Climate Change governance

Question 1

Governing refers to

Answer 1

‘Governing refers to those social activities which make a “purposeful effort to guide, steer, control, or manage societies”

Question 2

Governance refers to

Answer 2

‘Governance’ on the other hand describes ‘the patterns that emerge from the governing activities of social, political and administrative actors”

Question 3

Political scientists define politics as

Answer 3

“the activity through which people make, preserve and amend the rules under which they live” (Heywood, 2000

Question 4

‘wicked issue’

Answer 4

the term ‘wicked’ has been used to denote a policy problem that is especially challenging, owing, among other aspects, to its inter relationship with other problems, the need for action by protagonists with widely different values and worldwide views, and the lack of opportunity for ‘trial and error’ learning (Rittle and Webber, 1978)

Question 5

At least 6 characteristics of the climate change problematic may be identified, that, when taken as a whole, explain why it is distinct from previous environmental policy challenges and why easy solutions are so elusive.

Answer 5

The causes of the problems are global, the impacts are global, relative contributions to the problem and the burden of its consequences are highly asymmetrical (developing countries contribute most but least hard hit), the problem is long term, uncertainty is pervasive , and the global institutions arguably necessary to address the issue are only partially formed

Question 6

Climate change is ‘knowledge intensive’ and involves complex scientific, technical, legal, policy and social issues. Yet, uncertainty surrounds

Answer 6

o The mitigation targets (Dessai et al, 2004)
o The future of the international policy regime
o Technology that will be most effective
o Role of markets
o Policies that will be most effective; effectiveness would not be observed for decades
o Precise impacts especially at the local scale; adapting to what?

Question 7

Causes of climate change are embedded

Answer 7

The causes are global embedded in social and economic systems and individual actions (Giddens, 2009

Question 8

Mitigation (actors and types of policies)

Answer 8

• Energy, metals and aggregates, transportation and forestry sectors.
• Well organized, financial clout, links to national policy making
• Emissions from sectors regarded as important for security and economic prosperity; challenges vested interests

Question 9

Adaptation (actors and types of policies)

Answer 9

• Large variety of sectoral interests e.g. tourism, health, agriculture etc.
• No immediate concern; adaptation requirements unclear and little incentive for long term planning.

Question 10

Climate change governance: UK

Answer 10

• “The dangers of climate change are stark and very real. If we don’t act now, and act quickly, we could face disaster” (David Cameron, 2009)
• “I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment. I want to see real action. I want this to be the greenest government ever.” (David Cameron, 2010)

Question 11

Climate Change act 2008

Answer 11

• 80% reduction by 2050; legally binding

- climate change committee to advise and set carbon budgets

Question 12

Climate policy under the Coalition

Answer 12

• Cutting of env bodes: SDC and RCEP
• Scrapping of the Severn barrage
• Lack of joined-up thinking
• Dysfunctional Department of Energy and Climate Change

Question 13

Air travel: 1980s

Answer 13

• Air travel relatively expensive – chartered flights, scheduled flights
• British aviation Authority privatized in 1986
• British Airways privatization in 1987

Question 14

Air travel: 1990s

Answer 14

• Liberalisation of the sector
• Growth in low cost airlines
• Growth in regional airports
• Flying becomes ‘cheap’ form of mass transport.

Question 15

Air travel: 2000s

Answer 15

• Continued growth in aviation
• Concerns about UK airport capacity, especially Heathrow
• Concerns about aviation’s contribution to climate change
• Aviation included in the EU’s (carbon) emissions trading scheme
• Plans for aviation expansion (third runway at Heathrow) proposed in 2003 Aviation White Paper
• Incompatibility with government commitments to reduce Co2
• Increased unrest and protest on climate change and local environment disturbance grounds
• Coalition agreement – no plans for third runway
• Howard Davies now leading commission
• Structures of society and economy privilege business
• Government estimates that building a third runway at Heathrow would bring £5.5bn of economic benefits over 2020-2080
• Travel as a modern right?

Question 16

UN climate change regime: 6 periods

Answer 16

• Foundation period (science)
• Agenda-setting phase – 1985-1988
• Pre-negotiation period – 1988 – 1990 (governments involved)
• Formal intergovernmental negotations phase – FCCC May 1992
• Post-agreement phase – adoption of Kyoto 1997
• Post 2012 – Beyond Kyoto

Question 17

Post-Kyoto Agreement

Answer 17

Durban Platform for Enhanced Action governments decided to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015

Question 18

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)

Answer 18

“The ultimate objective of this Convention [is] stabilization of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (UNFCC)

Question 19

UNFCC heart of response to climate change

Answer 19

“At the very heart of the response to climate change, however, lies the need to reduce emissions. In 2010, governments agreed that emissions need to be reduced so that global temperature increases are limited to below 2 degrees Celsius” (UNFCC, 2010)

Question 20

BBC (2014) Glasgow Uni

Answer 20

• The uni recognized the “devastating impact” that climate change could have and the “need to reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels”
• The uni is withdrawing £18 of investments over the next decade.
• “over the coming years we will steadily reduce our investment in the fossil fuel extraction industry, while also taking steps to reduce carbon consumption.

Question 21

The threat of climate change

Answer 21

• Climate change has been said to be more serious threat to global terrorism (King, 2004) and to be comparable in its effects to the First and Second World Wars and the Great Depression combined (Stern, 2007

Question 22

The term ‘effective’

Answer 22

• The term ‘effective’ has been used as a standard by which to judge the climate change governance framework, but never concisely defined
  Rayner and Okereke (2007)

Question 23

effective solutions in regards to the timescale

Answer 23

• Given the timescales involved it may well be that what in 2050 appears to have been an effective solution, by 2100 comes to appear inadequate
  Rayner and Okereke (2007)

Question 24

Agreement at Kyoto considered

Answer 24

• The reaching of an agreement at Kyoto could be regarded as a remarkable success (Grubb, 2004).

Question 25

International agreements needed

Answer 25

• The current partial coverage of international agreements would have to give way to some kind of meaningful inclusion of the USA and key rapidly industrializing countries.
  Rayner and Okereke (2007)

Question 26

needed to achieve the kind of stabilization target.

Answer 26

• A strong argument can be made that achievement of the kind of stabilization target needed to avoid a temperature increase of more than 2-3 degrees C requires a universalist architecture entailing binding targets
  Rayner and Okereke (2007)

Question 27

External and internal definitions of risk in relation to dangerous climate change

Answer 27

• There are at least two contrasting perspectives on dangerous climate change, what we term ‘external’ and ‘internal’ definitions of risk.
• External definitions are usually based on scientific risk analysis, performed by experts, of system characteristics of the physical or social world.
• Internal definitions of danger recognize that to be real, danger has to be either experienced or perceived – it is the individual or collective
  Dessai (2004)

Question 28

Delhi Declaration on Climate Change

Answer 28

• The Delhi Declearation on Climate change and sustainable development, which emerged from the 2002 UNFCCC, reiterated the need to avoid dangerous climate change as the UNFCCC’s ultimate objective

Question 29

What constitutes dangerous climate change according to the IPCC

Answer 29

• According to the Third Assessment report of the IPCC however deciding what constitutes dangerous climate change is a value judgement beyond the remit of the IPCC and perhaps of science itself

Question 30

‘Top down’ models

Answer 30

• The more frequently followed paradigm utilizes ‘top-down’ methods – this follows a step-wide approach and quantifies indicators of physical vulnerability based on scenrios of future economic change that are used as inputs to a series of hierarchical models
  Dessai (2004)

Question 31

‘Bottom up’ models

Answer 31

• The ‘bottom up’ approach focuses on the social vulnerability of inividuals or groups to both existing climate variability and future climate change. – this often tests social and economic hypotheses on the determinants of vulnerability across a region
  Dessai (2004)

Question 32

The 2 degree target

Answer 32

• The EU proposed 2 degrees C as the policy target in 1996, with support from some environmentalists and scientists.
• It was subsequently listed as the desirable temperature target in the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.
• The target has become a critical part of the EU, UN Conference of Parties, and other organizations policy proposals.
  Randalls (2010)

Question 33

scientists doubting the efficiency of the 2 degree target

Answer 33

scientists have doubted the efficacy of the target on a basis of the difficulties of establishing such a target in the context of so many uncertainties about climate sensitivity.
Randalls (2010)

Question 34

Economists critiquing the target

Answer 34

• Secondly, economists have critiques it for being too costly and based on insufficiently clear damage costs.
  Randalls (2010)

Question 35

Researchers interested in science policy dynamics critiqued the target

Answer 35

• Thirdly, researchers interested in science-policy dynamics have critiqued it for forcing a rather tenuous policy debate that has detracted from the process of reducing emissions
  Randalls (2010)