Climate Change

Question 1

What is the “tragedy of the commons”

Answer 1

Argues that common resources such as environment will be generally overused

Question 2

What is the IPCC?

Answer 2

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

- Est late 80s by UN

Question 3

CO2 levels are the highest they have been for how long?

Answer 3

650,000 years

Question 4

What countries produce over 50% of the world’s CO2?

Answer 4

USA, China and EU member states

Question 5

When was the first climate change conference held?

Answer 5

Toronto 1988

Question 6

When was the Kyoto Protocol adopted?

Answer 6

1997

Question 7

What did the Kyoto Protocol aim to do? How did it plan to do this?

Answer 7

• Reduce 6 greenhouse gases

- Series of flexible measures such as carbon trading

Question 8

What is the long-term problem with regard to Kyoto and the effect of honouring its targets?

Answer 8

Significantly stronger targets are needed to stabilise the effects of greenhouse gases

Question 9

Which conference took place on Climate change in 2009?

Answer 9

Copenhagen

Question 10

What is the EU directive to recycle vehicles?

Answer 10

EU’s “End of Life Vehicles” directive

- cars at the end of their life must be bought back by manufacturers and recycled

Question 11

Who wrote “the tragedy of the commons” and what was it’s analogy?

Answer 11

Gerrett Hardin

• Individuals grazing cattle on common land
• Any gains go directly to individual
• Costs shared among population as a whole
• All suffer from the gradual depletion of common resources, but each individual has an incentive to use for their own private ends

Question 12

How does HARDIN believe the commons can be saved?

Answer 12

• mutually-agreed coercive method of preventing overuse such as very high taxation or penal sentences

Question 13

What occured in a Turkish fishing village when stocks dropped?

Answer 13

ALANYA

• ~100 Fisherman
• developed own rules to prevent over fishing
• Monitoring left to the fisherman and no govt intervention
• All fisherman given an equal opportunity to fish

Question 14

How does OSTROM disagree with HARDIN?

Answer 14

HARDIN: common resources can only be saved by limiting common access
OSTROM: Local self-management and allowing room for experimentation is vital

Question 15

What is the name of the effect where businesses move to a more favourable state due to less tax/regulation?

Answer 15

DELAWARE EFFECT

• After Delaware’s 0% corporation tax
• Businesses will move from one juristiction to another that offers more favourable standards in tax, regulation and environmental standards
• Can be used to attract businesses
• Becomes a race to the bottom

Question 16

Who argued that there was a race to the top effect if the conditions are right?

Answer 16

DAVID VOGEL
“ the CALIFORNIA effect”
- California is the largest market in the USA making it a desirable place to do business

Question 17

What is discovered if public attitudes to environmental protection are compared to a country’s level of environmental policies

Answer 17

The countries with the most stringent regulation tend to have the highest concern for the environment

Question 18

What is Corporatism?

Answer 18

A system of bargaining that formalise a role for business groups and labour groups in government policy making and places an emphasis on collective bargaining for the regulation of industry and wages

Question 19

What did SCRUGGS find was more important than the success of a green party in a country in terms of environmental mobilisation?

Answer 19

There is not much evidence that cross-national differences in levels of environmental mobilisation affect actual environmental outcomes