Fariborz Zelli
Professor | Principal Investigator BECC
International Governance: Polycentric Governing by and beyond the UNFCCC
Author
Editor
- Andrew Jordan
- Dave Huitema
- Harro van Asselt
- Johanna Forster JordanHuitemavan Asselt
Summary, in English
The Paris Agreement seemingly reaffirmed the central place occupied by the regime established by the UNFCCC in the international governance of climate change.
Although the UNFCCC can be viewed as a form of ‘monocentric’ governance, it has become increasingly clear that the UNFCCC operates as part of a polycentric governance system. Due to the physical and socio-economic interconnections between climate change and a range of other issue areas, institutional overlaps between the climate regime and other international institutions from other domains such as trade and investment, human rights, other environmental issues (e.g. ozone depletion and biodiversity loss) and specific sectors (e.g. aviation and maritime shipping) are inevitable.
In this chapter, we systematically sketch the domain of international climate change governance from the angle of polycentricity, focusing on intergovernmental multilateral institutions. We pursue two objectives: characterising this governance system as polycentric; and then discussing to what extent certain implications of this polycentricity have already materialised in this system.
Although the UNFCCC can be viewed as a form of ‘monocentric’ governance, it has become increasingly clear that the UNFCCC operates as part of a polycentric governance system. Due to the physical and socio-economic interconnections between climate change and a range of other issue areas, institutional overlaps between the climate regime and other international institutions from other domains such as trade and investment, human rights, other environmental issues (e.g. ozone depletion and biodiversity loss) and specific sectors (e.g. aviation and maritime shipping) are inevitable.
In this chapter, we systematically sketch the domain of international climate change governance from the angle of polycentricity, focusing on intergovernmental multilateral institutions. We pursue two objectives: characterising this governance system as polycentric; and then discussing to what extent certain implications of this polycentricity have already materialised in this system.
Department/s
- Department of Political Science
- BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate
Publishing year
2018-04-01
Language
English
Pages
29-46
Publication/Series
Governing Climate Change : Polycentricity in Action?
Full text
Document type
Book chapter
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Topic
- Political Science
Keywords
- polycentricity
- climate change
- UNFCCC
- global governance
- Kyoto protocol
- complexity
- fragmentation
- institutions and institutional change
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISBN: 9781108418126