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1. Has the Paris Declaration Disappeared? Revisiting the Aid Effectiveness Agenda

Author:
Erik Lundsgaarde and Lars Engberg-Pederesen
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness has lost visibility. However, core emphases such as ownership and managing for results remain important if progress is to be made with the Sustainable Development Goals. Recommendations ■ Explanations for the lost momentum on aid effectiveness should have a central place in future dialogue. ■ Development partners should reengage with the principles of ownership and managing for results as the central ideas in the effectiveness agenda. ■ Donors should analyse tensions between ownership and results in their approaches to ensure longterm development effectiveness. • The SDGs should be emphasized as a basis for creating a legitimate framework for ownership and directing the focus on results.
Topic:
Development, Treaties and Agreements, United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Climate Security: Making it #Doable

Author:
Dan Smith, Malin Mobjörk, Florian Krampe, and Karolina Eklöw
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
Climate-related events left no region unaffected in 2018. These events demonstrate how climate change impacts are worsening. Despite increased geopolitical tensions that seem to undermine the Agenda 2030 or the Paris Agreement, global and regional organisations have been able to achieve some progress in addressing and mitigating climate-related security risks. This report, prepared for the Planetary Security Conference taking place in The Hague on 19-20 February 2019, feeds into the conversation by sketching the past year’s trends in relation to climate and security. Assisted by Rickard Söder and Mikaela Wang, authors Dan Smith, Malin Mobjörk, Florian Krampe and Karolina Eklöw review the progress made in global and regional organisations on addressing and mitigating climate-related security risks despite the turmoil in global politics at large. It builds on the two previous progress reports for the Planetary Security Initiative (PSI). The report focuses on progress in the UN and in regional intergovernmental organisations, both showcasing achievements and highlighting new challenges.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, United Nations, Sustainability, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. The Methane Economy

Author:
Chaitanya Giri
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations
Abstract:
The United Nations’ 2015 Paris Agreement called for the immediate sequestration of atmospheric anthropogenic greenhouse gases to help avert serious environmental degradation. India can take the lead in this because it is the second largest emitter of methane. Of all the natural greenhouse gases, methane is the hardiest. Technological advances are making it possible to crack methane into gaseous hydrogen and solid carbon on a commercial scale. Methane cracking can provide a steady supply of hydrogen for futuristic transportation and solid carbon materials — graphene, carbon nanotubes, synthetic diamonds — which are integral to the marine, aerospace and space industries. The commercial benefits apart, methane cracking will also go a long way in meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate change mitigation objectives. This paper offers some concrete recommendations that can help the government of India shape national legislation and global geoeconomic strategies.
Topic:
Climate Change, United Nations, Methane, Carbon Emissions, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

4. What’s next for UN climate negotiations? The UNFCCC in the era of populism and multipolar competition

Author:
Antto Vihma
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
After the agreement reached in Katowice in December 2018, The Paris Agreement is finally operational. This is a major diplomatic achievement. Two large-scale political developments have cast a shadow over the implementation phase of the Paris Agreement: the rise of right-wing populism and emerging multipolar competition. The evidence so far seems to suggest that right-wing populism often frames climate change as an elite agenda – and international agreements are perceived as a pet issue of the corrupt elite, at odds with the interests of the people. Relatedly, tightening competition among great powers makes multilateral cooperation and consensus-based decision-making among 197 parties increasingly challenging. With the Paris Agreement in place, the UNFCCC can provide a long-awaited legal framework for national climate contributions, but it will not be able to increase the ambition of national climate policies via multilateral negotiations.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, United Nations, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Global climate adaptation governance in the Amazon through a polycentricity lens

Author:
Fronika Claziena Agatha de Wit and Paula Martins de Freitas
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
The 2015 Paris agreement has made adaptation to climate change a global goal and increased the polycentricity of the governance landscape. This study uses insights from polycentric governance theory to analyze the emergence of adaptation governance (AG) in Brazil and its implications for the state of Acre, situated in the Amazon region. By using a qualitative data analysis, including subnational climate policies and semi-structured interviews, we aim to analyze the advantages and challenges of polycentric AG in Acre and provide recommendations for improved AG in the region.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Treaties and Agreements, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

6. Climate Crisis and European Cities: From Shallow to Deep Adaptation

Author:
Juraj Mesik
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Issues: Slovak Foreign Policy Affairs
Institution:
Slovak Foreign Policy Association
Abstract:
Four years after the Paris Agreement, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration continues to rise at the same speed as it did before, reflecting unabated growth in global CO2 emissions. In the meantime, CO2 concentration reached 415 parts per million (ppm), a level not found on Earth for15 million years, since the Miocene era, when the average global temperature was at least 4 degrees Celsius higher and sea levels were at least 25 meters higher than today. Further rises in global temperature are unavoidable. The speed and maximum reached will, however, depend on how successful humankind is in achieving carbon neutrality within the coming years and decades. Many cities and towns, especially in subtropical and tropical climate zones, are already being confronted with the devastating effects of climate instability manifested in more frequent, widespread or intense droughts, wildfires, floods, heatwaves, storms and other phenomena, which lead to crop failure, water scarcity, economic devastation and socio-political and security instability. Cities and towns in Europe and other moderate climate regions will soon be confronted with similar situations, and these will make it difficult to fulfil the needs at the base of the Maslow pyramid of human needs. Now is the time for deep climate adaptation and resilience building, while European societies are still rich and stable. The failure to understand the causes and consequences of the climate crisis brings with it the risk of widespread disasters, including the potential collapse of urban centers.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Paris Agreement, and Disaster Management
Political Geography:
Europe

7. China’s Carbon Market: Accelerating a Green Economy in China and Reducing Global Emissions

Author:
Yifei Zhang, Jonathan Harris, and Jim Li
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
Abstract:
The National Carbon Emission Rights Trading Market (ETS) Construction Plan (Power Generation Industry) was released in Beijing on December 19 , 2017 by China’s government. As promised during COP23 held in Bonn, Germany in November 2017, this is a key step to fulfilling China’s commitment to the Paris Agreement. The performance of ETS pilot projects in seven provinces of China have been evaluated since October 2011. The supporting policies were also thoroughly analyzed at both local and central government levels. Analysis of the pilot projects shows that the national ETS just initiated in China will not only strengthen supply-side structural reform and carbon-saving patterns of economic growth, but it will also contribute to poverty alleviation by introducing ecosystem valuation into the market. This is a practical application of the “Two Mountain Theory” suggesting that the economic and ecological systems can work in harmony, as proposed by President Xi and emphasized in the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on development, poverty alleviation and environmental protection in October 2017. Policy suggestions in terms of economic characteristics, industrial development and regional differences were developed to improve the effects of ETS in China. Taking advantage of differences in the costs of reducing emissions and expanding the size of the trading market are key to success.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Carbon Emissions, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
China and Asia

8. Global justice and environmental governance: an analysis of the Paris Agreement

Author:
Marcelo Santos
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
Abstract:
Based on the major normative political theory contributions on global climate justice, the present paper analyzes the new international agreement on climate change, adopted at COP 21 in Paris (2015). Therefore, a literary review of the extensive normative theoretical discussion about global climate justice is made, with special attention to the two approaches that have permeated multilateral political negotiations - historical responsibility and equal per capita emissions. From this normative discussion, this paper recalls the global climate change negotiation process, focusing on the Kyoto Protocol. Next, the analysis emphasizes on the Paris Agreement in an effort to evaluate the normative questions on justice and equity within the environmental governance regime. Finally, the set of conclusions indicates that, although the flexibility of the Agreement has encompassed some dimensions of responsibility, necessity and ability to bear the costs, the most complex dimensions of justice and equity has not been completely solved, which may hinder the operation of environmental governance in a near future.
Topic:
Climate Change, Governance, Justice, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. “We Did Not Have Tornadoes or Typhoons”

Author:
A. Kokorin
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
This intervew discusses an increase in natural disasters.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Natural Disasters, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Executive Power and the Role of Congress in the Paris Climate and Iran Nuclear Agreements

Author:
Gwynne Taraska and Hardin Lang
Publication Date:
01-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for American Progress - CAP
Abstract:
In recent months, multilateral efforts have produced two historic agreements aimed at improving global security: the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris climate agreement. The Iran nuclear agreement, which blocks Iran’s nuclear capacity in exchange for a gradual lifting of economic sanctions, was finalized in July and is expected to be implemented imminently. Before negotiations concluded, Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which gave Congress a 60-day period in which it could seek to pass a joint resolution of disapproval. On September 10, all but four Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted to filibuster such a resolution. The agreement, which is nonbinding under international law, therefore proceeded without the need for a presidential veto. Concurrently, the country parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, were negotiating an international agreement to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. The agreement, which has force under international law, was finalized in Paris on December 12. It obliges countries to submit and update national climate goals and participate in systems to review national and collective progress. In the run-up to the Paris agreement, Congress held several hearings, but there were no developments akin to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. As these two feats of international cooperation were under negotiation, Congress played an unusually involved role in the case of Iran but a more minimal role in the case of Paris. This brief discusses the status of both agreements and explains why the Iran and Paris agreements differ with respect to triggers of congressional intervention.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Multilateral Relatons, and Paris Agreement
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America