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572. 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:
- Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais (IBRI)
- 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
573. On the Horizon: A Collection of the Papers from the Next Generation
- Author:
- Sarah Minot Asrar
- Publication Date:
- 02-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- Meeting the security challenges of the future will require a sustained effort over the long-term by a multidisciplinary cadre of nuclear experts who are equipped with critical knowledge and skills. The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) runs two signature programs – the Nuclear Scholars Initiative and the Annual Conference Series – to engage emerging nuclear experts in thoughtful and informed debate over how to best address the nuclear community’s most pressing problems. The papers included in this volume comprise research from participants in the 2018 Nuclear Scholars Initiative and the PONI Conference Series. These papers explore such topics as the impacts of emerging technologies and capabilities, deep-diving on nuclear strategy and national policies, proposing paths forward for addressing proliferation challenges, and enhancing arms control in contentious environments.
- Topic:
- Security, Arms Control and Proliferation, Energy Policy, Environment, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus
574. Shifting Currents in the Arctic
- Author:
- Rachel Lutz Ellehuus
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- The Arctic is a beautiful but demanding region. The sun sets in October and does not return until March; temperatures average 32 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer and -40 degrees Fahrenheit in winter; and infrastructure is limited or absent. It is a place of many contradictions, no more so than now, when economic activity is increasing and national, geostrategic interests are confronting established practices of international cooperation and rules and norms. Russian president Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Arctic International Forum in St. Petersburg earlier this month foreshadowed this confrontation. He portrayed Russia as a facilitator in the making the Northern Sea Route (NSR) “safe and commercially feasible” for all nations, even as Russia is acting in contravention of international law by charging application fees and harbor/navigation costs. (Russia views the NSR as an internal passage; the international community views it as an international passage.) Equally, though Putin has denied any military tension in the Arctic, Russia is sending new units and capabilities to the region, including a new Arctic rifle brigade and S-400 missile systems, and conducting live-fire naval drills. Three Arctic coastal nations and NATO members represented in the essays below—Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, and the United States—are well aware of the contradictions, challenges, and opportunities presented by increased economic and military activity in the Arctic and are adjusting their strategies and resources accordingly. While each approach is unique, there are several common elements. These include an increased focus on maritime surveillance and situational awareness, investment in more sustainable, survivable platforms, and a doubling down on joint and whole-of-government approaches to reflect the multiple missions in the Arctic. Where there are differences, they mainly concern whether and how to address actions that challenge established norms and international law.
- Topic:
- Environment, Territorial Disputes, and Maritime
- Political Geography:
- Arctic
575. Energy Spheres of Influence
- Author:
- Sarah Ladislaw and Nikos Tsafos
- Publication Date:
- 09-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
- Abstract:
- For several decades, energy security has been defined and pursued in a multilateral world with relatively open markets and technology transfer, where energy relations have become increasingly commodified. But that world may soon disappear—energy relationships might become more political, open trade might give way to friction, and great powers might leverage energy relations or energy technology to gain an edge over each other. For decades the United States has promoted a rules-based, multilateral order, supported by shared gains from free trade and deeper economic and political integration within and among countries. Energy security, the ability to secure affordable and reliable supplies of energy, has been widely recognized as common good promoted by this system. As the world’s largest consumer and importer of energy, it was squarely in the United States’ national interest to support this approach through domestic and international energy policy as well as foreign policy. Today, this multilateral order is being challenged. The world is experiencing a new era of competition for greater geographic and economic power driven by the shifting center of gravity of the global economy, the realignment of relationships between and among countries, and rapid technological change. Energy is poised to play an important role in this upheaval and will be affected by these changes. The United States is no longer the largest consumer or importer of energy. Instead, it is now the largest producer of oil and natural gas and will soon be a net exporter of energy. The energy world also is changing rapidly, with renewable energy resources like solar and wind making up the fastest growing and largest source of new supplies and global imperatives like climate change challenging the role of status quo fuels. These changes have heralded a reexamination of the United States’ national interest regarding energy in this changing global system. The United States has important decisions to make about its position in this new environment. Can energy play an influential role in achieving U.S. foreign policy objectives in various regions of renewed geopolitical competition? Is any country or group of countries poised to dominate a given energy market or fuel and might that negatively affect U.S. national security interests? How does this changing global dynamic in which countries are vying for greater geographic and economic spheres of influence affect our approach to global energy security? Will the energy sector become fundamentally more mercantilist, and will the United States be competitive if it does? Greater insight about each of these questions is a prerequisite to the formulation of U.S. foreign and energy policy. So far, the United States has grappled with these questions by pursuing “energy dominance,” a strategy in which energy represents (1) a tool for gaining geopolitical influence in a given region and (2) an area of competitive and strategic economic advantage for the United States. But other global powers, like China and Russia, pose strong competition for this U.S. strategy. Energy features prominently in the economic, foreign, and national security strategies of all three countries but in different ways. And although all three recognize the importance of maintaining affordable and reliable energy supplies for the good of the global economy as well as their own economic well-being, they also recognize the influence of energy in the execution of foreign policy at the global and regional level. The issue for the international energy community is whether the multilateral approach to shared energy security, supported by the promotion of free and integrated markets, is breaking down into regional and economic spheres of influence more mercantile in nature—and if so, how the United States should respond.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, and Multilateralism
- Political Geography:
- North America and United States of America
576. 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
577. Çevre Koruma Harcamalarının Çevre Kirliliği Üzerindeki Etkisi: Seçilmiş OECD Ülkeleri Analizi
- Author:
- Tunahan Deği̇rmenci̇ and Veysel Inal
- Publication Date:
- 12-2019
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Bilgi
- Institution:
- Sakarya University (SAU)
- Abstract:
- Çevre kirliliğinin azaltılmasına yönelik dünya çapında adımlar atılmaktadır. Ülkeler, çevre dostu üretim ve tüketim faaliyetleri için vergileme yoluna giderken, diğer yandan çevresel harcamalar yapmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, çevre koruma harcamaları ve çevre kirliliği arasındaki ilişki yüksek gelir grubundaki 23 OECD ülkesi için incelenmektedir. 1995-2017 dönemine ait yıllık veriler kullanılarak panel veri analizi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Analizlerde yatay kesit bağımlılığını dikkate alan ikinci nesil testler tercih edilmiştir. Çalışma sonuçlarına göre çevre kirliliği ve çevre koruma harcamaları arasında uzun dönemde eşbütünleşme ilişkisi vardır. Bununla birlikte, çevre koruma harcamalarından çevre kirliliğine bir nedensellik ilişkisi söz konusudur.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Environment, Pollution, and Data
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Global Focus
578. Changes in Estonia’s Climate Policy
- Author:
- Kinga Raś
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- The Polish Institute of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- Although in June, Estonia along with Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary blocked a political consensus statement in the European Council regarding the EU’s goal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, in October, the country accepted the deadline. Estonia, despite relying on burning oil shale, has decided to embark on a difficult energy transition. This means that, among the EU Member States, support for ambitious EU climate policy is growing.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, Environment, Oil, and Gas
- Political Geography:
- Poland, Estonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Central Europe
579. Free Willy! Japan Resumes Commercial Whale Hunting
- Author:
- Veronika Bílková
- Publication Date:
- 11-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Institute of International Relations Prague
- Abstract:
- In late 2018, Japan announced that it would withdraw from the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling and leave the International Whaling Commission. It did so due to its disapproval of the ban on commercial whaling, which has been in force for the Parties of the Convention since 1986, and to its decision to resume whalle hunt since the summer of 2019. This reflection first gives an overview of the evolution and the structure of the international legal regime related to whaling and of the history of Japan’s relationship with this regime. It then shows that the Japan’s attempt to justify the resumption of commercial whaling by the principle of sustainable use of living marine resources cannot be successful for both practical and normative reasons.
- Topic:
- Environment, Treaties and Agreements, Law, Hunting, and Whaling
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
580. Hybrid Institutions: Institutionalizing Practices in the Context of Extractive Expansion
- Publication Date:
- 01-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Postgraduate Program on Sustainable Development and Social Inequalities in the Andean Region (trAndeS)
- Abstract:
- States face the challenge of developing institutions to govern the activities of social actors when an area under their control becomes the target of increased extractive activities. National and local public regulations safeguarding the environment, the assignment of extractive rights to individuals or companies, and handling of ensuing conflicts are developed in an institutional gray zone. This paper analyzes how informal institutions developed in early period become hybrid institutional entanglements that depend largely on configurations of power. It does so by looking at two cases in Peru: Water extraction in Ica, mostly by large companies and gold mining in Madre de Dios, mostly by small scale miners. Taken together, these cases show the institutions resulting from state governance of extractive activities depends heavily on the agency and political leverage of the state but also of other social actors.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Environment, Natural Resources, Water, Institutions, and Ecology
- Political Geography:
- Latin America and Peru