Global Politics & The Environment

1. Global Politics & The Environment

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 • Rio Conference (UNCED)

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. Rio Conference (1992) • Brundtland Commission’s report “Our Common Future,” 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 Social Paradigm (DSP) • Sees nature as existing to be exploited by humans • Risk-seeking (or at least not risk-averse) • Sees no limits to growth • Rooted in western empiricism & technology • Rooted in Christianity

9. Alternative or New Social Paradigm (ASP) • Sees nature as valuable in its own right • Humans to live in balance with nature • Risk-averse • Sees limits to growth, seeks 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 (Porter & Brown, p. 16-19), 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 Porter, Brown, & Chasek, pgs. 14 – 16 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 • 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?