Obstacles to International Cooperation

Question 1

obstacles to international cooperation and agreement

Answer 1

the tragedy of the commons explains in part why international cooperation and agreement on the environment is difficult to achieve

but there are various other obstacles in the way of international cooperation including…

• sovereignty
• disagreements between developed and developing states
• climate change denial
• unequal climate change
• the reluctance of the biggest contributors to sign up

Question 2

sovereignty

Answer 2

on most issues, such as health care, education, law and order and immigration, states enjoy sovereignty and have the ultimate authority to decide policy in these areas

however, the environment is not confined within state borders – pollution, rising sea levels and greenhouse gas emissions cannot be solved by unilateral action, they require the collective action of many states, if not all

collective action requires collective decision making and collective implementation, which in turn leads to the creation of international organisations and regimes to aid this process

inevitably, this leads to a loss of sovereignty as decisions are made more easily by a majority rather than on the basis of unanimity and there will be times when individual states lose out in the interests of the majority, having to accept the majority decision despite disagreeing

Question 3

disagreements between developed and developing states

what do they disagree on?

Answer 3

there are disputes about how far nations are responsible or should take action over environmental issues and divisions between developed and developing states

the disagreements over responsibility for climate change provide another significant obstacle to international co-operation and agreement on the environment

Question 4

disagreements between developed and developing states

what does scientific evidence suggest?

Answer 4

the scientific evidence suggests that global warming is caused by greenhouse gases, which are the by-products of burning fossil fuels

Question 5

disagreements between developed and developing states

when did the consumption of fossil fuels begin?

Answer 5

the consumption of fossil fuels began in earnest in the late-18th century with the Industrial Revolution

countries industrialised at different rates and some countries in the developing world are still industrialising

but the developed states were the earliest to industrialise, and they produce a greater share of greenhouse gases

Question 6

disagreements between developed and developing states

USA v China (carbon dioxide emissions)

Answer 6

for example, in the 1990s, the USA produced about 25% of the world’s total carbon-dioxide emissions compared to China’s 14%

despite the fact that the American population accounted for less than 5% of the total world population, while China’s accounted for 20%

Question 7

disagreements between developed and developing states

how are developed states responsible for emissions in the developing world?

Answer 7

furthermore, developed states are also responsible for much of the emissions in the developing world

due to globalisation, around one-third of carbon dioxide emissions in the developing world come from the manufacturing of goods that are consumed in the developed world

therefore, it would seem right that developed states should bear greater responsibility for the reduction in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide levels, especially when they have had longer to enjoy the benefits of industrialisation

Question 8

disagreements between developed and developing states

why else should developed states bear more responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, aside from the fact that they’ve produced more?

Answer 8

any requirement for developing states to reduce emissions would jeopardise their much-needed economic growth

in recognition of such concerns about equity and fairness, the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ was enshrined in the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change

this places the responsibility on developed states to commit to greater reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and to provide financial support to developing states to help them achieve reductions

Question 9

disagreements between developed and developing states

why is the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities highly contentious?

Answer 9

the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities is highly contentious and developed states argue that they cannot be held responsible for pollution produced in the past, when no one knew this would cause global warming

they argue that reduction targets should be set according to current rather than historical levels of emissions

there are clear disagreements about how pollution should be measured – for example, whether current or cumulative levels should count

Question 10

disagreements between developed and developing states

what else do developed states take issue with?

Answer 10

they also take issue with the linking of emissions to a state’s share of the global population

America may produce four times more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than China, but overall China is now producing the highest levels of emissions: 29% to America’s 16%

successive US administrations have disputed the fairness of targets based on per-capita measures, claiming that targeting the highest polluters would do more to combat climate change

Question 11

climate change denial

what is climate change denial? what do they claim?

Answer 11

climate change denial is a less tangible obstacle to agreement on tackling climate change, but nonetheless a factor that causes states to be reluctant in taking effective action

there is a significant lobby, especially in the USA, that challenges the science of climate change

the fossil fuel industry and right wing libertarian think tanks sponsor scientists who question the role of human beings in global warming, the quality of the science and the seriousness of the threat of climate change

for example, they claim that current rising temperatures are due to natural variation, or that water vapour is a more important cause of global warming which is not accounted for in many models of climate change
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Question 12

climate change denial

how has climate change denial affected public opinion?

Answer 12

it is hard to say whether such groups have reduced governments’ ability to agree on what to do, but they may have influenced public opinion

in the UK, less than 1% of voters consider the environment among the most important issues facing the country, if voters do not prioritise global warming there is less impetus for governments to act

also, action on the environment might mean higher taxes or more restrictions on citizens, which would reduce their standard of living and freedom of action

Question 13

unequal climate change

impact of climate change in the northern hemisphere

Answer 13

a further complication in agreeing binding targets is that climate change does not affect all parts of the world equally

generally, the northern hemisphere has been only mildly affected by more extreme weather events, such as flooding and storms, thought to be caused by warming temperatures

Question 14

unequal climate change

impact of climate change in the Arctic

Answer 14

the ice is retreating quickly in the Arctic, increasing the challenges for polar bears in hunting for food, as a sparsely populated area this has little impact on human societies

Question 15

unequal climate change

impact of climate change in the southern hemisphere

Answer 15

equatorial regions and the southern hemisphere are more populated and seem to be bearing the brunt of climate change

the increasing incidence of drought in East Africa, the expansion of the Sahara and Namibian deserts, and the threat of rising sea levels to low-lying islands in the Pacific and river deltas in places such as Bangladesh may make such places uninhabitable in the future

for islands such as the Maldives, Nauru, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, urgent action on climate change is a matter of national survival

the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is lobbying for the more ambitious target of limiting the rise in global mean temperatures to just 1.5°C, rather than the 2°C accepted by most other states

Question 16

reluctance of the most polluting countries to sign up to binding emissions targets

which countries are often reluctant to cooperate to reduce climate change?

Answer 16

a significant obstacle to effective action on global warming is the reluctance of the most polluting countries – the USA and China – to sign up to binding emissions targets

the situation has developed into a quid pro quo or game of tit for tat

Question 17

reluctance of the most polluting countries to sign up to binding emissions targets

why have the USA and China been so reluctant to sign up to binding emissions targets?

Answer 17

in the 1990s, China argued that it should not accept emissions targets because, as a developing country, it was not responsible for the damage done by other countries industrialising earlier

the US initially agreed to binding targets at Kyoto in 1997, but revoked its signature under George W. Bush in 2001, arguing that China had become the greatest net emissions producer, so it was unfair to expect the USA to make reductions when other countries were causing more damage to the environment

Question 18

reluctance of the most polluting countries to sign up to binding emissions targets

what has happened more recently?

Answer 18

more recently, the USA and China have undergone a conversion to the climate-change cause

President Obama pledged to sign up to the Paris Agreement, although his successor Donald Trump has indicated that he will scrap the deal

China, in an attempt to combat the problem of smog in its major cities, has pledged to become the world’s leader in renewable energy production

Question 19

CASE STUDY: the EU and greenhouse gas emissions

success within the EU in tackling climate change

Answer 19

state cooperation on the environment has been possible within the EU

more than 80% of environment regulations that are followed in EU member states have been devised and agreed at the EU level

the EU Commission was allowed to take a leading role in formulating environmental policy because a series of environmental agreements in the 1970s were threatening to frustrate movement towards the development of a common market

it was felt that coordination of environmental as well as economic policy was needed

Question 20

CASE STUDY: the EU and greenhouse gas emissions

what has the high level of intergration in economic policy led to?

Answer 20

the high level of integration in this area of policy led to an effective burden sharing agreement among members states on the Kyoto emissions target reductions

the more developed Northern European states agreed to reduce their emissions by up to a quarter, while allowing the less developed Southern European states to increase their emissions by similar amounts, thus ensuring that the burden of reducing greenhouse gas emissions falls fairly on more and less developed states

the ability to reach a consensus between member states and share the burden equitably has enabled the EU to set the most ambitious targets in the world in cutting greenhouse gas emissions