Agni Kalfagianni, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Improving Global Environmental. Governance. Best practices for architecture and agency.
Rethinking Authority in Global Climate Governance
In the past few years, numerous authors have highlighted the emergence of transnational climate initiatives, such as city networks, private certification schemes, and business self-regulation in the policy domain of climate change. While these transnational governance arrangements can surely contribute to solving the problem of climate change, their development by different types of sub- and nonstate actors does not imply a weakening of the intergovernmental level. On the contrary, many transnational climate initiatives use the international climate regime as a point of reference and have adopted various rules and procedures from international agreements. Rethinking Authority in Global Climate Governance puts forward this argument and expands upon it, using case studies that suggest that the effective operation of transnational climate initiatives strongly relies on the existence of an international regulatory framework created by nation-states. Thus, this book emphasizes the centrality of the intergovernmental process clustered around the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and underscores that multilateral treaty-making continues to be more important than many scholars and policy-makers suppose. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of global environmental politics, climate change, and sustainable development. Thomas Hickmann is a Research Associate at the Chair of International Politics, University of Potsdam, Germany.
Routledge Research in Global Environmental Governance
Global environmental governance has been a prime concern of policy-makers since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972. Yet, despite more than nine hundred multi-lateral environmental treaties coming into force over the past forty years and numerous public-private and private initiatives to mitigate global change, human-induced environmental degradation is reaching alarming levels. Scientists see compelling evidence that the entire earth system now operates well outside safe boundaries and at rates that accelerate. The urgent challenge from a social science perspective is how to organize the co-evolution of societies and their surrounding environment; in other words, how to develop effective and equitable governance solutions for today’s global problems. Against this background, the Routledge Research in Global Environmental Governance series delivers cutting-edge research on the most vibrant and relevant themes within the academic field of global environmental governance.
Series Editors Philipp Pattberg, VU University Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Global Change Institute (AGCI), the Netherlands. Agni Kalfagianni, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Improving Global Environmental Governance Best practices for architecture and agency Norichika Kanie, Steinar Andresen and Peter M. Haas
How Effective Negotiation Management Promotes Multilateral Cooperation The power of process in climate, trade and biosafety negotiations Kai Monheim
Global Governance of Genetic Resources Access and benefit sharing after the Nagoya Protocol Edited by Sebastian Oberthür and G. Kristin Rosendal
Rethinking Authority in Global Climate Governance How transnational climate initiatives relate to the international climate regime Thomas Hickmann
Rethinking Authority in Global Climate Governance How transnational climate initiatives relate to the international climate regime Thomas Hickmann
First published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Thomas Hickmann The right of Thomas Hickmann to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hickmann, Thomas. Rethinking authority in global climate governance : how transnational climate initiatives relate to the international climate regime / Thomas Hickmann. pages cm. — (Routledge research in global environmental governance) Includes index. 1. Climatic changes—International cooperation. 2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992 May 9) I. Title. QC903.H54 2016 363.738'74526—dc23 2015019698 ISBN: 978-1-138-93605-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67707-1 (ebk) Dissertation University of Potsdam 2014 Typeset in Goudy by Fish Books Ltd.
Contents
List of tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations
1
Introduction: the reconfiguration of authority in world politics Overview 1 Sub- and non-state actors in world politics 2 Major concepts of international relations theory Outline of the book 9 Structure 13
2
vii viii ix
4
The evolution of global climate governance The growing importance of sub- and non-state actors 20 The development of the political response to climate change Institutional complexity in global climate governance 26 Research gap 30 Focus of the book 31
3
1
Setting the scene: theoretical background and analytical framework Defining authority 38 Theoretical approaches to the concept of authority Research design 49 Case studies 52 Methods of data collection 55
40
20 21
38
vi Contents
4
Transnational city networks: the ICLEI network
64
Overview 64 The emergence of transnational city networks in global climate governance 66 The ICLEI network and the international climate regime 74 Summary 87 Conclusions 88
5
Private certification schemes: the Gold Standard for Carbon Offsets
97
Overview 97 The emergence of private certification schemes in global climate governance 100 The Gold Standard for Carbon Offsets and the international climate regime 112 Summary 126 Conclusions 127
6
Business self-regulation: the Greenhouse Gas Protocol
138
Overview 138 The emergence of business self-regulation in global climate governance 141 The Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the international climate regime 150 Summary 163 Conclusions 165
7
Conclusions
177
Summary 177 Cross-case comparison 179 Theoretical implications 188 Practical relevance 191 Outlook 193
Appendix I: list of interviews conducted
199
Appendix II: list of attended meetings
200
Index
201
