This exciting new textbook introduces students to the ways in which the theories and tools of International Relations can be used to analyse and address global environmental problems. Kate O'Neill develops an historical and analytical framework for understanding global environmental issues, and identifies the main actors and their roles, allowing students to grasp the core theories and facts about global environmental governance. She examines how governments, international bodies, scientists, activists and corporations address global environmental problems including climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion and trade in hazardous wastes. The book represents a new and innovative theoretical approach to this area, as well as integrating insights from different disciplines, thereby encouraging students to engage with the issues, to equip themselves with the knowledge they need, and to apply their own critical insights. This will be invaluable for students of environmental issues both from political science and environmental studies perspectives.
Author(s): Kate O'Neill
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 264
Tags: Международные отношения;Международные отношения;
Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 13
Commonly used abbreviations......Page 14
1 Introduction: The environment and international relations......Page 17
Outline and themes......Page 18
Global environmental governance: A narrative arc and critical debates......Page 19
Scholarly perspectives on international environmental politics......Page 23
International relations and environmental politics......Page 24
The contributions of the environment to international relations theory......Page 29
Critical theory in international environmental politics: Political economy, globalization, and political ecology......Page 33
Next steps......Page 36
Suggestions for further reading......Page 38
2 International environmental problems......Page 40
Scale, scope, ideas, and imagination......Page 41
The UN, the Stockholm Conference, and the turn to sustainable development......Page 43
Global environmental problems......Page 45
(a) Global commons issues......Page 47
(b) Transboundary environmental problems......Page 48
(d) Commons, transboundary, and local-cumulative issues and environmental diplomacy......Page 49
(a) Global environmental trends......Page 53
(b) New dimensions, new problems......Page 55
Why some global problems are not on the international environmental policy agenda......Page 56
Issue linkage: Environmental change and human security......Page 59
Suggestions for further reading......Page 62
3 Actors in international environmental politics......Page 64
States as actors in international environmental politics......Page 65
North–South politics and the global environment......Page 66
The decline of the state?......Page 68
International organizations......Page 69
The United Nations system......Page 70
IGOs for the global economy......Page 72
NGOs, activist groups, and the global environmental movement......Page 73
Corporations and the private sector......Page 77
Scientists, expert groups, and knowledge holders......Page 79
The broader public – and individual leaders......Page 82
Next steps......Page 84
Discussion questions......Page 85
Suggestions for further reading......Page 86
Multilateral environmental agreements and international regimes......Page 87
Components of environmental treaty regimes......Page 93
The process of regime construction: Negotiation, more negotiation, and strengthening......Page 94
Bargaining, negotiation, and compromise: The politics of treaty construction......Page 97
(a) Crises and awareness......Page 98
(b) Leadership and leverage......Page 99
(c) The rules of the game......Page 100
(d) Domestic Politics......Page 101
North–South politics and environmental cooperation......Page 103
NGOs, the corporate sector, and state-led global environmental governance......Page 105
(a) Channels of access to the international policy process......Page 106
(b) Activist and NGO participation in international environmental negotiations......Page 107
(c) Corporate participation in international environmental negotiations......Page 108
(d) Comparing and assessing non-state actor influence......Page 110
Science and the politics of environmental diplomacy......Page 111
(b) Perspectives on science–politics interaction in environmental treaty regimes......Page 112
(c) Transnational epistemic communities, and beyond......Page 113
Next steps......Page 117
Suggestions for further reading......Page 118
5 The impacts and effectiveness of environmental treaty regimes......Page 120
Defining effectiveness: Compliance, problem-solving, and regime effects......Page 122
Data collection, comparison, and analysis......Page 126
Exogenous factors and counterfactuals......Page 127
Qualitative vs. quantitative methods......Page 128
Structural obstacles to regime effectiveness......Page 129
Changing incentives: Altering the will and capacity to comply......Page 131
(a) Treaty obligations: Legitimacy, fit, precision, and scope......Page 132
(c) Transparency and reputation......Page 134
(d) Improving the ability to comply: Capacity-building, environmental aid, and the global environment facility......Page 135
Regime linkage: Systemic effects and effectiveness......Page 139
Assessment and learning in international environmental regimes......Page 142
Constructivist notions of effectiveness: Role redefinition and socialization effects of international regimes......Page 146
Discussion questions......Page 149
Suggestions for further reading......Page 150
6 Global economic governance and the environment......Page 151
The post-World War Two economic order and the Bretton Woods institutions......Page 153
From GATT to the WTO: The international trade regime......Page 156
Trade and the environment: The contours of the debate......Page 160
The World Bank, the IMF, and post-war development......Page 168
Project lending and the World Bank......Page 170
Debt, structural adjustment lending, and the environment......Page 173
Global economic governance and the environment: Theoretical frames......Page 175
The environment and the politics of economic globalization......Page 176
Managing conflict between environmental and economic regimes......Page 177
Transnational movements and contentious politics: Linking the environment and social justice......Page 178
Legitimacy and global governance......Page 179
Next steps......Page 180
Suggestions for further reading......Page 181
7 Non-state global environmental governance......Page 183
Structural factors: A changing global economy......Page 185
Actor-based perspectives: Demanding non-state governance......Page 187
Varieties of non-state global environmental governance......Page 189
“Multi-stakeholder participation” in global decision-making......Page 190
Financial market discipline: Insurance and investment......Page 191
Certification schemes: From corporate social responsibility to non-state, market-driven governance......Page 193
Strengths of private governance: Speed, flexibility, and support......Page 198
Limitations: Participation, information, and effectiveness......Page 199
Transforming global environmental governance? Theoretical debates over non-state governance......Page 203
Governing global production: Bringing commodity-chain analysis into international relations theory......Page 204
Non-state actor agency in global environmental governance – and the role of the state......Page 206
Comparing non-state governance regimes and treaty regimes......Page 208
Next steps......Page 210
Suggestions for further reading......Page 211
8 Conclusions: The environment and international relations in the twenty-first century......Page 213
Theoretical pluralism: The need for a broader theoretical lens......Page 215
The changing architecture of global environmental governance......Page 217
Global environmental governance: Emerging sites and modes......Page 221
Global institutional reform: A world environment organization?......Page 222
Connecting to the local, and contentious politics......Page 223
Final words......Page 225
Suggestions for further reading......Page 226
References......Page 228
Index......Page 258
