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101. Advancing United Nations Responses to Climate-related Security Risks

Author:
Camilla Born, Karolina Eklöw, and Malin Mobjörk
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
The security implications of climate change have increasingly been debated in the United Nations Security Council. Yet, there is a growing concern by many UN member states about the lack of adequate responses to the risks that climate change poses to peace and security. In recent years, some modest but notable changes at the UN have taken place, of which the creation of the Climate Security Mechanism is the primary example. This SIPRI Policy Brief summarizes the recent evolution of the climate security debate in the UN and highlights three priority areas for future action: (a) supporting and establishing climate security action in the field, (b) nurturing knowledge provision and (c) building sustainable sources of financing for climate security action. All these steps will require committed actors, innovation and long-term investment. Escalating climate impacts make the mitigation of climate-related security risks by the UN and its member states not only demanded but urgent. Recent institutional progress demonstrates that committed and cooperative actors can drive institutional change. This progress must be bolstered and action delivered in the field.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Environment, United Nations, and Risk
Political Geography:
Global Focus

102. The changing face of environmental governance in the Brazilian Amazon: indigenous and traditional peoples promoting norm diffusion

Author:
Veronika Miranda Chase
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
Transnational networks of non-state actors are using ILO Convention No. 169 as a powerful instrument of environmental governance. The treaty promotes the norm of Free, Prior and Informed Consultation (FPIC), empowering local communities to influence infrastructure projects that impact their livelihoods and natural resources. However, there is a disconnect between the Brazilian government’s discourse and the effective implementation of this norm. Using document analysis and process tracing, this article investigates this rhetoric-practice gap. It argues that these transnational networks are diffusing the FPIC norm through Consultation Protocols, slowly bridging the gap.
Topic:
Environment, Treaties and Agreements, Governance, Transnational Actors, Indigenous, Norms, and Norm Diffusion
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and Amazon Basin

103. 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

104. South-South relations and global environmental governance: Brazilian international development cooperation

Author:
Kathryn Hochstetler and Cristina Yumie Aoki Inoue
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
South-South relations have become increasingly relevant for understanding global environmental governance in the 21st century. This article explores the socio-environmental contributions and impacts of Brazilian South-South cooperation for international development. Case studies of its international technical cooperation and the international project finance of BNDES show a mixed picture, with environmental benefits countered by environmental harms.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, Environment, Foreign Aid, Governance, and Emerging Powers
Political Geography:
Brazil

105. Climate governance and International Civil Aviation: Brazil's policy profile

Author:
Veronica Korber Gonçalves and Marcela Anselmi
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI)
Institution:
Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI)
Abstract:
After almost 20 years, states agreed at the ICAO on the creation of Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). The article aims at analyzing the Brazilian role in the negotiations and presenting the debate about CORSIA in Brazil. CORSIA may encourage the expansion of offset projects in Brazil, changing local political dynamics and resulting in different environmental impacts.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Governance, and Aviation
Political Geography:
Brazil, South America, and Global Focus

106. Creating Opportunities for Rohingya Refugees and Hosts Through Forest Landscape Restoration

Author:
Heather Tallis, Cindy Huang, John Herbohn, Karen Holl, Sharif A. Mukul, and Kam Morshed
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Rohingya refugees began arriving in Bangladesh in August 2017, fleeing atrocities deemed serious crimes under international law by United Nations investigators. Over 740,000 new refugees have settled in two camps in Cox’s Bazar district of Chittagong: Kutupalong-Bulukhali and Naypara-Leda. The number of Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar now stands at around one million, comprising about 30 percent of the population. Kutupalong-Bulukhali is now the largest refugee camp in the world. The influx of Rohingya into Cox’s Bazar has exacerbated deforestation, underdevelopment, and climate vulnerability. Combined, these factors create an urgent need for new strategies and resources to address the increasing stress placed on the environment, and the consequences of this stress for refugee and host communities.
Topic:
Environment, Genocide, Refugees, Humanitarian Crisis, and Forest
Political Geography:
Myanmar

107. Fuel Subsidy Reform and Green Taxes: Can Digital Technologies Improve State Capacity and Effectiveness?

Author:
Alan Gelb and Anit Mukherjee
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Reforming inefficient and inequitable energy subsidies continues to be an important priority for policymakers as does instituting “green taxes” to reduce carbon emissions. Simply increasing energy prices will have adverse impact on poorer consumers, who may spend substantial budget shares on energy and energy-intensive products even though the rich typically appropriate more of the price subsidy. Equitable pricing reforms therefore need to be accompanied by programs to transfer compensation: depending on the situation, this can be targeted or universal. Successful reforms require measures to raise awareness-of the subsidies and the problems they cause, effective dissemination of the reform to the population, and rapid feedback loops to facilitate mid-course corrections. Digital technology, including for unique identification and payments, as well as general communications, can help build government capacity to undertake such reforms and respond to changes in fuel markets. The paper outlines the use of digital technology, drawing on four country cases. The technology is only a mechanism; it does not, in itself, create the political drive and constituency to push reform forward. However, it can be employed in a number of ways to increase the prospects for successful and sustainable reform.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Science and Technology, Reform, and Digitalization
Political Geography:
Africa, Middle East, India, and Latin America

108. Supply and Demand in a Time of Changing Geopolitics and a Changing Climate

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The Forum on Global Energy, Economy & Security is an annual conversation to discuss global energy markets, crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas supply and demand, midstream, shale development, geopolitics, energy security, and environmental topics. The forum features Aspen’s time-honored moderated roundtable discussion format which, while each session is introduced by brief presentations, stresses dialogue between participants rather than conference-style speaker presentations with question and answer only. The forum is enhanced by an informal atmosphere and a not-for-attribution rule that encourages new thinking, dissenting opinions, and frank discussion.
Topic:
Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Natural Resources, and Renewable Energy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

109. Climate Change and National Security: How Can Public Policy Change the World?

Author:
Aspen Institute
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Aspen Institute
Abstract:
The Aspen Institute partnered with the University of Chicago’s Inter-Policy School Summit on March 1-3, 2019, to host 40 graduate students from around the world to explore and consider the intersection between Climate Change and National Security, a topic that will come to play an increasingly important role in the policy realm for decades to come. The participants were asked to research various topics within the larger theme and write white papers proposing rigorous and tangible solutions for the quaternary effects of climate change, especially when they pertain to national security.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Migration, National Security, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
United States of America and North America

110. Weathering the Storm: Weather Shocks and International Migrants from the Philippines

Author:
Marjorie Pajaron
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
The growing literature on environmental migration presents conflicting results. While some find that natural disasters induce international migration, others discover a dampening effect. We aim to reconcile these differences by using a comprehensive list of weather shocks from the Philippines, a country prone to natural disasters and a major exporter of labor. We constructed a longitudinal provincial dataset (2005–2015) from an assemblage of administrative and survey datasets and tested linear, quadratic, and lagged models. Our fixed-effects results are consistent with both strands in the literature with caveats. First, Filipinos are more likely to work abroad when they experience less-intense tropical cyclones and storm warning signal but are more likely to stay with a more damaging storm warning signal. Second, differential effects of weather shocks on international migration contingent on agriculture exists. Third, non-environmental factors such as economic (unemployment rate) and infrastructure (number of high schools) also push Filipinos abroad.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Migration, Natural Disasters, and Weather
Political Geography:
Philippines and Asia-Pacific