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Ecological modernization refers to the idea that capitalist-driven scientific and technological advancements can not only attend to the world's pending environmental crises, but even lead to ecological improvement, thus allowing sustainability and consumption to continue in concert. In this paper, we examine ecological modernization at the confluence of environmentalism, international development and global sport. Through an analysis of golf and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, we argue that golf's return to the Olympic programis illustrative of a post-political approach to environmentalism, whereby ecological modernization is posited as a common-sense response to addressing matters of global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the implications of the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals (SDGs) for persons who are forced to flee their homes due to climate change. Topics discussed include concepts of climate justice and climate displacement; approaches to climate displacement; and ways in which SDGs address the plight of climate-displaced persons.

The article develops a develops a comprehensive, contemporary definition of environmental justice. Topics discussed include relations between environmental justice (EJ) relates to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presence of EJ across Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) submitted by countries on a non-mandatory basis to disclose progress made on the SDGs; and likelihood of attaining EJ through the SDGs.

The construction of a global climate architecture able to ensure a necessary ambition and that protects the most vulnerable parts of the society has been a tremendous effort of the international community and civil society who has supported it for the last decades. This construction had a culmination point in the moment of the Paris Agreement. To the lack of ambition of the formal commitment of the Agreement's signatory states, in the mitigation actions as well as in the financing, we have to add the US' withdrawal as a new and Important obstacle. This withdrawal dynamites one of the elements which shaped/conformed the final agreement, the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver in the early 1970s. Initially, it was a small anti-nuclear protest group composed of Americans and Canadians, peaceniks and hippies, World War II veterans and people barely out of high school. Twenty years later, it was the world's largest environmental NGO, with headquarters in Amsterdam, branches in over forty nations, and a regular presence at international environmental meetings throughout the world. This article will chart Greenpeace's growth throughout its first two decades, in the process examining how the organization became influential at several levels: in local politics in places like Vancouver; at the national level in countries such as Canada, New Zealand, the USA, and Germany; and at global forums such as the International Whaling Commission and various UN-sponsored environmental meetings. It will analyze the combination of activist agency and political opportunity structures that enabled Greenpeace to gain political influence. I argue that Greenpeace's influence largely stemmed from its engagement with what political scientist Paul Wapner calls "world civic politics," which in this case involves the dissemination of an ecological sensibility that indirectly influences behavior at multiple scales, from individuals, to governments, to multilateral organizations. Only in this way could a group with relatively limited resources hope to influence millions of individuals and powerful governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fates of "transboundary" environmental systems depend on how nation states interact with one another. In the absence of a hegemon willing and able to coerce other states into avoiding a "tragedy of the commons," shared environments will be safeguarded if international cooperation succeeds and degraded or even destroyed if it fails. Treaties and related institutions of international law give form to these efforts to cooperate. Often, they implore states to act in their collective (as opposed to their national) interests. Sometimes, they impel cooperating states to punish free riders. A few agreements coordinate states' behavior. Here, I present simple game-theoretic models showing whether and how treaties and related institutions can change incentives, aligning states' self-interests with their collective interests. I show that, as a general matter, states struggle to cooperate voluntarily and enforce agreements to cooperate but that they find it relatively easy to coordinate actions. In some cases, the need for coordination is manifest. In other cases, it requires strategic thinking. Coordination may fall short of supporting an ideal outcome, but it nearly always works better than the alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Basel Convention is regaining attention for the potential entry into force of the heretofore stalled Ban Amendment. In this paper, we draw parallels between the current debate surrounding the Ban Amendment and contestations that occurred in the early years of the Basel Convention's Technical Working Group (TWG) over defining 'hazardousness.' Like the present debate, TWG deliberations involved a contestation between two divergent discourses concerning how hazardous wastes should be regulated-as ideally managed versus actually managed in the global South. Scholars have shown how the TWG is a site for industry to press for a definition of hazardousness favorable to their economic interests. However, explorations of the specific processes by which this occurred-particularly, how a framework for defining hazardousness that privileges private technical expertise over concerns of precaution and equity was successfully institutionalized within the TWG-have yet to be completed. We show that it is important to reexamine this debate today in order to better understand current Basel Convention developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris agreement about climate change has meant an important step forward. Building up on these foundations the following years we should move towards a new GHG emission trajectory compatible with the security threshold of 1,5-2°C. The strategic position of the five biggest emitters of the world -China, United States of America, the European Union, India and Russia- it is going to be a decisive factor. The climate policies ant the respective diplomacy of these big players will define the success or failure of the climate challenge. We need to understand and analyse these climate policies in the context of their wider geopolitical frameworks. That is the way to understand the concepts, changes and strategies of these players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to negotiate an effective agreement for the post-2020 period is highly dependent on whether developing countries should take on binding mitigation commitments. This analysis combines an historical with a discursive institutionalist perspective to trace the conflict around developing country mitigation that accompanies the climate change regime since its inception. The article shows that early decisions on the subject matter shaped the regime until now. At the same time, the discourse and more recent decisions concerning developing country mitigation indicate gradual changes nevertheless. In particular, the Conferences of the Parties in Bali 2007 and Durban 2011 produced outcomes that changed the institutional architecture of the regime significantly. The development of the climate regime regarding developing country mitigation is hence marked by both periods of change and stasis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Global environmental degradation is but one aspect of a crisis in human rationality, resulting from anthropocentric and unsustainable paradigms. Increasing awareness towards the need for sustainability promotes rationality standards founded in holistic and interdisciplinary approaches that encourage participatory governance at various levels. Within this context, the peaceful settlement of cross-border, socioenvironmental conflicts represents a challenge to the unilateral exercise of jurisdiction, owing to issues such as enforceability, effectiveness and the granting of provisional measures. Hence, international, regional and/or sub-regional entities must become meaningful vehicles for institutional environmental cooperation, in order to establish higher levels of participatory governance among relevant local, regional and global players. MERCOSUR's Environmental Framework Agreement (Decision CMC n° 2 of June 22, 2001), its Additional Protocol on Cooperation on Environmental Emergencies (Decision CMC n° 4 of July 8, 2004) and the Summit of Environmental Ministers of MERCOSUR (Decision CMC n° 19 of December 15, 2003) represent important steps towards the promotion of socio-environmental, cultural, political, economic, ecological and geographical sustainability. However, its dispute settlement system is still lacking in additional institutional cooperation principles and rules to achieve these goals. It can be argued that Member States should engender the additional regulatory framework to reduce asymmetries between local socio-environmental public policies and, thus, inspire stronger confidence in the effectiveness of its dispute settlement system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational flows of ideas are examined through consideration of Green parties, Friends of the Earth, and Earth First!, which represent, respectively, the highly institutionalised, the semi-institutionalised and the resolutely non-institutionalised dimensions of environmental activism. The focus is upon English-speaking countries: US, UK and Australia. Particular attention is paid to Australian cases, both as transmitters and recipients of examples. The influence of Australian examples on Europeans has been overstated in the case of Green parties, was negligible in the case of Friends of the Earth, but surprisingly considerable in the case of Earth First!. Non-violent direct action in Australian rainforests influenced Earth First! in both the US and UK. In each case, the flow of influence was mediated by individuals, and outcomes were shaped by the contexts of the recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses pre- and post-surveys to assess learning outcomes associated with a role-play simulation set within a fictionalized extension of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the simulation increased student appreciation of the complexity of international negotiation, but decreased student interest and self-assessment of skill proficiency. These results underscore the learning potential of the role-play simulation: it challenges notions of student idealism, leaving students with a more realistic sense of why Multilateral Environmental Agreements are so difficult to negotiate in the real-world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article uses the controversy over China's Three Gorges Dam to examine the interaction between the Chinese state and transnational civil society that has unfolded in the global arena. It uses the human rights disputes and the emergent Chinese “hydropower discourse” to explore the global politics of the dam. The conflict flared up in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. The increasing interconnectedness of the world enabled the Three Gorges technocrats to solicit global capital for the project. Transnational activists, however, mobilised opposition to the dam through public opinion forums, including the Internet, and cross-border networking to seek to constrain the Chinese government's agenda. They also championed principles of environmental protection and human rights as a challenge to the investment policies of multinational corporations. But the Chinese developmentalists insisted on a particularist interpretation of people's rights. Furthermore, dam advocates turned the tables on the opponents by appropriating the environmental principle of sustainability and forming a new “hydropower discourse.” The struggle illuminates the complex interplay of socio-political forces embedded in the global-national-local nexus of exchange. The paper addresses the tension between developmentalism and environmentalism, particular interests and universal values, and national sovereignty and global activism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The G-77 has historically organized the participation of developing countries in multilateral environmental negotiations. This article analyses the impact of a new coalition of emerging powers -- Brazil, China, India, and South Africa as BASIC -- on the G-77's role in climate governance. While there are important benefits for both sides in their relationship, I argue that the G-77 is also disadvantaged in several concrete ways by the BASIC countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the aspects of the struggle on dominion over the oceans and the balance environmentalism, spoils, and seaweed. It considers international treaty and the binding recognized decisions as the sole means to become Admiral of the Ocean Sea except if nations would prefer to pursue costly wars for natural resources and contest just as in colonial times. It suggests that all treaties should deal with territorial and mineral claims to come up with beneficial and peaceful resources development.

Business is often assumed to resist increased social and environmental regulation, preferring voluntary or soft-law approaches to global governance. This article analyzes the dynamics between CSR, soft law, and hard law by exploring corporate attitudes in the Nordic area towards CSR and regulation—an area reputed to be a forerunner in both CSR and social and environmental regulation. The analysis, based on a survey of the Nordic companies with the strongest CSR performance, reveals skepticism towards relying on CSR and voluntary approaches, combined with a very strong preference for increased international regulation of social and environmental issues. Drawing on insights from recent analyses in the governance literature, the article discusses the conditions under which business favors increased social and environmental regulation, concluding that corporate self-interest and increased international regulation can indeed coincide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Council of Europe's Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats is a binding international treaty in the field of nature conservation aimed at the protection of the natural heritage in the European continent. The Bern Convention aims to conserve Europe's wild flora and fauna and their natural habitats. It was an innovative biodiversity convention at the time of its birth, over 30 years ago, through its approach to protect both species and habitats. The treaty also takes account of the impact that other policies may have on natural heritage and it recognizes the intrinsic value of wild flora and fauna, which needs to be preserved and passed to future generations. The convention has produced extensive guidance and standards, including species actions plans, strategies, and over 140 recommendations and resolutions to help countries improve their national policies on nature conservation. The Bern Convention has combined concrete and practical action on the conservation and management of key species and sites with more strategic and forward-looking instruments on complex issues, long before they were subject to legislation, like invasive alien species or biodiversity adaptation to climate change. This work on current and relevant issues, developed in partnership and cooperation with other biodiversity conventions, the scientific community and non-governmental organizations, is one of the convention's strengths that has continued to motivate European countries to join and support this multilateral environmental agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of environmental governance in the integration of the greater Pearl River Delta region should be solved by setting up an innovative mechanism. The present shallow cooperation, which emphasises self and partial interests and confines discussion to the matter at issue, should be changed. Different strategies should be adopted that would seek all-round and in-depth environmental cooperation, such as an innovative joint conference arrangement; enhancement of the status of environmental nongovernmental organisations in the mainland, Macao, and Hong Kong; encouragement of environmental benchmarking among Hong Kong and Macao enterprises; the build-up of a mutual environmental monitoring network; and the sharing of environmental information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the question whether Science and Technology are under the surveillance of ethics, the answer is that scientists are responsible for the use of scientific achievements. Science, as a section of Culture, has been developed to assist human beings and has the moral obligation of improving the quality of life. As far as Environment is concerned, the initial harmonic relationship between man and Environment has been seriously disturbed during recent decades. The uncontrolled advancement of Technology and mankind's dominant behaviour over Nature, have created serious ecological problems. Unless these problems will be controlled, they may produce irreversible adverse trends which may even jeopardise earth's capacity. In order to achieve viable development and harmonious coexistence between humanity and Nature, mankind has to form a new relationship with the environment. The Christian Orthodox tradition provides the foundations of an Orthodox Environmental Ethic, which will provide sufficient teleological and religious reasons for environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the principles in reducing the risk of climate change. It emphasizes the shortage of time for the establishment of strong global deal for the reduction of carbon emission. It explains the importance of making the international cooperation strong, effective, and timely action to support the reduction of poverty and build economic opportunities. In addition, it offers information on the 15th conference of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark at the end of 2009.

Notions of cosmopolitan and environmental citizenship have emerged in response to concerns about environmental sustainability and global inequality. But even if there are obligations of egalitarian justice that extend across state boundaries, or obligations of environmental justice to use resources in a sustainable way that are owed to those beyond our borders, it is far from clear that these are best conceptualised as obligations of global or environmental citizenship. Through identifying a core concept of citizenship, I suggest that citizenship obligations are, by their nature, owed (at least in part) in virtue of other aspects of one's common citizenship, and that obligations of justice, even when they arise as a result of interconnectedness or past interactions, are not best conceived as obligations of citizenship in the absence of some other bond that unites the parties. Without ruling out the possibility of beneficial conceptual change, I argue that Andrew Dobson's model of ecological citizenship is flawed because there is no good reason to regard the obligations of environmental justice which it identifies as obligations of ecological citizenship, and that other models of cosmopolitan or global citizenship face a similar objection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental NGOs often create new campaigns or extend their ongoing activities from the principal issue arena in which they work to other substantive domains. Although this is a common practice, scholars have not assessed how NGOs position their work within different arenas or whether these activities represent an extension of or deviation from an organisation's mission and values. To understand the nature of cross-movement activism, the global justice activities of four environmental organisations are examined. All four participated in the global justice movement in ways that reflected their long-standing interpretations of the source of environmental problems and their deeply-held views of how to address these problems. Thus the cross-movement activism of environmental NGOs not only draws on their longstanding repertoires of action, but is consistent with their mission and core values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a political economy account of global environmental governance to improve upon our understanding of the contemporary conduct of environmental politics and to clarify thinking about the potential for, and barriers to, effective environmental reform. By elaborating the key contours of a political economy account on the one hand and opening up to critical enquiry prevailing understandings of what is meant by ?global? ?environmental? and ?governance? on the other, such an approach is able to enhance our understanding of the practiceof environmental governance by emphasising historical, material and political elements of its (re) constitution and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government of Acre, federal governmental institutions, the Chico Mendes Committee, representatives of the rural syndicalism and the Rede Globo TV had in 2008 the initiative to celebrate through several events "Twenty Years without Chico Mendes". The different announced exhibitions pretended to crown in "high style" a monumental transmutation of the revolutionary legacy of one of the principal leaderships of the rural syndicalism in Brazilian Amazon converted in insignificant "environmentalist". The objective of this paper is to show that this transmutation was skillfully articulated by the State (in wide conception) in an attempt of re-signifying nature and culture in order to legitimate the ideology of "sustainable development" to facilitate the process of spoliation already ongoing in the Amazon. In the conclusions we demonstrate that after two decades of apparently success, this strategy begins to show signs of collapse and there are evidences of some social movements, like Via Campesina, who are re-taking the "voice" of control in the region. The approach of this work is referenced in the historic comparative method and in the analysis of social process and phenomena connected to the international environmentalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers world news briefs related to environmentalism. Swordfish conservation disputes between Chile and the European Union remains active. A computerized database designed to track shipments of caviar around the world was created by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Conservation measures were drafted in the Atlantic Tuna Fishery.

This article discusses the costs associated with avoiding future environmental disasters. The author comments on various issues related to carbon emission, including the use of nonfossil-fuel energy, the contribution of economic growth to increased emissions in China, and power generation among other things. He also discusses the need for international cooperation to affect environmental change. The article also comments on the effect of environmentalism on the international economy.

This article discusses how China has become the largest aggregate emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. According to the author, China is pivotal to affecting global change, but it will need increased international assistance. The author discusses factors contributing to increased carbon emissions in China, including economic growth, high commercial coal consumption, and violations of energy-efficiency policies. The article also explores China's various energy-related challenges.

This article discusses the effect of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change on the global energy system. According to the author, global development does not necessitate radical disruption. He discusses concerns over future emissions based on past environmental exploits by China, Australia, and the U.S. The article also comments on energy forecasting and the role of international policy in promoting environmentalism. INSET: Ten Principles of Climate-Energy Security.

Information about an international climate summit sponsored by the administration of U.S. president George W. Bush is presented. Topics included greenhouse gas emission reduction and economic stability. The symposium featured participants representing several of the world's largest economies, including German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel and U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council representative David Doniger.

Abstract: Policy making at the level of international environmental problems appears to lack a transparent, multi criteria based, decision support ‘tool’. This is due mainly to the highly political, volatile, and contextual nature of issues at this level. The environmental problem of how to regulate emissions from international civil aviation due to their transboundary nature, and the participation of international and domestic players, makes it a ‘wicked’ international environmental problem where policy making has proved problematic. This problem has been used as the basis for developing and pilot testing a tool for contributing to international policymaking, the Multi Criteria Decision Support System (MCDSS). This tool is based on simplifying and integrating key components of Multi Criteria Analysis with a Decision Support System. A preliminary application of the tool explored three options for progressing the reduction of aviation emissions. Testing was based on the allocation of weights to environmental, social, economic and institutional categories, which were each then internally weighted to reflect key criteria in the policy process. Finally, likely performances of each option, against the criteria, were evaluated against Likert scale measures. The outputs from each of these steps were combined to generate a summed best policy option. Conclusions have been drawn and they indicate that the tool is potentially useful especially in the initial stages of policy development. The MCDSS is not an alternative to the international policy process, but rather complements, and makes explicit key tradeoffs in, that process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Environmental protection is connected to human been protection, implying the search of interfaces between both regimes, the main goal of this paper. Convergence between environment and human rights will be traced back starting at the origin of the environmental international law, focalising the analysis of relevant international instruments, in order to demonstrate that they represent a common concern of humankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the rules for accounting emissions of land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) for the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. It first describes the rules in detail, it then provides an overview of the history of negotiations that led to these rules and provides resulting conclusions for future international climate negotiations. We conclude that the current rules can be better understood in the light of the negotiation history. For the future, we conclude that first an agreement on the objectives of including LULUCF in the future climate regime should be developed, e.g. to contribute significantly to the ultimate objective of the convention. Further, a solid set of data should be developed that can assess the magnitude of possible options. The rules should be scientifically sound, complete and balanced as well as unambiguous before the quantitative targets are defined. They should further be simple and inclusive to include all carbon pools, i.e. provide incentives to avoid deforestation and unsustainable logging in all countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In response to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process investigating the technical issues surrounding the ability to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation in developing countries, this paper reviews technical capabilities for monitoring deforestation and estimating emissions. Implementation of policies to reduce emissions from deforestation require effective deforestation monitoring systems that are reproducible, provide consistent results, meet standards for mapping accuracy, and can be implemented at the national level. Remotely sensed data supported by ground observations are key to effective monitoring. Capacity in developing countries for deforestation monitoring is well-advanced in a few countries and is a feasible goal in most others. Data sources exist to determine base periods in the 1990s as historical reference points. Forest degradation (e.g. from high impact logging and fragmentation) also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions but it is more technically challenging to measure than deforestation. Data on carbon stocks, which are needed to estimate emissions, cannot currently be observed directly over large areas with remote sensing. Guidelines for carbon accounting from deforestation exist and are available in approved Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports and can be applied at national scales in the absence of forest inventory or other data. Key constraints for implementing programs to monitor greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation are international commitment of resources to increase capacity, coordination of observations to ensure pan-tropical coverage, access to free or low-cost data, and standard and consensual protocols for data interpretation and analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Many pathways have been proposed for including land use in a post-2012 climate agreement. Several involve new accounting structures which are quite different from the rules established in the Marrakech Accords and related decisions. However, a mechanism based largely on the structure agreed for the first commitment period also has its benefits. This paper discusses the weaknesses of the current system of land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) accounting in the Kyoto Protocol''s first commitment period, and proposes a mechanism based on that existing structure, but with modifications to address the weaknesses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There is potential for synergy between the global environmental conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification: changes in land management and land use undertaken to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions can simultaneously deliver positive outcomes for conservation of biodiversity, and mitigation of desertification and land degradation. However, while there can be complementarities between the three environmental goals, there are often tradeoffs. Thus, the challenge lies in developing land use policies that promote optimal environmental outcomes, and in implementing these locally to promote sustainable development. The paper considers synergies and tradeoffs in implementing land use measures to address the objectives of the three global environmental conventions, both from an environmental and economic perspective. The intention is to provide environmental scientists and policy makers with a broad overview of these considerations, and the benefits of addressing the conventions simultaneously. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complexities inherent in land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities have led to contentious and prolonged debates about the merits of their inclusion in the 2008–2012 first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Yet the inclusion of these activities played a key role in agreement on the general framework of the Kyoto Protocol, and LULUCF will likely continue to play a substantial part in negotiations on national commitments post-2012. The Marrakech Accords dictate which LULUCF activities are to be included under the Kyoto Protocol and provide rules on how they are to be accounted in the first commitment period. However, these rules have limitations and drawbacks that may be avoided in the structure of future commitments beyond 2012. Through adherence to the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the incorporation of several critical features, a future framework can more effectively address the mitigation challenges and opportunities of this sector. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a framework that encompasses a full range of options for including land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) within future agreements under the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The intent is to provide options that can address the broad range of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals as well as to bring the broadest possible range of nations into undertaking mitigation efforts. We suggest that the approach taken for the Kyoto Protocol''s first commitment period is only one within a much larger universe of possible approaches. This larger universe includes partially or completely “de-linking” LULUCF commitments from those in other sectors, and allowing commitments specified in terms other than tonnes of greenhouse gases. Such approaches may provide clarity and transparency concerning the role of the various sectors in the agreements and encourage participation in agreements by a more inclusive, diverse set of countries, resulting in a more effective use of LULUCF in addressing climate change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]