Classes 1 and 2 on Global Environmental Politics (introduction and climate change). All slides courtesy of Prof. Dr. Joachim Monkelbaan

1. Global
Environmental
Politics
International University in Geneva
Dr. Joachim Monkelbaan

2. Nice to meet you!

3. Why this course?
• What do you expect to learn?
• Go to www.menti.com and use the code xxxxxx

4. Contents
1. 04/12 Intro and climate change
2. 11/12 Biodiversity
3. 08/01 Oceans/fisheries/global commons
4. 15/01 Land use: forestry and desertification
5. 22/01 Economic models and paradigms
6. 29/01 Trade, investment and environment
7. 05/02 Governance for the SDGs
8. 12/02 Ways forward
9. 19/02 Exam

5. Each class
1. Flashback to previous class(es) – 10 mins
2. Video to illustrate topic – 10 mins
3. Lecture – 45 mins. max
4. Class discussion – 20 mins
5. Break – 15 mins
6. Students’ presentation + discussion – 30 mins
7. Practitioner’s reflections + your questions – 40 mins
8. Harvest learnings – 10 mins

6. Contents
today
Questions in GEP
History of GEP
Sites and modes of environmental governance
Approaches in IR
Regime and framing
Trends in GEP
Climate governance

7. Questions in GEP
• What is Global Environmental Politics?
• Is GEP strong enough?
Political science questions:
- What are the political causes of global
environmental change?
- Why is there a rise in global environmental
concerns?
- What constitutes GEP, and what explains the
shape and effectiveness of governance
institutions and arrangements?

8. History of GEP
• 1972 Stockholm Conference on Humans and the Environment
• 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Report –
‘Our Common Future’)
• 1992 Rio UN Conference on Environment and Development
• 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development
• 2012 Rio +20
• 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit: SDGs
• 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP 21)

9. Sites and modes of environmental
governance
1. Broadening sites of governance: state led, international economic governance,
non-state governance (NGOs, corporations)
2. Modes of environmental governance: international cooperation (negotiation of
commitments), information-based governance (certification, transparency
mechanism), market mechanisms
3. Deepening sites: across scales
- national <-> global
- global <-> local (e.g. cities, transnational networks)

10. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism:

11. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism: power, anarchy, conflict (not
cooperation), rivalry, states, zero-sum game

12. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism: power, anarchy, conflict (not
cooperation), rivalry, states, zero-sum game
• (Neoliberal) institutionalism:

13. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism: power, anarchy, conflict (not
cooperation), rivalry, states, zero-sum game
• (Neoliberal) institutionalism: institutions,
interdependence, international law, institutions
for win-win, transparency, monitoring

14. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism: power, anarchy, conflict (not
cooperation), rivalry, states, zero-sum game
• (Neoliberal) institutionalism: institutions,
interdependence, international law, institutions
for win-win, transparency, monitoring
• Constructivism:

15. Approaches in
IR theory
• (Neo)realism: power, anarchy, conflict (not
cooperation), rivalry, states, zero-sum game
• (Neoliberal) institutionalism: institutions,
interdependence, international law, institutions
for win-win, transparency, monitoring
• Constructivism: norms, ideas, knowledge,
norms, non-state actors as shapers of ideas and
norms

16. Regime
“rules, organizations, and basic norms and
principles involved in the global governance
of an individual issue area” (Krasner, 1983)
E.g. treaties, organizations, decision-making
processes
Effectiveness: inclusiveness and
transparency
Regime complexes (e.g. climate,
biodiversity, ozone, forests)

17. Actors in GEP

18. Actors in GEP
States IGOs NGOs
Private sector Scientists Global public

19. Framing
Sustainable development?
Global commons: atmosphere, high seas,
Antarctica
Solutions? Wicked problems.. (CFCs ->
HCFCs)
Local-cumulative

20. Trends in GEP
research
(Dauvergne
and Clapp,
2016)
Increasingly focused on specific and
formal mechanisms of GEG; more
elaborate and refined methodologies
that span scales and levels of analysis
Concentrated on market-based
governance mechanisms and the
influence of private actors
Lens of climate change

21. Climate governance
1992: UNFCCC
1997 Kyoto Protocol: top-down, Annex 1/CBDR-RC
2015: Paris Agreement, bottom-up (NDCs)
Review NDCs every 5 years

23. Issues in
UNFCCC
Green Climate Fund
Technology transfer
Adaptation
Loss and damage
REDD+
Compliance
G-77, AOSIS, 48 LDCs
City networks: C40, covenant of mayors, ICLEI

25. Why we disagree about climate change

26. Why we disagree about climate change
Climate change is not “a problem” waiting for “a solution”.
It is an environmental, cultural and political phenomenon that is reshaping the way
we think about ourselves, about our societies and about humanity’s place on Earth.
an idea to be debated, adapted and used, as much as a physical phenomenon that
can be observed, quantified and measured
climate change means so many different things to different people

27. “We need to reveal the creative psychological, spiritual
and ethical work that climate change can do and is doing
for us.
By understanding the ways climate change connects with
foundational human instincts of nostalgia, fear, pride and
justice we open up a way of resituating culture and the
human spirit at the centre of our understanding of
climate.”

28. Any questions?
jmonkelbaan@iun.ch