1st Edition

The Politics of Climate Change Environmental Dynamics in International Affairs

Edited By Paul G. Harris Copyright 2009
    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    Climate change is now a mainstream part of the international political agenda. It has become clear that it is not solely a technical issue, to be resolved by scientists, but a political issue with political implications at all levels of global governance. Indeed, some may argue that few long-term problems in international affairs are more important than this one. The purpose of this book is to reveal and apply some of the latest thinking on the implications of climate change for international affairs, and to explore how various proposals for tackling climate change will affect interstate relations in coming years. Chapters by scholars of international relations, international political economy and international law contribute to current discussions of climate change, doing so in way that is accessible to students, stakeholders, government officials and informed laypersons.

    Some questions considered in the book include the following: How has the discussion of climate change affected interstate relations? How does this problem, and how do environmental issues more generally, challenge international relations theory? How do international climate politics influence domestic politics, and vice-versa? How would climate change or action taken to tackle it affect the balance of power or balance of influence? Is climate change a matter of international security or international justice—or both—and how does the answer to this question affect policy responses of governments? Which states are likely to benefit or suffer from the various proposals to address climate change? What are the legal, ethical and political implications of the uneven distribution of the impacts of climate change?

    This book was previously published as a special issue of the Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

    1. Introduction: The Glacial Politics of Climate Change Paul G. Harris  Dynamics of Climate Politics  2. A Climate of Obstinacy: Symbolic Politics in Australian and Canadian policy Loren R. Cass  3. The Climate Regime and Domestic Politics: The Case of Russia Liliana B. Andonova  4. The Construction of China’s Climate Politics: Transnational NGOs and the Spiral Model of International Relations Miriam Schroeder  5. Is Climate Change Changing the EU?: The Second Image Reversed in Climate Politics Oriol Costa  6. Linking as Leverage: Emissions Trading and the Politics of Climate Change Richard Benwell  7. Domestic Incentives and Climate Politics: International Public Goods in Two-Level Games Stephen Kroll and Jason F. Shogren  Security, Justice and Equity in Climate Politics  8. Environmental Security and Climate Change: Analyzing the Discourse Maria Julia Trombetta  9. Securitizing Climate Change: International Legal Implications and Obstacles Shirley Scott  10. Inequality in Global Climate Policy: Breaking the North-South Impasse J. Timmons Roberts and Brad Parks 11. Greenhouse Development Rights: Towards an Equitable Framework for Global Climate Policy Paul Baer and Glenn Fieldman  12. Conclusion: Constructing the Climate Regime Paul G. Harris

    Biography

    Paul G. Harris is Chair Professor of Global and Environmental Studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. He is author/editor of Climate Change and American Foreign Policy, International Equity and Global Environmental Politics, The Environment, International Relations, and U.S. Foreign Policy, International Environmental Cooperation, Global Warming and East Asia, Confronting Environmental Change in East and Southeast Asia, The Global Politics of AIDS (with Patricia Siplon), Europe and Global Climate Change, Environmental Change and Foreign Policy, Climate Change and Foreign Policy, The Politics of Climate Change, World Ethics and Climate Change, China’s Responsibility for Climate Change, Ethics and Global Environmental Policy, Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development in China, the Routledge Handbook of Global Environmental Politics and other books.