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Climate change as a political issue

Climate change as a political issue. Part 1. Environment and international politics From Stockholm to Copenhagen. Session 1. The rise of the environment as a political issue. Since the 1970s, environmental concerns have climbed their way to the top of the political agenda

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Climate change as a political issue

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  1. Climate change as a political issue Part 1

  2. Environmentand international politicsFrom Stockholm to Copenhagen Session 1

  3. The rise of the environment as a political issue • Since the 1970s, environmental concerns have climbed their way to the top of the political agenda • 1972: Meadows report of the Club of Rome • 1972: Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment • 26 principles of environmental governance • Creation of UNEP

  4. Catastrophes and accidents • 1976: Seveso toxic dioxins leak • 1979: Three-Mile Island incident • 1982: Seveso directive • 1984: Bhopal catastrophe • 1986: Chernobyl

  5. Scientific discoveries • Man lands on the Moon 1969 • Hole in the ozone layer • Discovered in the 1980s • Montreal Protocol 1987 • Climate change • First measurements in the 1950s • First models in the 1970s (Hansen) • Creation of the IPCC 1988

  6. The rise of global governance • 1987: ‘Our Common Future’ by the World Commission on Environment and Development • ‘Sustainable development’: ‘a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ • Montreal Protocol 1987 • Aimed at tackling the depletion of the ozone layer • One of the most successful international agreements • Develops the concept of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ • Bears many resemblances with the Kyoto Protocol

  7. Major UN Conferences • 1972: Stockholm Conference • 1992: Rio EarthSummit • Agenda 21 • Three major conventions: UNFCCC (climate change), UNCBD (biodiversity), UNCCCD (desrtification) • 1997: Kyoto Protocol • 2002: Johannesburg summit on sustainabledevelopment • First failureof international cooperation

  8. Copenhagen 2009: from cooperation to collaboration

  9. Rio +20: The end of the road • The prospects for the Rio +20 conference looked grim already. • The conference was indeed a disaster. • No more appetite for international cooperation. • 2012 is the last year when GHG emissions are capped. • What now for the COP21 in Paris?

  10. So whybother? • International cooperation remains necessary because there’s no relationship between • the quantity of GHG that a region or a country emits and the consequence for that area in terms of climate change • the quantity of GHG that we emit today and the changes in the climate our generation will experience • Thus there’s a necessity of: • International cooperation • Long-term cooperation

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