International Climate Politics

Question 1

How did the new politics of global environmental change occur?

Answer 1

• Persistence and intensification of old pollution problems and growth of new issues (Weale, 1992)
• Weather extremes including severe drought in US, hurricanes in the Caribbean

Question 2

What are the new politics of global environmental change in 1988?

Answer 2

• New politics reflected new scale of problems, including their international dimensions, interaction with policy and ideological conceptions of policy issues (Weale, 1992)
• Formation of the IPCC
• 1988 Toronto Conference
  
  • Toronto Target – reduce emissions to 1988 levels by 2000 and further reduction of 20% from 1988 levels by 2005

Question 3

What was the early language of the IPCC

Answer 3

• The language of early warnings was different to what we see today: more withheld and higher possibility of uncertainty
• “Some confidence”; “likely”; “details of the changes are still poorly understood” (Patterson, 1996)

Question 4

What is the role of the IPCC?

Answer 4

• Provide a clear scientific view on current state of knowledge in climate change and its potential impact
• Do not conduct research nor monitor climate related data, rather reviews and assess most recent information

Question 5

What are the critiques of the IPCC?

Answer 5

• Was it the science or organisation of the science that mattered?
• Does need for consensus in reports make it too conservative or cautious?
  
  • No linear model
  • Different truths for different forms of power
  • Oil producing companies able to emphasise the uncertainties (Paterson, 1996)
• Science (facts) -> Power (values)
  
  • Speaking Truth to Power
  • Knowledge closure -> policy choice
  • Politicising significance of the threat of climate change into required action
  • IPCC scientists have to be screened by government – US government has vetoed a scientist pro action in the past

Question 6

How many people signed onto the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

Answer 6

154 countries in 1992

Question 7

What are the commitments of the 1997 Kyoto Porotocl?

Answer 7

• Binds 37 industrialized (annex 1) countries to reduce emissions below 1990 levels during period of 2008-2012
• Japan by an average of 6%
• USA by average of 7%
• EU by an average of 8%

Question 8

What are the instruments implemented by the Kyoto Protocol?

Answer 8

• Clean Development Mechanism - assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development
• Join Implementation – Any Annex I country can invest in an emission reduction project in any other Annex I country as an alternative to reducing emissions domestically
• Emissions Trading

Question 9

What events are regarded as critical in international climate change politics?

Answer 9

• Paris 2015
• Rio 1992 –agenda 21 (role of all actors of society to engage with global efforts)
• Copenhagen 2009 is often placed with a black mark –civil societies were not allowed in and it fell apart on last day
  
  • But led to Cancun 2010 happening
• Kyoto Protocol –Bush did not sign USA on

Question 10

How have the Alliance of Small Island States been critical in international climate change politics?

Answer 10

• Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) - a key driver in history of nation state action, in order to have a stronger voice compared to major polluters
• Worked closely with London based legal group (FIELD), which suggests fragility of rigid distinctions about who exercises power and authority in governance of climate change (Bulkeley and Newell, 2015)

Question 11

What pivotal piece of information was published in the IPCC 5th Assessment Report?

Answer 11

Concludes human influence on climate system is clear

Question 12

What has the UNFCCC produced?

Answer 12

• International commitment
• Mechanism to support development of carbon markets and finance
• Adaption fund to compensate countries for damage suffered in relation to climate change
• Global movement for action on climate change

Question 13

What were the outcomes of COP 21 in Paris 2015?

Answer 13

• Ambitiously intended nationally determined contributions
• Long-term finance mobilised to drive transition
• Action Agenda to demonstrate commitment by non-state actors to a reach a new legal agreement
• Headliners:
  
  • Keep global temperatures below 2C and aim for 1.5C
  • Scale ambition of targets and review every 5 years
  • Provide ‘climate finance’ to developing countries

Question 14

What does the complexity of climate change stem from?

Answer 14

1. Multiple scales of political decision
   
   • Global as a casual rather than a spatial category
   • Multilevel problem rather than global – local, regional, national and international
2. Fragmented and blurred roles of state and non-state actors
   
   • Shell emits more than Saudi; Amoco more than Canada; Mobil more than Australia
   • Changing nature of the state in current era of neo-liberal economic reform – privatized energy markets; growing power of the individual consumers
3. Embedded nature of the many processes that lead to emissions of GHG in everyday production and consumption mechanisms

Bulkeley and Newell, 2015

Question 15

Argument about cliamte science becoming political?

Answer 15

• Foucault’s argument of power and knowledge directly implying one another
• Worlds of science and politics overlap
  
  • Scientists as ‘knowledge brokers’ funded by governments
• Governance issues and challenges
  
  • Key deal-brokers in climate governance have changed in a way that reflects shifts in economic power in the global power
  • Support for market mechanisms as preferred way to govern climate change in spite of record reflect geo-political and economic shifts.
  • Domestic arenas of global powers carries global repercussions: e.g. US’s domestic politics playing out globally in Paris 2015