Emergence of polycentric climate governance and its future prospects

Jordan, Andrew; Huitema, Dave; Hildén, Mikael; Asselt, Harro van; Rayner, Timothy; Schoenefeld, Jonas J.; Tosun, Jale; Forster, Johanna; Boasson, Elin Lerum

doi:10.1038/nclimate2725

Cited by 463 publications

(285 citation statements)

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“…These initiatives are receiving more and more scholarly interest (e.g. Keohane and Victor, 2011;Abbott, 2012;Bulkeley et al, 2014;Falkner, 2015;Jordan et al 2015). But what is the role and function of the UNFCCC in this emerging governance system?…”

Section: The 2°c Limit As a Normative Foundation Of Climate Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The UNFCCC is not the only formal regulatory system that addresses climate change related issues (e.g. Keohane and Victor, 2011;Abbott, 2012;Bulkeley et al, 2014;Jordan et al, 2015), but there are also numerous informal norms and cognitive routines that structure socio-economic systems around the globe. The UNFCCC is just one -albeit important -element within this overall structure that guides everyday behaviour of agents in the various socio-economic systems.…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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UNFCCC before and after Paris – what's necessary for an effective climate regime?

et al. 2015

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What can reasonably be expected from the UNFCCC process and the climate conference in Paris 2015? To achieve transformative change, prevailing unsustainable routines embedded in socio-economic systems have to be translated into new and sustainable ones. This article conceptualises the UNFCCC and the associated policy processes as a catalyst for this translation by applying a structurational regime model. This model provides an analytical distinction of rules (norms and shared meaning) and resources (economic resources as well as authoritative and allocative power) and allows to conceptualise agency on various levels including beyond the nation states. The analysis concludes that the UNFCCC's narrow focus on emissions targets, which essentially is a focus on resources, has proven ineffective. In addition, the static division of industrialized and developing countries in the Convention's annexes and the consensus-based decision-making rules have impeded ambitious climate protection. The article concludes that the UNFCCC is much better equipped to provide rules for climate protection activities and should consciously expand this feature to improve its impact. Policy relevanceThe international community is negotiating a new global climate agreement, to be adopted at the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in December 2015 in Paris and to be applicable from 2020. This article analyses the successes and limitations the UN-FCCC has had so far in combating climate change and it develops recommendations how to enhance efforts within and beyond the framework of the Convention. From our analysis we derive two main recommendations for an effective and structurationally balanced treaty: First, multi-dimensional mitigation contributions going beyond emission targets could strongly improve countries' ability to tailor their contributions around national political discourses. Second, the UNFCCC regime should be complemented with another treaty outside of the UNFCCC framework. This 'Alliance of the Ambitious' would allow the pioneers of climate protection to move ahead and enjoy the benefits of co-operation. The dynamics generated through such a club approach could be fed back into the UNFCCC, leading to increased ambition by others in future commitment cycles.

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Section: The 2°c Limit As a Normative Foundation Of Climate Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

UNFCCC before and after Paris – what's necessary for an effective climate regime?

et al. 2015

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“…We propose that without a global government, the responsibility and leverage for dealing with global commons, such as the global atmosphere, have to be shared among many actorsmaking it polycentric (Ostrom 2000(Ostrom , 2010Sovacool 2011;Jordan et al 2015). The principal actors are listed in Table 2.…”

Section: Mapping the Institutional Stakeholdersmentioning

confidence: 99%

All hands on deck: polycentric governance for climate change insurance

2016

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In this essay, we argue that it is possible to significantly complement and improve our collective response to climate change by harnessing the combined capacities of key actors across the public and private sector. We apply the concepts of liability, market mechanisms, preferential market access, and polycentric governance toward a new type of climate change insurance for CO 2 . The quest to apply insurance principles to climate change dates back multiple decades. But ideas for employing the industry's ability to help avoid or minimize and, if necessary, compensate for uncertain costs in the future at scale, across national boundaries, and as part of a broader regime, seem to be lacking. We propose an approach that complements and combines ongoing efforts within a polycentric governance structure to reduce CO 2 emissions, increase resilience to and compensate damages from climate change on a global scale.

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“…Relatedly, research on ''polycentric'' modes of governance (Ostrom 2010;Jordan et al 2015) spans both the international and domestic levels in terms of studying the causes and consequences of governance without a single, hierarchical center of authority.…”

Section: A Systemic Perspective On Climate Financementioning

confidence: 99%