POSC350 Final Exam🌍🏛️🪵

Multilateralism

A form of diplomacy in which multiple countries work together to address common challenges or achieve shared goals; it involves large-scale participation

Key Features of Multilateral Diplomacy

1. Indivisibility: countries seeing themselves as part of a single international community when addressing global problems

2. Non-Discrimination: No single country or group should be favored over others in decision-making

3. Mutual Cooperation Over Time: Cooperation extends beyond short-term gains; countries expect benefits in the future

Minilateralism

A form of diplomacy that refers to a smaller, more exclusive group of states participating in decision making

Environmental Multilateralism

• Multiple countries coming together to address environmental issues that affect the global community

• Countries can share knowledge, resources, and responsibilities to protect the environment more effectively than if they acted alone

Sovereignty

Supreme, independent control and lawmaking authority over a territory

Soft Law

Agreements that are NOT legally binding; they provide guidelines or principles that countries should follow, but there are no legal consequences if a country doesn’t apply

Hard Law

Agreements that ARE legally binding; countries that sign these laws are legally required to follow the rules and there can be consequences if they don’t

Soft Laws’ Influence on Customary International Laws

• Soft law helps shape state behavior over time; repeated declarations and regulations contribute to international legal norms

• It is often a first step in legal development processes

Sustainable Development

• A way of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

• It aims to balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social well-being

Transnational Governance

• Governing problems that cross borders (like climate change, terrorism, or global trade) without relying solely on national governments or one global authority

• A system of rule-making, coordination, and enforcement in which authority is shared between multiple actors beyond traditional state actors (includes both state and non-state actors)

Transnational Climate Governance (TCG)

• Climate-related rule-making, regulation, and action that occurs across national borders but outside of formal intergovernmental (UN-based) negotiations

• Involves both non-state actors (businesses, NGOs, cities, etc.) and subnational actors (states, provinces, or municipalities) that work together to address climate change

Drivers of Transnational Climate Governance

• Globalization: the growing connection between countries through trade, technology, and communication, leading to the exchange of goods, services, ideas, and cultures across borders, impacting economies, societies, and politics worldwide

• Neoliberal Ideology: promotes limited governmental intervention and trusts that markets are more efficient than states in managing resources; lead to the privatization of state services, the growth of public-private partnerships, and the rise of corporate self-regulation

• Complex Threats: challeneges like climate change, organized crime, infectious disease, and natural disasters are interconnected and borderless in nature; this makes it difficult for just an individual state to manage

Climate Change as a “Wicked Problem”

Factors that make climate change a “Wicked Problem” include…

1. Complexity and Interconnectedness: it is driven by emissions, deforestation, and fossil fuel use, which are tied to economic and cultural systems

2. Urgency: the consequences of inaction are severe, making swift action necessary. The longer action is delayed, the more challenging and costly it becomes to mitigate the effects

3. Lack of Central Authority: There is no global institution with real power to enforce climate action. As a result, climate action is carried out by a mix of state and non-state actors, creating a fragmented system of governance

4. Differing Perspectives on Conflicting Interests: There are many disagreements on how to best solve the issues bc people countries, and organizations all have different understandings of problems and different priorities

5. Limitations of UN Negotiations: the UN has historically led climate negations, but progress is often slow due to disputes between countries (has led to non-state actors to take more independent or collaborative climate action)

NAZCA Portal (or Global Climate Action Portal)

An online platform that tracks and showcases climate action by non-state and subnational actors across the world (ex. cities, regions, businesses, investors, and civil society groups) who are taking steps to address climate change

Four Major Climate Change Discourses

• Mainstream Sustainability: Argues that we can tackle climate change without fundamentally changing the system and using the current capitalist economic system instead; governments and businesses often have this view

• Expansive Sustainability: Argues that environmental sustainability must go hand in hand with social justice because climate change is driven by inequalities in wealth and power

• Limits and Boundaries: sees climate change as a sign that we’ve pushed beyond Earth’s ecological limits. So, we need to scale back, simplify, and live within the planet’s boundaries

• Green Radicalism: Sees the climate crisis as deeply rooted in systematic injustice, capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy (this is the most critical and transformative of the four)

North-South Divide (Global North)

• High historic emissions and high environmental impact

• Economies have shifted from industry to low-carbon service sectors

• They now advocate for global environmental regulation

North-South Divide (Global South)

• Low historic emissions, but high current needs for development

• Struggles with poverty, inequality, and governance challenges

• Holds much of the world’s natural wealth (rainforests, minerals, biodiversity, etc.)

• Argue that they have the sovereign right to use their natural resources in order to become developed like the Global North

Key Tensions in North-South Negotiations

1. Climate Finance (who should pay for mitigation and adaptation?)

2. Sovereignty (should the South limit its resource use for the global good?)

3. Development Rights (should developing countries be allowed to go through a “dirty” development phase, like the North once did?)

Climate Debt

• The concept that developed countries owe a debt to developing countries for the disproportionate harm they have caused on the planet through excessive greenhouse gas emissions

• The idea that wealthy countries owe compensation to poorer ones for:

  • historical emissions

  • resource exploitation

  • environmental damage

Green Projects

Focus on solving global or regional environmental issues—issues that affect the entire planet or large areas

Brown Projects

Deal with local environmental problems that directly affect the well-being of communities

Debt-for-Nature Swaps

Buying a portion of a developing country’s debt and then canceling it in exchange for the country comitting to protecting the environmental

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)

• A system where landowners are paid to manage their land in ways that provide ecological benefits, such as improving water quality or storing carbon to fight climate change

• It is essentially paying people to take care of nature bc their conservation efforts help everyone

REDD+

• A voluntary framework developed by the UNFCCC that provides financial incentives to developing countries to protect their forests

• The goal is to:

  • reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation

  • enhance forest carbon stocks

  • promote sustainable forest management

Unsustainable Consumption

Consumption that is fueled by economic growth, mass marketing, and the rise of disposable incomes, overall encouraging the purchase of luxury or non-essential items

Sustainable Consumption

Consumption that meets the basic needs and improves quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials, and emissions from waste and pollutants

Individualization of Responsibility

The idea that individuals (not governments, corporations, or institutions) are responsible for addressing global environmental problems through their personal consumption choices

Criticisms of Individualizing Responsibility

1. It shifts responsibility away from corporations and governments which have more power than individuals to create systematic change

   • This undermines collective action

2. Consumer sovereignty is overrated

   • consumer choices are usually shaped by limited availability of sustainable options, economic constraints, and influential marketing and advertising

3. Greenwashing

   • Companies misleading consumers into believing their products or practices are more eco-friendly than they actually are

4. Attitude-Behavior Gap

   • Many consumers who believe in sustainability often don’t act on those beliefs bc of connivence, cost, habits, etc.; environmental concern doesn’t always translate into responsible purchasing

Non-Atomistic Individual Responsibility

• The idea that individuals are not isolated actors, but are embedded in social, cultural, and institutional contexts, and their ability to act responsibly depends on these contexts

• Responsibility must be understood in relation to capacity, opportunity, and support structures

Rachel Carson & Silent Spring

Carson’s book which focuses on the dangers of using pesticides in agriculture and its effects on the environment (such as the death of birds) helped lead to:

• Public Awareness

• Regulatory Changes (specifically the banning of DDT)

Environmental Justice

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people, regardless of race, income, disability, etc., in governmental decisions and activities affecting human health and the environment

Environmental Injustice

The Unequal distribution of environmental benefits and burdens across different social, racial, or economic groups

Problem Displacement

How wealthier countries avoid dealing with their own toxic waste by exporting it to developing countries

Economic Perspective on Waste Trade

• Argues that waste trade helps developing countries by providing income and supporting local economies through the recycling industry

• Suggests that banning waste trade would actually harm those communities as it would remove a source of livelihood

Environmental Perspective on Waste Trade

Argues that the short lifespan of products contributes to environmental degradation and health risks for people in developing countries especially

Theory of Displacement & Types

• Suggests that solutions to environmental problems often involve shifting the burden elsewhere, rather than resolving the root issue

• Types include:

  • Spatial (Geographic) Displacement

  • Temporal Displacement

  • Cross-Medium Displacement

Spatial (Geographic) Displacement

Moving pollution from one location to another—often from wealthier, more regulated areas, to poorer, less regulated ones

Temporal Displacement

Deferring problems to the future (such as hazardous waste that is “safely” stored, with risk of leakage over time)

Cross-Medium Displacement

Shifting pollution from one part of the environment (like air, water, or soil) to another part of the environment, rather than reducing the harm overall (such as reducing air pollution through nuclear energy but then increasing nuclear waste)

3 Types of Environmental Justice

1. Distributive Justice (Who gets what?)- A fair allocation of environmental benefits and burdens

2. Procedural Justice (Who decides?)- Fairness in decision-making processes

3. Corrective Justice (Who is responsible?)- When harm is done to the environment, the response should be fair for everyone

Environmental Racism

When minority or low-income communities are unfairly exposed to pollution, toxic waste, or other environmental harms more than others because of systematic discrimination and a lack of political power and resources

Gender and Climate Justice

Focuses on the fact that women and girls are often more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and environmental disasters because of pre-existing social and economic inequalities they face (not bc they are weak)

Ecofeminism

• Draws connections between the exploitation of nature and the oppression of women

• Argues that environmental degradation and patriarchy share ideological roots

Feminist Political Ecology

• Analyzes how gender, power, and the environment intersect

• Emphasizes women’s agency and the importance of gendered knowledge in resource management

Intersectionality

• Focuses on how overlapping identities (gender, race, class, etc.) affect experiences of injustice

  • In environmental justice, an intersectional approach recognizes how Black, Indigenous, and poor women face compounded environmental risks

Neoliberal Globalization

• A form of global economic integration from the 20th century, characterized by the promotion of free markets, privatization, and a reduced role for the state in economic affairs

Neoliberal Globalization Key Characteristics

• Free Market Dominance

• Deregulation and Privatization

• Focus on Economic Growth

• Support for Industrial

Social Movements

A group effort to challenge existing power structures through organized, purposeful, and sustained action

Social Movements Against Neoliberal Globalization

• Social movements respond to neoliberal globalization by…

  • Rejecting neoliberal environmentalism that ties conservation to corporate profits

  • Resisting the idea that only markets can solve environmental problems

  • Pushing for “alternative globalizations”

  • Emphasizing social justice, environmental sustainability, and human rights

  • Not rejecting global cooperation, but rejecting corporate-dominated globalization

Social Movements Resisting Unsustainable Agriculture

• Social movements challenge industrial agriculture (which is fossil-fuel dependent and chemical-intensive)

• Movements aim to transform agriculture towards sustainability and local control

Two Forms of Resistance

1. Politics of Demand

2. Politics of the Act

Politics of Demand

• Definition: Seeking to influence existing institutions (governments, companies) by demanding changes in law, policies, or practices

• Methods: Protests, lobbying, campaigns, legal action

• Goal: Reforming or transforming existing systems without overthrowing them

Politics of the Act

• Definition: Building alternative systems that operate independently of state or corporate power

• Methods: Creating autonomous communities, cooperative farms, local governance experiments

• Goal: Practicing the world they want to create, without waiting for permission or reform

Advocacy by La Via Campesina

• La Via Campesina: a global movement of small-scale farmers who advocate for food sovereignty and agroecology

• They resist the industrial model of agriculture, which they believe is harmful to both people and the planet

Food Sovereignty

• People’s right to access healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through sustainable methods

  • emphasizes the importance of local control over food systems rather than treating food as a mere commodity

  • this concept was first introduced by La Via Campesina in 1996

Demands of Food Sovereignty

• Greater Control Over Land and Seeds

• Recognition of Cultural Practices

Food Security

• Focuses on increasing food production to ensure that people have enough to eat

  • Often prioritizes industrial agriculture and global trade to boost output

Agroecology

• A holistic approach to farming that integrates ecological science, traditional agricultural practices, and social values

  • Focuses on understanding and working with natural ecosystems, rather than relying on chemical inputs and moncultures

Criticisms of Agroecology (and Localization)

1. Efficiency Concerns- worries that agroecology is not enough to meet the food needs of the world’s growing population

2. The Local Trap- the belief that local food systems are inherently better than national or global systems, when that is not always the case

   • For instance, food that is grown in an area with limited resources (like a desert) would need to significantly input resources like water to produce that food

     • This would lead to environmental degradation in that area

Distinction between Local and Global Problems

• In the past, environmental problems were categorized as local or global

  • examples of local problems: air pollution, deforestation

  • examples of global problems: climate change, biodiversity

• This is no longer the case bc of how interconnected these issues are

Green Issues

• Global, long-term problems that are often prioritized by wealthier countries

  • ex.) climate change

Brown Issues

• Local, immediate problems that often affect poorer communities

  • ex.) poor water quality

International Cooperation

Cooperation is important to embrace a diversity of approaches that account for varying local, regional, and global contexts

Elinor Ostrom’s Contribution

• She emphasized the need for diverse, context-specific solutions—NOT a one-size-fits-all approach

  • believes that governance must be adaptive (governance that can change over time)

Elinor Ostrom’s Perspective

• Experimentation is Key: Governance mechanisms should be treated as “policy experiments,” allowing for trial, error, and refinement to identify what works best in different contexts

• Decentralization Matters: Local actors, communities, and stakeholders must be empowered to manage resources sustainably, complementing global efforts

Polycentric Governance (PG)

• Involves a system of multiple governing authorities, operating with independence within their domains, but are interconnected and collaborate on shared goals

  • PG distributes power and decision-making across varying levels

The Free Rider Problem

• A problem where individuals or entities benefit from a resource, service, or public good, without contributing to its cost or maintance

The Free Rider Problem in Global Environmental Governance

• This problem is a significant barrier to collective action in global environmental governance in areas such as:

  • Climate Change- some countries rely on others to act and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while they just benefit from those actions and avoid making sacrifices themselves

  • Pollution Control- some nations may not invest in reducing pollution that affects their neighboring countries and expect their neighbors to bear the costs on their own

  • Conservation Efforts- low-emission nations may advocate for aggressive climate action, but larger polluters may resist bc of the associated costs