacted swiftly after the election of US president Donald Trump and aims to present itself as the future climate leader.

The Solidarisation of International Society: The EU in the Global Climate Change Regime

The European Union more often than not is either assumed or expected to play a leading role in international politics of climate change. This expectation emanates largely from the assumption that the EU as a normative power is able to induce change in international society. This paper intends to explore this assumed transformative potential of the EU in the specific context of climate politics. Suggesting an English School approach, in this paper I conceptualise the EU’s potential transformative impact as the solidarisation of international society. The advantage of such an analytical perspective is that it directs the focus on tensions and ambiguities that always and unavoidably exist in processes of change. In the paper, I first elaborate on the conceptualisation of change as solidarisation. Second, I spell out in detail what such a solidarisation means in international climate politics. Third, an empirical analysis of the EU’s discourse and practices in climate politics reveals whether the EU indeed acts as a source of solidarisation in this particular policy field. In contrast to the widespread assumption that consistency is key to change, this paper suggests that accepting and embracing ambiguities indeed enhances the EU’s contribution to solidarisation.

Climate change in world politics

Writing a broad overview of international climate change politics is a daunting task. What to focus on from its bewildering array of initiatives and how to make sense of the seemingly endless spectacular United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conferences, which always seem in the end to disappoint? Nevertheless, faced with this challenge, John Vogler has pulled off an impressive feat: to distil the extraordinary complexity of climate politics down to its essential elements (as Vogler sees them) and explain them engagingly and succinctly. His express aim is to provide readers with an overview of the key elements in international climate politics, and to situate them both theoretically in relation to key ideas and themes in International Relations (IR) theory, and historically in relation to the structural changes that have occurred in global politics since climate change appeared on the international agenda in the late 1980s. After providing some general context in terms of different ways that climate change has been framed in international politics (chapter two) and an overview of the UNFCCC (chapter three), Vogler shifts his focus on to different theoretical concepts and how they help us understand climate politics. He highlights the ongoing usefulness of realist and liberal approaches in understanding the dynamics of international cooperation and the importance of overall power structures and state interests in shaping how the UNFCCC was formed and has evolved (see chapter four in particular). But he also draws on constructivist theories to highlight the importance of reputation and recognition (chapter six) and to understand some important dynamics, such as the value host states attach to the (perceived) success of the Conference of the Parties they host, the power of naming and shaming campaigns, the politics of asserting ‘leadership’ on climate change, and the reputational dynamics of forming and being part of ‘clubs’ of states on the issue. And he uses normative theories in IR to help understand the importance of justice to the climate change negotiations (chapter five).

Neoclassical realism and international climate change politics: moral imperative and political constraint in international climate finance

In this article, I present a neoclassical realist theory of climate change politics that challenges the idea that cooperation on climate change is compelled alone by shared norms and interests emanating from the international level and questions if instead material factors also play a significant constraining role. Relative-gains concerns incited by the international resource transfers implicit in climate change policy may compel some states to be prudent in their international climate change efforts and conserve resources domestically for future contingencies, including their own adaptation and resiliency. Neoclassical realism recognises such systemic constraints while also identifying international and domestic factors — a ‘two-level game’ — that explain variation in state sensitivity to relative gains. As a preliminary test of this theory, I compare the latest data on the magnitude, distribution and financial ‘additionality’ of climate funds and carbon markets. Climate funds are found to be more vulnerable to systemic forces identified by neoclassical realism because they are largely drawn from existing official development assistance budgets despite international commitments that funds are ‘new and additional’. Carbon markets engage a relatively broader number of states and, contrary to moral hazard concerns, have been used to a greater degree by states reducing emissions domestically. While there are concerns about whether carbon credits represent genuine emission reductions, the effectiveness of climate funds is equally, if not more, dubious. I conclude that, while imperfect, carbon markets have too often been unfairly compared with an ideal climate finance mechanism that assumes few political constraints on international resource transfers for climate change.

International Politics of Climate Change: A Study of Issues and Challenges

The problem of Climate Change has become an enormous political and policy issue, at the same time it is also a conceptual and deliberative challenge. Global temperature is increasing day by day because of human caused greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, and this warming is affecting both nature and human wellbeing. There is an urgent need to address the problem of climate change with all its related issues. While international environmental law has achieved notable successes and International legal programs to deal with climate change are already well underway. Indian climate politics continues to be focused on climate change as a foreign policy concern, and centred on climate negotiations; in a manner that is consistent with India’s development needs and foreign policy concerns. The present paper explores the international climate change politics; negotiation process and domestic policy. It also investigates the issues of fairness and equity in the international climate change law and policy.

Climate justice and the international regime: before, during, and after Paris

With a focus on key themes and debates, this article aims to illustrate and assess how the interaction between justice and politics has shaped the international regime and defined the nature of the international agreement that was signed in COP21 Paris. The work demonstrates that despite the rise of neo‐conservatism and self‐interested power politics, questions of global distributive justice remain a central aspect of the international politics of climate change. However, while it is relatively easy to demonstrate that international climate politics is not beyond the reach of moral contestations, the assessment of exactly how much impact justice has on climate policies and the broader normative structures of the climate governance regime remains a very difficult task. As the world digests the Paris Agreement, it is vital that the current state of justice issues within the international climate change regime is comprehensively understood by scholars of climate justice and by academics and practitioners, not least because how these intractable issues of justice are dealt with (or not) will be a crucial factor in determining the effectiveness of the emerging climate regime. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:834–851. doi: 10.1002/wcc.419This article is categorized under: Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Global Justice Policy and Governance > International Policy Framework

The power of public bureaucracies: forest-related climate change policies in Bangladesh (1992–2014)

As a cross-cutting issue, climate policy depends on the ability of national-level public bureaucracies to formulate and implement effective measures. However, these sectoral agencies strongly compete for resources, political responsibility and power. In the process of allocating specific climate-related policy tasks and resources, changes in the distribution of power among these competing agencies can occur. This process results in the overall architecture of power distribution among climate-related bureaucracies. Arguably, this very architecture – as the aggregation of numerous climate-related policies – plays a decisive role in the direction of climate policy. Using concepts derived from power theory and theories of bureaucratic politics, this study analyses the power added to climate-relevant bureaucracies as a result of policy tasks being allocated to them through myriad international and domestic climate policies and initiatives. Data on national and international forest-related climate change policies (n = 153) in Bangladesh (1992–2014) are used to qualitatively analyse policy tasks assigned to bureaucracies and the power dynamics that arise as a result. The results suggest that core government bureaucracies from outside the climate change realm (e.g. the ministries of planning and finance) are gaining significant power from climate initiatives. Recently, foreign donors have also gained power, mainly through incentives from their climate-related development projects. In light of the existing literature, this article discusses and draws conclusions about the prevailing power elements and policy mixes, the effects of internationalization on domestic climate policy and the way the changing power architecture sets the direction and practical policy limits for climate change policy in Bangladesh.Policy relevanceThis article contributes to the understanding of power dynamics among national-level and donor administrations and the implications for international forest-related climate change politics. It reveals the prevailing policy structures of a specific country then, based on that country’s policy makers, recommends an appropriate action plan and suggests which kinds of policy interventions (financial, informational, etc.) might be necessary to successfully implement policies at national and international levels.

The international politics of climate change after Brexit

The Paris Agreement provides a framework for achieving cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions that could mitigate the worst of global warming, and there has been a trend of increased participation and stronger national institutional support, cooperation and ambition towards that end. Among EU states, the United Kingdom has led that trend for three decades. The uncertainty introduced by the Brexit vote may weaken it.

Climate Change, Politics and Religion: Australian Churchgoers’ Beliefs about Climate Change

A growing literature has sought to understand the relationships between religion, politics and views about climate change and climate change policy in the United States. However, little comparative research has been conducted in other countries. This study draws on data from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey to examine the beliefs of Australian churchgoers from some 20 denominations about climate change—whether or not it is real and whether it is caused by humans—and political factors that explain variation in these beliefs. Pentecostals, Baptist and Churches of Christ churchgoers, and people from the smallest Protestant denominations were less likely than other churchgoers to believe in anthropogenic climate change, and voting and hierarchical and individualistic views about society predicted beliefs. There was some evidence that these views function differently in relation to climate change beliefs depending on churchgoers’ degree of opposition to gay rights. These findings are of interest not only for the sake of international comparisons, but also in a context where Australia plays a role in international climate change politics that is disproportionate to its small population.

The International Politics of Climate Engineering: A Review and Prospectus for International Relations

Proposed large-scale intentional interventions in natural systems in order to counter climate change, typically called “climate engineering” or “geoengineering,” stand to dramatically alter the international politics of climate change and potentially much more. There is currently a significant and growing literature on the international politics of climate engineering. However, it has been produced primarily by scholars from outside the discipline of International Relations (IR). We are concerned that IR scholars are missing a critical opportunity to offer insights into, and perhaps help shape, the emerging international politics of climate engineering. To that end, the primary goal of this paper is to call the attention of the IR community to these developments. Thus, we offer here an overview of the existing literature on the international politics of climate engineering and a preliminary assessment of its strengths and lacunae. We trace several key themes in this corpus, including problem structure, the concern that climate engineering could undermine emissions cuts, the potentially “slippery slope” of research and development, unilateral implementation, interstate conflict, militarization, rising tensions between industrialized and developing countries, and governance challenges and opportunities. The international politics of climate engineering is then considered through the lenses of the leading IR theories (Realism, Institutionalism, Liberalism, and Constructivism), exploring both what they have contributed and possible lines of future inquiry. Disciplinary IR scholars should have much to say on a number of topics related to climate engineering, including its power and transformational potentials, the possibility of counter-climate engineering, issues of institutional design, international law, and emergent practices. We believe that it is incumbent on the IR community, whose defining focus is international relations, to turn its attention to these unprecedented technologies and to the full scope of possible ramifications they might have for the international system.

Review of R. Wurzel and J. Connelly (eds.), The European Union as a Leader in International Climate Change Politics (London/New York: Routledge, 2010)

Review of R. Wurzel and J. Connelly (eds.), The European Union as a Leader in International Climate Change Politics (London/New York: Routledge, 2010)

European Union as a Leader in Climate Change Policy: Assessing Europe’s Roles in the World∗

The European Union has grown up in terms of influence and size in international politics. The size of its economy and the ever-increasing membership, have seen its ambitions grow meaning that the EU now has an international presence it did not have at its formation. It is easy to say that with the EU being an ambitious actor in international politics, the rise into prominence of climate change naturally came in handy for the EU as it provided an opportunity for the EU to assert itself and prove both its capacity and presence. The 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the withdrawal of the USA from the obligations of the Kyoto came as a blessing in disguise for the Union as it seized the moment to assert itself. Thus, in trying to understand what role the EU has or is playing in international climate change politics, there is need to assess its leadership claims and what it has done to prove these claims. To get there, the paper will navigate through a part of the discipline of International Relations (IR) to understand how it provides for a basis to explain or understand the EU’s limitations and strengths on actorness.

Rethinking Cooperation: Inequality and Consent in International Climate Change Politics

This article analyzes how low-income state agreement has been produced for contemporary international climate change treaties. These treaties have dramatically weakened the legal framework for action on climate change, with likely unequal impacts in the poorest countries. The case demonstrates that theories of international cooperation are not fully equipped to explain the processes through which low-income states offer their consent to multilateral agreements. This article develops and applies to this case a neo-Gramscian framework of negotiated consent, which reveals three mechanisms in the production of low-income state consent: material concessions, norm alignment, and structural conditioning. This approach views international cooperation as a process of strategic power relations co-constituted by strong and weak states, in coordination with nonstate actors. As such, it is useful for bridging the agent-structure divide prevalent in cooperation theory and sheds light on the durable nature of inequality...