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Edexcel A Level Politics > C3: Global Governance: Human Rights & Environmental > Flashcards

C3: Global Governance: Human Rights & Environmental Flashcards

1
Q

What are Human Rights defined as?

A

Entitlements inherent to all human beings as virtue of being born

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2
Q

What is the idea of Universal human rights?

A

The idea that everyone should have human rights regardless of cultural or other differences

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3
Q

When were Human Rights conceptualised?

A

Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948

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4
Q

What is International law?

A

The rules governing relationships between states

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5
Q

What are the main sources of international law?

A

Treaties & conventions between states
International custom
General principles of law recognised by civilised nations
Judicial decisions
Legal writings

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6
Q

What is the International Court of Justice?

A

A court that adjudicates disputes between UN member states

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7
Q

What is the International Criminal Court?

A

A court responsible for investigation & putting on trial individuals who have been accused of some of the worst crimes against humanity.
ICC was set up by the 1998 Rome Statute & came into force in 2002

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8
Q

What are some criticisms of the ICC?

A

Most arrest warrants have been of Africans - colonial organisation
Any state can remove their signature & the ICC has no authority - Russia

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9
Q

What were the two notable UN tribunals that predated the ICC?

A

Yugoslavia 1993
Rwanda 1994

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10
Q

What is the European Court of Human Rights?

A

An organisation set up as a response to the Holocaust
Individuals or groups who feel their human rights have been breached can appeal to the ECHR

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11
Q

What were the first instances of genuine international trials?

A

Nuremberg Trials & the Tokyo Trials

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12
Q

What states notably didn’t sign the UDHR in 1948?

A

Saudi Arabia & other islamic states - UDHR considered incompatible with Islamic law as it contained freedom to religion

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13
Q

What are some issues with the idea of global governance with regards to Human Rights?

A

Forcible Humnitarian intervention contradicts ideas of state sovereignty
Assumes moral absolutes that unite the world - mostly western ideas
States can use Human Rights as pretext for invasion & expansion
Intervention doesn’t always actually help

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14
Q

What are some examples of Western intervention making things worse?

A

Iraq
Libya
Syria
Afghanistan

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15
Q

What were the two periods that saw a huge rise in Human Rights protection?

A

Post-WW2
End of the Cold War

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16
Q

Why was there a rise in humanitarian intervention in the 1990s?

A

The UN could now approve humanitarian intervention missions due to the fall of the USSR

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17
Q

What is an example of successful humanitarian intervention?

A

Kosovo
Sierra Leone

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18
Q

What were some accusations thrown at the USA regarding double standards?

A

They preached democracy, but overthrew democratically elected regimes & supported military regimes that used torture.
Examples being Fidel Castro & the Nicaraguan Government respectively

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19
Q

What are some more modern issues regarding the West & ‘double standards’ of Human Rights?

A

War on Terror facilitated many human rights abuses
UK marine convicted of war crimes in 2013
UK sold armaments to Saudi Arabia used against civilians in Yemen
USA allegedly moved terror suspects to other countries in order to bypass normal legal & human rights protections
Western silence in the face of China

20
Q

What notable states haven’t signed up to the ICC?

A

USA, China, Russia

21
Q

What is the UNFCCC?

A

United Nationa Framework Convention on Climate Change

22
Q

When was the UNFCCC established?

A

Rio ‘earth summit’ in 1992
Treaty came into force 1994

23
Q

What was agreed at the 1997 Kyoto summit?

A

181 signatories of the UNFCCC were to freeze CO2 emissions at 1990 levels from 2000 onwards

24
Q

How are environmental requirements on states decided under the UNFCCC?

A

Determined on the basis of equity & in accordance with the states’s “common but differentiated responsibilities & respective capabilities” - states that had contributed most to global warming had greater reduction targets

25
Q

What are some criticisms of the UNFCCC?

A

It didn’t take into account the fact that emissions by developing countries are going to increase rapidly as economic growth accelerates
Not legally binding - just a set of suggestions

26
Q

What is the IPCC?

A

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - set up 1988

27
Q

What is the purpose of the IPCC?

A

To provide impartial information & advice about climate change to decision-makers and interested organisations and groups.
They look at things like:
- Physical science basis of climate change
- Climate change impacts
- Possible ways to mitigate climate change

28
Q

What are the main reports published by the IPCC?

A

Assessment reports, published every 5-8 years or so
Have been six: (1990, 1995, 2001, 2007, 2014, 2023)

29
Q

What are some good things about the IPCC?

A

It has established a general consensus that climate change exists
Made it increasingly difficult for states to ignore the issue of climate change
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2007

30
Q

What are some criticisms of the IPCC?

A

Reliant on already published research, undergoes long & exacting reviews - information usually out of date when published
Some scientific assumptions are disputed - e.g. ocean’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide
Has been accused of scaremongering - some claims do not stand up to scrutiny

31
Q

What do ‘deep greens’ believe?

A

That the capitalist system is naturally impossible to reconcile with environmental sustainability - advocate radical measures such as population control & change to subsistence living

32
Q

What do ‘shallow greens’ believe?

A

They believe human aims can be reconciled with environmental aims. There will be some decline in economic growth and perhaps a fall in living standards, but they believe sustainable development is entirely possible.

33
Q

What is sustainable development?

A

Development to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

34
Q

What is the tragedy of the commons?

A

The idea that certain areas & resources (e.g. the oceans, antarctica, the atmosphere) fall under the jurisdiction of nobody & therefore are depleted by everybody according to their own self-interest.

35
Q

What is set out in the 1959 Antarctic Treaty?

A

Bans the use of the antarctic for military purposes, the storage of radioactive waste, or detonation of nuclear devices

36
Q

What was the Montreal Protocl of 1987?

A

Banned the use and production of CFCs

37
Q

What were some successes of the Rio Climate Conference 1992?

A
  • Important step in the formation of global environmental policy
  • Paved the way for adoption of legally binding targets at Kyoto
  • Focus on sustainable development has led to a holistic approach to issues
  • Allowed NGOs to be represented & influence the agenda
38
Q

What were some failures of the Rio Climate Conference 1992?

A
  • Agreements reached at Rio lacked ambition & weren’t legally binding
  • Too many different positions made agreement difficult to reach
  • Developed & developing states disagreed over relative responsibilities
39
Q

What were some successes of the Kyoto Climate Conference 1997?

A
  • Introduced legally binding targets for reducing emissions
  • Flexible targets & cabron trading made it easier for states to agree to targets
  • Carbon trading promoted investment from richer countries into smaller ones
40
Q

What were some failures of the Kyoto Climate Conference 1997?

A
  • Carbon trading open to abuse that allowed richer states to sidestep their targets
  • Protocol didn’t come into force until 2005 when Russia signed it
  • Cutting emissions by on average 5% was unlikely to be effective
  • USA withdrew in 2001
  • India & China didn’t sign it
  • Developing countries were excluded from binding targets; now larger emitters
  • Carbon levels now 4 times higher than they were in the 90s
41
Q

What were some successes of the Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009?

A
  • Paved the way for emission cuts
  • Obama proposed to cut USA emissions by 4% on 1990 levels by 2020
  • China & other emerging economies committed themselves to cut emissions
42
Q

What were some failures of the Copenhagen Climate Conference 2009?

A
  • Participants only required to take note of the accord; no binding action
  • No date set for agreeing to binding targets
  • No detail provided about the measurement system & verification process
  • Accord is vague as to how developing countries will get money for development aid
43
Q

What were some successes of the Paris Climate Conference 2015?

A
  • First ever universal legally binding climate change deal
  • China & the USA participated; ambitious target was agreed
44
Q

What were some failures of the Paris Climate Conference 2015?

A
  • Doubts on whether the USA would ratify the agreement; Trump did not, Biden eventually did it
  • States can set their own targets for cutting emissions; likely to be lower than needed
  • No enforcement if states fail to take action
45
Q

What are some of the main obstacles to international cooperation & agreement over Climate change?

A

Sovereignty
Divisions between developed and developing
Disagreements about responsibility & relative action
How pollution is measured
Climate Change denial

46
Q

What are the top five highest emitting states in the world?

A

China, USA, India, Russia, Japan

47
Q

What is the role of NGOs in climate change action?

A

NGOs such as Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth have pushed for more radical reductions in greenhouse gases
Actively lobby states on environmental issues

Edexcel A Level Politics (18 decks)

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