1 / 21

The Emergence Of Global Environmental Politics

The Emergence Of Global Environmental Politics. Takes Place In A Context Of National Sovereignty. Nation states can do as they wish within their own boundaries This means that addressing international environmental problems requires negotiations among sovereign states International law

niveditha
Download Presentation

The Emergence Of Global Environmental Politics

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Emergence Of Global Environmental Politics

  2. Takes Place In A Context Of National Sovereignty • Nation states can do as they wish within their own boundaries • This means that addressing international environmental problems requires negotiations among sovereign states • International law • Institution building (agreements, treaties conventions, regimes)

  3. Emergence • Early developments • Regional • Great Lakes (Boundary Waters Treaty & the International Joint Commission – IJC) • Early 1900s • Global • Post-WWII • Whaling (International Whaling Commission - IWC) • Important recent milestones • Stockholm Conference • United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

  4. Stockholm Conference (1972) • First major UN meeting on the global environment • Declaration of Principles • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) • Follow-up conferences on many topics (population, food, desertification) • North - South debate

  5. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, 1992 (UNCED) • AKA the “Earth Summit” and the “Rio Conference” • Brundtland Commission’s report “Our Common Future (1987),” which addresses developing nations’ concerns was influential • Sustainable development • Treaties on climate change & biodiversity • Agenda 21 - principles & action plan

  6. Why The Recent Interest? • International & global environmental problems • Post-Cold War international politics • Shift away from security focus • North-South issues • Quality of life issues • Paradigm shift

  7. Paradigm Shift • Paradigm: a fundamental set of attitudes, beliefs, assumptions that colors a society’s way of thinking • Some observers argue that a change is occurring

  8. Dominant (Exclusionist) Paradigm • Sees nature as existing to be exploited by humans • Market driven • Risk-seeking (or at least not risk-averse) • Sees no limits to growth • Rooted in western empiricism & technology • Rooted in Christianity

  9. Alternative (Sustainable Development) Paradigm • Sees nature as valuable in its own right • Humans to live in balance with nature • Concerned with the degradation of environmental services • Risk-averse • Sees limits to growth, seeks environmental accounting and sustainable development • Rooted in nonwestern, non-Christian attitudes

  10. Paradigm Shift, Another View • Is there evidence to support claims that it is really occurring? • Cross-national surveys • Reports by international commissions

  11. How Global Environmental Policy Making Works

  12. Regimes, Not Alliances • Multilateral (i.e. several nations) agreements • Establishing sets of rules (or of behavioral norms) • Regulating the participating nations’ behavior • On specific (sets of) issues • In environment, most are based upon formal agreements (conventions, protocols, etc.)

  13. How & Why Do They Work? • There are several traditional models (Chasek, Downie & Brown, p. 27 - 30), but they do not seem to work well (with the partial exception of the epistemic community model) in explaining international environmental regimes • Nonetheless, regimes are very significant in the development & implementation of international environmental policy

  14. Some Examples • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) • Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution • Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer & The Montreal Protocol • See Chasek, Downie & Brown, pgs. 24 – 27 for many more

  15. Conventions • What? • Multiparty treaties • Aimed at establishing cooperation in responding to a specific issue or set of issues • May be joined by additional nations after having been adopted

  16. Conventions, cont. • Terms • Signatories - The nations which have signed the treaty • Parties - The nations which have signed & ratified the agreement (i.e. are full participants in the agreement) • Secretariat ‑‑ The administrative body which is responsible for implementing the agreement (may be UN body, e.g. UNEP, or free standing, e.g. IJC)

  17. Conventions, cont. • Types • Simple conventions (self contained) • Framework conventions • Establish basic procedures, or “rules of the game” for dealing with a problem • Frequently provide for a regular Conference of Parties (COP) • Protocols: Follow up agreements which deal with substance • e.g. Vienna Convention on Ozone (1985) & Montreal Protocol (1987 & 1990)

  18. “Soft Law” • Nonbinding agreements • Intended to influence nations’ behavior • No formal enforcement, but they can be influential • e.g. Agenda 21 (from Rio Conference)

  19. Environmental Treaties • Environmental treaties are negotiated on an ad hoc basis • Participants are self-selected • One nation, one vote • NGOs do not vote, but • They often spur their governments into participating • They may have key implementation roles • Direct • Monitoring, resource gathering, nagging, whistle blowing

  20. So... • Treaties with global implications may be negotiated by a minority of nations • Treaty negotiations may not include key nations • Who is bound by the treaty?

More Related