Structure And Agent In The Scientific Diplomacy Of Climate Change

Research input constitutes a key component in the development of international environmental regime formation. Science-policy interaction is, however, complex and difficult, particularly because it is an encounter between two distinct systems of behaviour: the scientific ideal of impartiality and disinterestedness and the political reality of interest realisation and strategic behaviour. This study analyses the extent to which and how the institutional framework within which the science-policy dialogue takes place - through conscious design - can be utilised as an instrument to handle obstacles and barriers immanent of science-policy interaction and thereby serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue. Also, the impact of actor behaviour, particularly behaviour taking the form of leadership performance, is investigated. This book provides a detailed and in-depth empirical study of science-policy interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from its establishment in 1988, to the provision of the Second IPCC Assessment Report in 1995. The main focus of the empirical investigation is on Working Group I of the IPCC.

This book presents a variety of climate change impact and mitigation strategies for different environments in India. These include fractional snow cover change in the Himalayan region, and the impact of frequent cyclonic storms on land use and land cover changes along coastal areas. The book explores watershed, surface water, and hydrologic conditions for urban storm water drainage, as well as trend analysis of precipitation, and a statistical approach to detect rainfall trends. The book starts with a critical review of climate change diplomacy, adaptation and mitigation strategies in South Asian countries. It also covers the role of natural gas in energy security. There are chapters pertaining to farmer’s perception on the impact of climate change, as well discussion on land use change and ecological implications. Many geographical areas are covered including; the Mahananda River Basin, Pindar Basin, Kumaun Himalaya, the Upper Tapi River Basin, Southern Kerala Districts, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka State, Telangana State, Tamil Nadu State, to name a few.

French society in revolution aims to retrieve the social history of the French Revolution from unjustified neglect.This study examines both the structural and cultural elements behind the breakdown of the eighteenth-century monarchic state and its aris. . . .

This book is the first comprehensive assessment of the legal duties of states with regard to human induced climate change damage

Exploring how climate change has configured the international arena since the 1950s, this book reveals the ways that climate change emerged and evolved as an international problem, and how states, scientists and non-governmental organizations have engaged in diplomatic efforts to address it. Developing amidst the Cold War, decolonization and a growing transnational environmental consciousness, it asks how this wider historical context has shaped international responses to the greatest threat to humankind to date. Thinking beyond the science of climate change to the way it is received and responded to, Ruth Morgan shows how climate science has been mobilised in the political sphere, paying particular attention to the North-South dynamics of climate diplomacy. The privileging of climate science and the mobilisation of climate scepticism are explored to consider how they have undermined efforts to remedy this planetary problem. Studying climate change and international history in tandem, this book explains the origins of the debates around this environmental emergency, the response of political leaders attempting to address the threat, and the barriers to creating an international regime to resolve the climate crisis.

As the Kyoto Protocol limps along without the participation of the US and Australia, on-going climate negotiations are plagued by competing national and business interests that are creating stumbling blocks to success. Climate Change Negotiations: A Guide to Resolving Disputes and Facilitating Multilateral Cooperation asks how these persistent obstacles can be down-scaled, approaching them from five professional perspectives: a top policy-maker, a senior negotiator, a leading scientist, an international lawyer, and a sociologist who is observing the process. The authors identify the major problems, including great power strategies (the EU, the US and Russia), leadership, the role of NGOs, capacity and knowledge-building, airline industry emissions, insurance and risk transfer instruments, problems of cost benefit analysis, the IPCC in the post-Kyoto situation, and verification and institutional design. A new key concept is introduced: strategic facilitation. 'Strategic facilitation' has a long time frame, a forward-looking orientation and aims to support the overall negotiation process rather than individual actors. This book is aimed at academics, university students and practitioners who are directly or indirectly engaged in the international climate negotiation as policy makers, diplomats or experts.