ICT and environmental sustainability : a case study of a grassroots initiative

Increasingly, local communities develop projects and grassroots initiatives that address climate change and other environmental sustainability issues. These projects often commence informally and adopt web-based free information and communication technologies (ICT) applications to support their functioning. ICT applications are used to promote the goals of the project, to recruit more supporters and to facilitate debate among citizens sympathetic to the cause of environmental stewardship. However, as some of these projects evolve they become more complex. Struggling with lack of funding, the solution is to imaginatively combine free web-based ICT applications, to adapt existing open source applications, and even to develop customized solutions to address the project’s needs. We present the results of an exploratory case study of a grassroots initiative with environmental sustainability goals. The study shows some evidence of innovative practices in the appropriation of ICTs and in the communication campaign. Implications of this research for online communities and society are also discussed.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Choosing a dangerous limit for climate change: an investigation into how the decision making process is constructed in public discourses

International climate change policy is predicated on the claim that climate change is a phenomenon with a single, global dangerous limit of two degrees of warming above the pre-industrial average. However, climate science does not provide sufficient empirical evidence to determine such an exact limit. In addition, a single limit incorrectly assumes that social and physical vulnerabilities to climate change are uniformly distributed in space and time. Public commentaries play an important role in shaping public engagement with an abstract concept such as climate change. This research project examines how public discourses construct the dangerous limits to climate change decision making process. My analysis draws on elite theory to argue that the two degree limit is a discourse which constructs climate change as a problem solvable within existing value systems and patterns of social activity. A comparison of primary and secondary data drawn from diverse sources is used to chart the key historical, social and cultural elements present in the construction and reproduction of the two degree dangerous limit discourse. The historical dimension of my analysis shows that public commentaries have ‘black boxed’ the genesis of the two degree dangerous limit idea. I demonstrate how claims of a consensus amongst elite policy and science actors are central to developing a dangerous limit ideology amongst influential public audiences. The two degree discourse elevates the idea of a single dangerous limit to the status of fact, and in so doing marginalises egalitarian and ecological perspectives. I conclude that the two degree limit is a construct which makes possible an international environmental regime safe for the interests of elite actor

A Matter of capabilities

Contains fulltext : 163374.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Exploring Global Climate Policy Futures and Their Representation in Integrated Assessment Models

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, paved the way for a new hybrid global climate governance architecture with both bottom‐up and top‐down elements. While governments can choose individual climate goals and actions, a global stocktake and a ratcheting‐up mechanism have been put in place with the overall aim to ensure that collective efforts will prevent increasing adverse impacts of climate change. Integrated assessment models show that current combined climate commitments and policies of national governments fall short of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C or 2 °C above preindustrial levels. Although major greenhouse gas emitters, such as China, the European Union, India, the United States under the Biden administration, and several other countries, have made new pledges to take more ambitious climate action, it is highly uncertain where global climate policy is heading. Scenarios in line with long‐term temperature targets typically assume a simplistic and hardly realistic level of harmonization of climate policies across countries. Against this backdrop, this article develops four archetypes for the further evolution of the global climate governance architecture and matches them with existing sets of scenarios developed by integrated assessment models. By these means, the article identifies knowledge gaps in the current scenario literature and discusses possible research avenues to explore the pre‐conditions for successful coordination of national policies towards achieving the long‐term target stipulated in the Paris Agreement

Structure, process and agency: the evolution of EU Turkey relations 1999-2004.

When Turkey became a candidate of the EU in 1999 it had been a problematic applicant for forty years due to residual unpopularity with several member states for cultural, economic, security and normative reasons. However, the Helsinki European Council heralded a change of fortunes for Ankara and by 2005 accession negotiations had opened. This happened in spite of Turkey remaining an unpopular candidate with some member states. Moreover, since 2005, Turkey s standing within the EU has returned to a position akin to its pre-1999 stasis. This thesis thus asks: why did Turkey make such progress between 1999 and 2004/5? What was the specific configuration of structures, processes and actions that enabled that to happen then but not before or after? The thesis approaches this puzzle using a stretched eclectic version of Historical Institutionalism which can incorporate the effects of both structure and agency. In this way it can include the influence of wider structural factors, such as CEEC enlargement, Cyprus and ESDP as well as the agency of Turkey s advocates within the EU. It is a detailed qualitative process-tracing study which uses semi-structured interviews and documentary evidence to make a case for a given explanation. It concludes that a path dependent process, influenced by both structure and agency, can be traced from the Helsinki European Council to that in Brussels five years later which rhetorically entrapped the member states into agreeing to open accession negotiations in spite of Turkey s underlying unpopularity. By adopting this framework for analysis, the thesis makes a contribution to the literature on the Turkey-EU accession process by viewing the time period as a whole and taking a temporal rather than a snapshot approach. In so doing it is possible to explain why and how Turkey was able to make such progress between 1999 and 2004. It is also valuable in the study of present Turkey-EU relations as the ultimate conclusion has to be that there was a unique window of opportunity for both Turkey and the EU during this time and the window may now have closed

China and the global environment: learning from the past, anticipating the future

China's environmental problems are now at the forefront of domestic and international concern. In this new Lowy Institute Paper, 'China and the global environment: learning from the past, anticipating the future', Dr Katherine Morton examines the potential for China's system of environmental governance to respond effectively to the crises, both within and beyond territorial boundaries

Decision-making processes of African Leaders on climate change: A case study of the succession to the Kyoto-Protocol

The research examines the decision-making processes of African Leaders in the context of a common international issue. The Theory of Bounded Rationality is utilised as theoretical framework. More specifically, the research explores how a group of African Leaders come together to make a common decision known as the Common African Position in relation to the succession to the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The originality of the research is contributed by decision-making processes utilising the Bounded Rationality Theory in the context of climate change. This is taken further by utilising the model in the decision-making processes of African Leaders as limited research has been conducted in this field in Africa. Researchers have argued that whilst extensive research has been undertaken in the US and UK, only a limited amount has been conducted in other regions (Elbanna and Child 2007). Furthermore, Hoskisson, et. al.,. (2000) argues that research on strategy practice in emerging economies such as China, and Latin America has not been matched with other regions such as, Africa and the Middle East. The originality of the research is also presented by the uniqueness of the case study. The study was conducted during the largest ever political gathering of world leaders – The Fifteen Session of the Conference of the Parties and the Fifth Session of the Meeting of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. COP15 comprised 120 Heads of States and Governments and 193 national delegations including Member States of the continent of Africa. The research design was qualitative in nature. The methods for the primary data collection were Semi-structured Interviews, Focus Groups and Participant-Observation. Participants were Heads of Government, Ministers and other leaders, i.e. Secretary Generals, Ambassadors and Directors. Secondary data in the form of books, speeches, articles, newspapers, briefs and other publications were also utilised. The data was analysed using content analysis. The analyses revealed that the decision-making processes commenced two years before COP15. The decision-making processes were definitive, co-ordinated and structured involving a wide number of strategic organisations to the continent of Africa, i.e. the African Union Commission (AUC). The decision-making processes were largely followed by the group of African Leaders prior to and during the initial week of COP15. However, during the High-level Segment the dis-unity amongst African Member States became apparent. Bi-lateral deals with developed nations outside the African Common Position were at play, especially by South Africa and Ethiopia. The final outcome of COP15, the ‘Copenhagen Accord’ further revealed the decision-making processes and decisions made by African Leaders were irrational. Individual country interests were paramount, resulting in a total failure by the African Group to maintain the Common African Position. The findings also revealed that due to the diverse nature of the impact of climate change on different African regions, the implications of a common decision in addressing climate change in the future should be circumvented. Limitations of the study include the high security level during COP15 due to the attendance of world leaders, the immense size of the event in terms of participants, and the large number of meetings, which made it impossible for the researcher to follow all activities that were pertinent to decision-making. The research makes contributions to academia and to practice. Academically, in the field of strategic decision-making and by the use of Bounded Rationality; and the application of the Theory of Bounded Rationality in the context of the decision-making processes of African Leaders is novel in the literature further contributed by the extraordinary United Nations COP15 Conference. Furthermore, the results support the assumptions of Bounded Rationality in decision-making. In the field of practice, it suggests ways in which the decision-making processes of African Leaders in an international setting can be improved as it relates to climate change. The research concludes with recommendations, areas for further research in the field of strategic decision-making and a reflection of the research journey