Exceptionalism as Foreign Policy: U.S. Climate Change Policy and an Emerging Norm of Compliance

Climate change is not only an environmental problem but a foreign policy problem, for the United States and indeed any country. Our best scientific knowledge about the effects of global warming predicts negative changes, from precipitation to agriculture to disease vectors. As such, it is axiomatic that nations would want to mitigate this phenomenon as early as possible. However, our current system of international law places no involuntary obligations, such as compliance with a climate mitigation treaty, on any state. In the past, if a state refused to become party to a treaty, this refusal was assumed to be without prejudice. Not anymore. Because the effects of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted anywhere are felt everywhere, efforts to mitigate climate change must be coordinated across all nations, lest any one nation have the incentive to free ride on the efforts of others. Unfortunately, that is exactly what the United States has done over the past decade with its repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol. A new norm of compliance with agreements is becoming customary with regard to the global environmental commons, particularly in the case of climate change, and this norm is being driven by improving climate science. This chapter will examine the development of this norm of compliance, why the United States has failed to comply with it, and what are the consequences and implications of this norm for both international law and American foreign policy. However, two key assumptions must be stated at the outset. First, the intellectual concepts behind the creation of customary norms of international law are valid regardless of the application of those norms. In other words, states are expected to comply with existing laws and norms, even if there is currently no real-world forum for their adjudication. Second, for the practical purpose of this discussion, there is little if any operational difference between a nation that is not a party to a global environmental treaty and a party that is out of compliance with that same treaty.[1] In both cases, the desired end-state is that all nations are parties and that they comply with the treaty’s terms

A New Vigilance: Identifying and Reducing the Risks of Environmental Terrorism

Terrorism is a constant and fearful phenomenon, as America has learned to its recent and terrible cost, and like the nine-headed hydra of ancient mythology, as soon as one group or method is terminated, more spring up to take its place. Environmental terrorism adds a new dimension to this phenomenon, identifying the target as a natural resource or environmental feature. At a time when populations all over the world are increasing, the existing resource base is being stretched to provide for more people, and is being consumed at a faster rate. As the value and vulnerability of these resources increases, so does their attractiveness as terrorist targets. History shows that access to resources has been a proximate cause of conflict, resources have been both tools and targets of conflict, and environmental degradation and disparity in the distribution of resources can cause major political controversy, tension, and violence. The purposeful destruction of a natural resource can now cause more deaths, property damage, political chaos, and other adverse effects than it would have in any previous decade. The choice of environmental resources as targets or tools of terrorism is consistent with both the increasing lethality of terrorism and the growing environmental awareness on the part of the public

Book Review: The Crowded Greenhouse: Population, Climate Change, and Creating a Sustainable World

Aimed at a lay reader, The Crowded Greenhouse is the collaborative effort of John Firor, director emeritus of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and his wife, population expert Judith Jacobsen. The first three chapters (written by Jacobsen) deal with population issues, and the second three chapters (written by Firor) assess climate change. This volume proceeds from the assumptions that the earth is finite, that human population cannot grow indefinitely, and that humans must act now to avoid negative environmental consequences from population growth

Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Climate Change – Edited by Kurt M. Campbell

Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Climate Change . Washington, DC : Brookings Institution Press . 237 pages. ISBN 978‐0‐8157‐1332‐6 , $28.95 cloth. Edited by Kurt M. Campbell . 2008 . Awkward title notwithstanding, Climatic Cataclysm is the first attempt at a systematic generation of future climate scenarios and their possible security and foreign policy impacts, and as such is sorely overdue in the field of environmental security. Much of the scholarly literature in this field is devoted to statistical models and general theories; what is lacking is serious national security consideration of the best climate science we have at present, and its possible effects on future policy

Book Review: Ecology of War and Peace: Counting Costs of Conflict

Si pacem para pacem ( If you want peace, prepare for peace ). With this sentiment, Tom Hastings opens the door to a discussion of the interrelationship between violent conflict and environmental damage

Political Geography: Special Issue on Climate Change and Conflict (Review)

Given that the Nobel Committee awarded its 2007 Peace Prize to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and that greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase around the globe, practitioners of peace and security will have to familiarize themselves with climatic drivers of conflict. To that end, the journal Political Geography has devoted an entire issue to exploring the links between climate change and violent conflict

Global Environmental Change and Human Security – Edited by Richard A. Matthew, Jon Barnett, Bryan McDonald, and Karen L. O\u27Brien

Global Environmental Change and Human Security . Cambridge, MA : MIT Press . 327 pages . ISBN 978‐026251308‐1 , $25.00 paperback . Richard A. Matthew, Jon Barnett, Bryan McDonald, and Karen L. O\u27Brien ( Eds .). 2010 . Environmental security is no longer a fringe field. It is a research domain “effectively established,” as the editors of this volume admit (p. 307). So it\u27s time to stop turning out these same vague and overly theoretical “concept” books, and get cracking on how to actually solve some of the interrelated problems of global environmental change and human security. The Global Environmental Change and Human Security project (GECHS) was a groundbreaking endeavor when it began in 1996, and many of the GECHS founders have contributed chapters to this volume. Now, however, the theoretical and practical connections between environmental drivers and human security outcomes are both commonsensical and demonstrated, and it\u27s time to move from theory to praxis

More Maple Leaf, Less CO2: Canada and a Global Geo-Engineering Regime

Learning Objectives • To distinguish unique characteristics of transnational scientific issues. • To articulate Canada\u27s interests in formulating policy about climate change. • To explain the potential benefits and drawbacks of geo-engineering as a response to climate change. • To identify a role for Canada in constructing an international response to climate change. Introduction Since the end of the Cold War, international structural factors have become less important to states\u27 behaviour, while social constructions have become more important. The nature of scientific knowledge, including its formation and promulgation, means that science-based policies can be strongly influenced by the input and actions of scientists, activists, and other non-state actors. In the area of geo-engineering to mitigate climate change, the stakes are high and the barriers to deployment are low. We begin by discussing unipolarity and its conceptual limitations for thinking about climate change policy-making . After introducing the perils and possibilities of geo-engineering technology, we take on two questions: first, whether Canada has a compelling interest in shaping a global geo-engineering regime; second, whether Canada\u27s resources are suited to such a role. We conclude that Canada would benefit from taking a leadership role in the formation of a global geo-engineering regime

Houses on organic farms in north-east Mazovia: Existing material and construction solutions

The study presents building materials or systems which are described in the literature and are regarded as ecological, results of the investigations on the material and construction solutions in dwelling houses of selected organic farms in north-east Mazovia and prospecting for the influence of organic farming on dwelling houses. To prepare the paper, the literature on ecological building construction and ecological farming was used, visits at farms were made (collection of documentation and conversations with owners) and statistical data on the ecological farms in the Ostrołęka and Maków counties were analysed. The investigations showed that there are no connections between the ecological farming and dwelling houses existing on these farms. The material and construction solutions applied there can be considered as non-ecological, which has been shown on the basis of the method by Dąbkowski (2002b). It has been also noticed that farm owners did not benefit from the rich material heritage (i.a. related to folk architecture) of the described region when building residential houses on their farms