LECTURE 19 - Environment

Question 1

Environmental change = security change ~ general conclusion

Answer 1

Environment a cross-cutting issue with
long-term implications

Question 1

climate crisis = capitalism?

Answer 1

• Environmental management transnational
• Politics can trump research
  – Epistemic communities and problems they face
• Liberal bias and the tragedy of the commons
• Change and adaption brings dislocation

Question 2

Global
Commons

Answer 2

• Comes from concept of ‘common land’
  – Owned by no set actor, open for use by many
• If pasture land is shared, how do you manage it?
  – Temptation is to use as much as can, which leads to
  overgrazing and destruction of the shared resource
  – Closer to home: Think of the condition of shared spaces
  in your residence, library, Uni Centre
• Global commons refers to share global things
  – Oceans, air, space, internet, fish

Question 3

Tragedy of
the Commons (image on slide 6)

Answer 3

• Not an inevitable tragedy
  – Can organize rules and governance systems
  – A central aspect of many current policy debates
• Key principles in ‘managing’ a commons
  – The resource itself
  – The people/actors who use the resource
  – Boundaries of resource and user membership
  – Rules governing use of the resource
  – Value created through use or production of resource

Question 4

About ‘Epistemic
Communities’

Answer 4

Definition:
Expert groups dealing with complex and
technical problems that shape how states
“see” certain problems.
* Conducive to constructivist approach, but
also additional space for post-colonial and
other critical theory insights
* Focus on the coordination, discussion, and
consensus generation of knowledge
– Major evidence of action in health sector
during response to COVID-19 pandemic

Question 5

Law and the
Global
Environment

Answer 5

• Who is responsible and who pays?
• What actors are causing the damage and who controls /
  regulates these actors?
• Reliance on informal approaches
  – Bilateral treaties
  – ‘exporting’ domestic law through regulations
• Centrality of epistemic communities as debate leaders

Question 6

International
Environmental Law

Answer 6

The Importance of International
Environmental Law
* Regulation at international as opposed
to national level
* Global environmental problems have
global /regional /national dimensions
* Environmental problems not contained
within national/territorial boundaries
* Environment is shared. Need to protect
environment is paramount in
relationship between States

Question 7

International
Environmental
Law

Answer 7

• Transboundary and global
  environmental problems
  require international regulation and
  solutions
• International agreements
  /treaties /conventions
  establish standards
• International agreements have
  developed principles of
  environmental law
• Recent focus on procedures and
  incentives to secure compliance

Question 8

Institutions and
Processes

Answer 8

• UN system
  – UNEP
  – GA; ECOSOC; CSD; MDGs and post-2015
  development agenda
  – Rio+20 →
  – Establish ‘High Level Political
  Forum’
  – ‘Upgrade’ UNEP – universal
  membership of Governing
  Council
  – Establish Sustainable
  Development Goals
  – Specialised agencies (e.g. FAO; IMO) and
  other IGOs
• Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs)
• COPs

Question 9

Principles of IEL

Answer 9

• ‘No harm’
  – Principle 2 Rio Declaration
• Cooperation/Good neighbourliness
• Role of environmental impact
  assessment
• Precautionary principle/approach
  – Principle 15 Rio Declaration
• Common but differentiated
  responsibility
  – Principle 7 Rio Declaration
• Polluter pays principle
• Principle of sustainable development

Question 10

What is an
MEA?

Answer 10

• Binding international agreement
  between two States (bilateral) or
  between three or more States
  (multilateral) committing to achieve
  specific environmental goals
• Can be stand-alone; e.g. Convention
  on International Trade in Endangered
  Species (CITES)
• Can be framework agreements (e.g.
  Vienna Convention for the
  Protection of the Ozone Layer)
• Binds only parties, but can affect
  non-parties (for example, through
  trade bans under CITES)

Question 11

What Does
International Law
do for Global
Environmental
Management?

Answer 11

• Focus on procedural obligations
  – Sharing of information
  – Coordination
  – Collection of data
  – Standards
  – Report, cooperate,
  consult…
• Drives formation of international
  institutions needed to manage
  procedures
  – particularly important for
  reporting, dissemination
  – Still little in terms of international
  enforcement power
• Emphasis on assisting with compliance,
  not punishing

Question 12

Environmental Challenges for IR

Answer 12

• Environment not considered
  ‘high politics’
• Creates a focus on study of
  regimes
  – Focus thus on cooperation, not
  conflict
• Non-state actors become very
  important
  – Scientists, NGOs, …. epistemic
  communities
• Implications for competition
  for resources
  – Tragedy of the commons