Home  About FNI  Research  Publications  Staff  News & events  Contact		FNI PUBLICATION SUMMARIES Global Governance and Sustainable Development Fauchald, Ole Kristian International Environmental Governance: Lessons Learned from Human Rights Institutional Reform FNI Report 14/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 76 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report focuses on the possibility of establishing a High Commissioner for the Environment and transforming the UNEP Governing Council into a Council for the Environment. For this purpose, it considers the parallels between human rights regimes and environmental regimes. It provides a short-list of functions to be covered by a reformed environmental governance regime, and discusses how the reform can be coordinated with UNEP, as well as with the current and future institutional framework for sustainable development. The report also discusses how the reform can be related to fifteen core multilateral environmental agreements. Finally, the report considers how the reform can be carried out through a discussion of five separate options: a decision by the UN General Assembly, by the ECOSOC, or by the UNEP Governing Council, as well as through agreements between conferences of parties of environmental agreements, or directly between states. A main purpose of the report, which has been commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry for the Environment, is to provide input to the preparations for the Rio+20 Conference in 2012. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds) International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction London/New York, Routledge, 2012, 216 p. > For orders and more information, see Routledge's website International environmental agreements provide a practical basis for countries to address environmental issues on a global scale. This book explores the workings and outcomes of these agreements, and analyses key questions of why some problems are dealt with successfully and others ignored. By examining fundamental policies and issues in environmental protection this text gives an easily comprehensible introduction to international environmental agreements, and discusses problems in three areas: air, water and on land. It traces the history of agreements in broad thematic areas related to long-distance air pollution, ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases, ocean management, biological diversity, agricultural plant diversity and forest stewardship. Drawing on experts in their respective fields, this book provides an insightful evaluation of the successes and failures, and analysis of the reasons for this. Concluding with an insightful examination of research to show how performance of agreements can be improved in the future, this volume is a vital contribution to our understanding of the politics associated with establishing international environmental consensus. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland 'An International Environmental Policy Takes Shape' In Steinar Andresen, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, pp. 3-19. > More information about the book at the publisher's website International environmental problems have now been on the political agenda for more than thirty years. The traditional approach to deal with these problems is to establish multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). There has been a tremendous growth in these agreements and several hundreds now exist. Although some of them have had a positive effect on the problem at hand, overall progress has been limited and existing environmental problems are formidable. This chapter elaborates on the concept of international environmental politics and on theoretical approaches to understanding it. This leads to an account of international cooperation on the environment, its origins and history. Skjærseth, Jon Birger 'International Ozone Policies: Effective International Cooperation' In Steinar Andresen, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, pp. 38-48. > More information about the book at the publisher's website This chapter looks at how scientists discovered the ozone problem and reduced uncertainty regarding the causes and effects of the depleting ozone layer. Against this backdrop, the study analyses how public authorities and the business community responded internationally to the challenge from the scientists. The analysis shows that the international effort under the Montreal Protocol was innovative in several ways, especially in the way developing countries were persuaded to join although the developed countries were mostly to blame in the first place. The result has been a sharp fall in the use and production of ozone-depleting substances. Andresen, Steinar and Elin Lerum Boasson 'International Climate Cooperation: Clear Recommendations, Weak Commitments' In Steinar Andresen, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, pp. 49-67. > More information about the book at the publisher's website It took a long time from the scientific discovery of the climate problem for it to be translated into international political action. However, progress was made with the political and scientific institutionalization of the process in the 1990s. The scientific process under the aegis of the IPCC has had significant cognitive impact. The normative effect of the Climate Convention has been less convincing. The Kyoto Protocol has had some effect in terms of sprurring various forms of actions, but emissions have still continued to rise as the Protocol in practise does not apply to many main emitters. The jury is still out on the effect of the bottom-up, 'pledge and review' approach codified in the Cancun Agreement. Why has substantial progress been so limited? The main reason is the 'malign' nature of the problem as it affects all countries economies and development paths in a major way. The problem-solving ability of the regime has also been hampered by fundamental disagreements on how to deal with the issue within the North as well as between the North and the South. If a long-term solution to the problem is to be found, technology is the key. The failure of global environmental diplomacy to deliver may also open up for other more exclusive soft-law approaches. If so, it is important that synregies are forged between the various approaches to avoid conflicts. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland 'Ideals and Practice in International Environmental Politics' In Steinar Andresen, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Environmental Agreements: An Introduction. London/New York, Routledge, 2012, pp. 173-191. > More information about the book at the publisher's website This chapter reviews the current status in the international environmental effort. The authors compare notes on the environmental challenges in air pollution, stewardship of the seas and nature conservation and biodiversity. What characterises the various multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) - or regimes - within each of these major areas? What are their similarities and differences? How well do they perform and how can it be explained? To round off the authors discuss what can be done to strengthen international cooperation in the field of the environment and the possibilities of achieving this. Butzengeiger-Geyer, Sonja, Michel Köhler and Axel Michaelowa Driving Meaningful Adaptation Action through an Adaptation Market Mechanism FNI Climate Policy Perspectives 3. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 9 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) Approaches and criteria for allocating adaptation funds vary significantly among current sources – UN-backed funds and bilateral cooperation – and to some extent lack transparency and consistency. Such funding risks being spent in a haphazard way that repeats many of the mistakes made in development assistance over the past decades. An Adaptation Market Mechanism (AMM) could contribute to efficient allocation of adaptation funds, promote adaptation activities by private and public actors through additional financial incentives, and raise additional and reliable adaptation money. This would help to avoid future public criticism of the effectiveness and efficiency of spending adaptation funding.The proposed AMM would specify mandatory adaptation targets, on international, regional or domestic level. Participants who achieve their targets either by generating adaptation units or by buying them in the market would incentivize private, commercial and institutional actors to develop adaptation projects that create verified adaptation units. A universally accepted and verifiable trading unit applicable to all types of adaptation activities would help to maximize the cost reduction potential for the AMM. We suggest applying net present value (NPV) for property saved; Disability Adjusted Life Years Saved (DALYS) for health benefits; and potentially a separate unit to consider the environmental benefits of an adaptation activity. Luta, Alexandru Japan after the Quake: Prospects for Climate Policy. FNI Climate Policy Perspectives 1. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 8 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) The triple calamity of 11 March 2011 has dealt a serious blow domestically to the credibility of the Japanese nuclear industry, putting the country’s energy policy in flux. The severe impact on the country’s infrastructure, the unwieldiness of its bureaucracy and the chaotic political situation preclude Japan’s energy policy from explicitly re-orientating itself before the middle of 2012, but political consensus seems to be emerging that the country’s mid-term pledge on emission reductions will need to be curtailed. The bill on renewable energy passed under Prime Minister Kan marked a step in the right direction, but was shallow and politically opportunistic. Its future impact on policy is uncertain. With other policy instruments on climate proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan toothless or abandoned, Tokyo’s ability to engage in significant mitigation activities domestically is in question. Opposition to a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol remains firm; Japan will continue to pursue bilateral mechanisms outside the UNFCCC framework. Given its frail domestic policy and a stated readiness to act internationally outside multilateral frameworks, Japan’s promise to carry out significant mitigation activities even in the absence of a clear and comprehensive post-2012 legal instrument should be viewed with a critical eye. Oberthür, Sebastian and Olav Schram Stokke (eds) Managing Institutional Complexity: Regime Interplay and Global Environmental Change. Cambridge (USA), MIT Press, 2011, 353 p. > For orders and more information, see MIT Press' website Institutional interaction and complexity are crucial to environmental governance and are quickly becoming dominant themes in the international relations and environmental politics literatures. This book examines international institutional interplay and its consequences, focusing on two important issues: how states and other actors can manage institutional interaction to improve synergy and avoid disruption; and what forces drive the emergence and evolution of institutional complexes, sets of institutions that cogovern particular issue areas. The book, a product of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change research project (IDGEC), offers both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Chapters range from analytical overviews to case studies of institutional interaction, interplay management, and regime complexes in areas including climate change, fisheries management, and conservation of biodiversity. Contributors discuss such issues as the complicated management of fragmented multilateral institutions addressing climate change; the possible "chilling effect" on environmental standards from existing commitments; governance niches in Arctic resource protection; the relationships among treaties on conservation and use of plant genetic resources; causal factors in cross-case variation of regime prevalence; and the difficult relationship between the World Trade Organization and multilateral environmental agreements. The book offers a broad overview of research on interplay management and institutional complexes that provides important insights across the field of global environmental governance. Stokke, Olav Schram and Sebastian Oberthür 'Introduction: Institutional Interaction in Global Environmental Change' In Sebastian Oberthür and Olav Schram Stokke (eds), Managing Institutional Complexity: Regime Interplay and Global Environmental Change. Cambridge (USA), MIT Press, 2011, pp. 1-23. > More information about the book at the publisher's website Institutional interaction and complexity are crucial to environmental governance and are quickly becoming dominant themes in the international relations and environmental politics literatures. This chapter lays the conceptual foundations for the volume and provides an overview of its structure and contents. First we introduce four core concepts that provide the common basis for individual contributions and allow investigation of the two central themes of the volume. In this way we establish our understanding of international institutions, institutional interaction, interplay management, and institutional complexes. Thereafter we outline the structure of the book and offer a brief overview of the contents of each chapter. Oberthür, Sebastian and Olav Schram Stokke 'Conclusions: Decentralized Interplay Management in an Evolving Interinstitutional Order' In Sebastian Oberthür and Olav Schram Stokke (eds), Managing Institutional Complexity: Regime Interplay and Global Environmental Change. Cambridge (USA), MIT Press, 2011, pp. 313-341. > More information about the book at the publisher's website This book has focused on two themes central to institutional interaction: interplay management and institutional complexes. The contributions to this volume have addressed one or both of these issues by exploring various fields of international environmental governance, frequently investigating changes over time. The authors have focused on specific institutional complexes, the interplay management of particular inter-institutional relationships, or relevant cross-cutting issues. In this concluding chapter, we pinpoint the main conceptual and empirical findings concerning the two core themes. Stokke, Olav Schram 'Internasjonale regimer' ('International Regimes') In J. Hovi and R. Malnes (eds), Anarki, makt og normer. ('Anarchy, Power and Norms'). Oslo, Abstrakt Forlag, 2011, pp. 271-299. In Norwegian. > More information about the book on the publisher's website This chapter provides a bachelor-level introduction to international regimes, that is, substantive and procedural norms that guide behaviour in specific areas of international relations. Often contrasted with structural realism, regime analysis is part of the liberal tradition in the study of international affairs: institutions are potentially important vehicles for achieving cooperation among states that typically have some shared and some competing interests. Regime formation and maintenance can be explained in three complementary ways. Interest-based explanations highlight configurations of preferences; power-based models pinpoint material capabilities; whereas knowledge-based approaches consider how institutions may shape processes of defining national interest. An international regime is effective if contributing significantly to problem solving. Making ‘problem solving’ operational requires causal examination of whether regime outputs and domestic legal implementation affect relevant actor behavior – and whether that behavior significantly affects the state of the problem. Included here is evaluation of other factors that may also affect problem solving. Factors explaining variation in regime effectiveness include the nature of the problem that a regime addresses - some problems are easier to solve than others - and various aspects of regime design that may shape incentives, trigger learning, or strengthen the normative compellingness of institutions. The final part of the chapter discusses two rising topics in regime analysis: regime interplay and the roles of private organizations in the formation and operation of international regimes. Andresen, Steinar and Tora Skodvin 'The Climate Regime: Achievements and Challenges' In Davor Vidas and Peter Johan Schei (eds), The World Ocean in Globalisation. Leiden/Boston, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers/Brill, 2011, pp. 165-186. > Download full-text version > More information about the book at the publisher's website This chapter describes and analyses the process of climate negotiations since they started more than 20 years ago. The goal of the chapter is threefold: to assess what has been achieved, explore main factors that have attributed to this outcome and to briefly discuss future developments. Three milestones are evaluated, the Climate Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and briefly, the Copenhagen Accord/Cancun Agreement. Effectiveness varies somewhat depending upon the measuring rod used. However, overall effectiveness is deemed to be rather modest. A main explanatory factor is the malign nature of the problem characterized by incongruity, asymmetries and deep-seated political and normative conflicts. An important explanatory factor is also the strong influence of the US through most of the process, playing the role as a laggard. The EU has been the most persistent pusher but has not been able to generate the critical mass of followers. More recently China and other emerging economies have become much more influential and this has not made progress easier. Considering the present political situation in the US, as well as the bleak economic outlook in key countries, the prospects for a strong follow up to the Kyoto Protocol seems bleak. As no binding agreement can be expected in the short-term, there is a need to also consider soft terms approaches through other established venues. It is important to have close link between various approaches to forge synergies and avoid conflicts. Considering expected projections in terms of economic growth and population increase in the South, the long-term perspectives also looks bleak unless some technological 'silver bullet' is discovered. Valberg, Anna Helene Brazil's Role in Environmental Governance: Analysis of Possibilities for Increased Brazil-Norway Cooperation FNI Report 8/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 49 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report examines the role played by Brazil in connection with certain international negotiations, such as the climate negotiations and the CBD. It identifies the driving factors that have influenced environmental politics and standards in Brazil, and take note of conflicts that must be discussed when Norway is seeking expanded cooperation with Brazil. In line with the mandate, FNI identifies areas of particular interest for further collaboration between the two countries, and recommend directions for supplementary Norwegian policy-making in light of a broadened scope for Norway-Brazil interaction. In recent years, the Norwegian government has initiated an extensive process aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). This is the most obvious shared environmental scope between Norway and Brazil. However, given the large body of literature that already exists on this field, this report will concentrate instead on issues more on the outskirts of the REDD discourse, such as biodiversity conservation, biofuel efficiency and challenges concerning hydropower, all of which threaten to impact negatively on the Amazonian areas. In our recommendations, we cite tangible examples to illustrate issues where we believe lessons learnt in Norway may have applicability to Brazil. Inderberg, Tor Håkon and Svein Vigeland Rottem Norsk utviklingssamarbeid og et klima i endring ('Norwegian Development Cooperation and Climate Change Financing') FNI Report 7/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 22 p. In Norwegian. > Download full-text version (PDF) > Report also published as Utviklingspolitikk i møte med klimaendringene: Norges klimafinansiering ('Foreign Policy in Face of Climate Change: Norway's Climate Change Financing') by the Norwegian Church Aid. The Report analyses challenges within development aid with the inclusion of climate financing in the Norwegian portfolio. The report starts by identifying central concepts and challenges that arise when funding of climate change projects are made part of a traditional development aid budget. Does the inclusion of climate considerations – mitigation and adaptation projects – within the Norwegian development aid budget alter the traditional development goals? Moreover, we ask to what degree the climate change funding can be regarded as “new and additional”, as committed in international climate negotiations. The analysis is based on interviews within the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Aid, as well as analysis of the official Norwegian development budgets from 2010 and 2011. It concludes that while mitigation financing, in particular REDD(+) can be said to be largely additional to traditional aid goals, it is difficult to assess the additionality for adaptation funding due to a lack of transparency. Fauchald, Ole Kristian Trade Rules and International Hazardous Substance Regulation: An Inventory Focusing on Chemicals and Waste FNI Report 4/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 34 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report systematically explores the links between global regulation of hazardous substances and international trade rules. It offers an inventory covering the most relevant international regulation of hazardous substances, with a focus on hazardous chemicals and waste (the Basel Convention, the PIC Convention and the POPs Convention), and trade rules (the WTO Agreement). This report is part of the research project ‘Toxics Diplomacy and Trade: Norway in International Cooperation concerning Hazardous Substances and Trade’, and aims to identify issues that could become focal areas for the research project. The report identifies the following cases as being of particular interest to the project: (1) adding new chemicals to existing instruments; (2) implementation of existing instruments, with a focus on use of technical guidelines; (3) non-compliance mechanisms. Andersen, Regine and Tone Winge The 2010 Global Consultations on Farmers' Rights: Results from an Email-based Survey FNI Report 2/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 161 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report presents the results of the e-mail based survey on Farmers’ Rights carried out in 2010 as part of the Global Consultations on Farmers’ Rights. The consultations were organized in response to Resolution 6/2009 of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which called for regional workshops on Farmers’ Rights. A total of 131 respondents from 36 countries participated. These were sorted into the groups ‘farmers’, ‘the public sector’, ‘seed industry’, ‘NGOs’ and ‘others’, as well as regional groups. Through the questionnaire the respondents shared their views and experiences on the realization of Farmers’ Rights, including achievements, obstacles and options. The prime concern among most participants was the need for guidance, support and capacity building to develop or adjust national legislation, policies, strategies and programs for the realization of Farmers’ Rights. Andersen, Regine and Tone Winge, with contributions from Bell Batta Torheim Global Consultations on Farmers’ Rights in 2010 FNI Report 1/2011. Lysaker, FNI, 2011, 131 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report presents the results and proceedings of the Global Consultations on Farmers’ Rights carried out in 2010. Consisting of both an e-mail based survey and an international consultation conference with regional components held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the consultations were organized as a response to Resolution 6/2009 of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which called for regional workshops on Farmers’ Rights. In the two phases of the consultations, a total of 177 experts and stakeholders from 46 countries in Africa, Asia, the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe, and from farmer organizations, government institutions, the seed industry, NGOs, IGOs, research institutions and other relevant groups participated. The participants shared their views and experiences and discussed obstacles and options to the realization of Farmers’ Rights. The consultation conference resulted in recommendations from the regional groups as well as joint recommendations from the conference. The prime concern among most participants is the need for guidance, support and capacity building to develop or adjust national legislation, policies, strategies and programs for the realization of Farmers’ Rights. Gulbrandsen, Lars H., Steinar Andresen and Jon Birger Skjærseth 'Non-State Actors and Environmental Governance: Comparing Multinational, Supranational and Transnational Rule Making' In Reinalda, Bob (ed), The Ashgate Research Companion to Non-State Actors. Aldershot, Ashgate, 2011, pp. 463-475. > For orders and more information, see Ashgate's website This book chapter examines the role and influence of non-state actors in global environmental politics. It draws on the theoretical framework of multilevel governance, emphasising the influence of non-state actors at various policy-making levels. Empirically, we assess and compare the following cases: multilateral environmental negotiations (the climate change negotiations and the International Whaling Commission – IWC), the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), and social and environmental certification programs. The comparison across cases reveals that there is significant variation in both the role and influence of non-state actors in multilateral, EU-level and private governance programs. Careful attention to this variation is crucial for advancing our understanding of how and under what conditions non-state actors influence policy outcomes. We argue that the influence of non-state actors is closely related to the authority and competence of nation states. Moving from multinational to supranational and transnational rulemaking, the cases show a declining role of nation states and increasing role of non-state actors. Moreover, in all three cases, we see that because rulemaking is an ongoing and iterative process, the goal attainment and influence of various actor groups change over time. Eakin, Hallie, Siri Eriksen, Per Ove Eikeland and Cecilie Øyen 'Public Sector Reform and Governance for Adaptation: Implications of New Public Management for Adaptive Capacity in Mexico and Norway' Environmental Management, Vol 47, No 3, 2011, pp. 338-351. > Download full-text article Over the last several decades, countries around the globe have embraced variants of the philosophy of administration broadly called ‘‘New Public Management’’ (NPM) in an effort to improve administrative efficiencies and the provision of public services. Using evidence from a case study of reforms in the building sector in Norway, and a case study of water and flood risk management in central Mexico, we analyze the implications of the adoption of the tenets of NPM for adaptive capacity. Our cases illustrate that some of the key attributes associated with governance for adaptation, namely, technical and financial capacities; institutional memory, learning and knowledge; and participation and accountability - have been eroded by NPM reforms. Despite improvements in specific operational tasks of the public sector in each case, we show that the success of NPM reforms presumes the existence of core elements of governance that have often been found lacking, including solid institutional frameworks and accountability. Our analysis illustrates the importance of considering both longer-term adaptive capacities and short-term efficiency goals in public sector administration reform. Austgulen, Marthe Hårvik Klimaforhandlingene i København: USAs betydning analysert gjennom to-nivå spill ('Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen: USA's Significance Analysed') FNI Report 17/2010. Lysaker, FNI, 2010, 105 p. In Norwegian. > Download full-text version (PDF) The Copenhagen climate summit was intended to represent the end point in the negotiations that started based on the Bali Mandate two years earlier. As we know, the Copenhagen summit ended in what most critics describes as a weak political agreement, and not the strong binding agreement many had hoped for. This report seeks to understand the outcome of the negotiations based on the role of one of the key actors – the United Stats. In this report Putnam’s two-level game metaphor is used as a framework for analyzing the role of the United States in the Copenhagen climate negotiations. The empirical analysis of the climate debate in the U.S. in 2009 – leading up to the international negotiations, seeks to identify the critical factors that formed the U.S. position in the Copenhagen negotiations. The power of the U.S. position and the interconnection between U.S. domestic politics and the international negotiations is then studied in relation to the other international key actors China and the EU. This analysis is useful for future international negotiations because it points out where there must be a change in order to expand the opportunity space for the U.S. negotiators, and hence make an international climate agreement more likely to happen. Fauchald, Ole Kristian International Environmental Governance: A Legal Analysis of Selected Options FNI Report 16/2010. Lysaker, FNI, 2010, 57 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report concerns institutional reform of the environmental pillar of sustainable development. Its focus is on legal issues that arise in the context of institutional reform. The report discusses three models of institutional reform. These three models have been defined on the basis of the current debate in international institutions and on the basis of an identification of strengths and weaknesses of the current regime for international environmental governance. The three reform models are: 1) strengthening UNEP within its current mandate, combined with enhanced cooperation coordination within groups of MEAs; 2) strengthening UNEP by adding new elements to its mandate, including establishment of a High Commissioner for the Environment; and 3) the establishment of a World Environment Organization. In relation to each of these models the report analyses potential legal implications of reform for existing MEAs and modalities for how MEAs can be associated with the reformed institutions. The MEAs in question are all 15 global MEAs with significant links to UNEP, including MEAs concerning pollution, hazardous substances and biodiversity. Sandberg, Kristin I., Steinar Andresen and Gunnar Bjune 'A New Approach to Global Health Institutions? A Case Study of New Vaccine Introduction and the Formation of the GAVI Alliance' Social Science and Medicine, Vol 71, No 7, 2010, pp 1349-1356. > Purchase full-text article here Analysis of forces driving change in global health governance is an emerging research agenda. Here we apply analytical tools derived from international relations theory. The study utlilized two explanatory perspectives, individual leadership and the interests of key non-state actors in explaining regime formation. The case study is the formation of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization 1995-1999. Findings show that individuals associated with scientific communities were able to make the World Bank and the Gates Foundation champions of a new coordinating mechanism for vaccine introduction. The authority of the WHO was also important in the process. The paper also discusses the potential contribution of the international relations approach compared to policy reserach. Sandberg, Kristin I. and Steinar Andresen 'From Development Aid to Foreign Policy: Global Immunization Efforts as a Turning Point for Norwegian Engagement in Global Health' Forum for Development Studies, Vol 37, No 3, 2010, pp. 301-325. > Purchase full-text article here With globalization global health issues have become part of the foreign policy agenda in a number of countries, including Norway. This article gives an overview of this emerging process in Norway. The article combines a foreign policy lens with a focus on global national interfaces to analyze the interaction between domestic Norwegian institutions and individuals at the global arena. However most focus is on the interaction between various domestic institutions. The article suggests that the transition from being a subject of development aid to becoming a part of the foregn policy agenda started at the turn of the miilenium with the creation of GAVI and the leadership of Ms Brundtland in the WHO. A growing number of domestic actors are now working in this field characterized by increasing complexity. The article also seeks to draw some more general lessons on the need for novel approaches in studying domestic-international interactions. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. Transnational Environmental Governance: The Emergence and Effects of the Certification of Forests and Fisheries. Cheltenham, UK/Northampton (MA), USA, Edward Elgar, 2010, 213 p. > For orders and more information, see the Edward Elgar website > Related FNI news article > Book review (by Erik Hysing in Environment and Planning C) > Book review (by J. Samuel Barkin in Global Environmental Politics) In recent years a wide range of non-state certification programs have emerged to address environmental and social problems associated with the extraction of natural resources. This book provides a general analytical framework for assessing the emergence and effectiveness of voluntary certification programs. It focuses on certification in the forest and fisheries sectors, as initiatives in these sectors are among the most advanced cases of non-state standard setting and governance in the environmental realm. Paying particular attention to the Forest Stewardship Council and the Marine Stewardship Council, the author examines how certification initiatives emerged, the politics that underlie their development, their ability to influence producer and consumer behavior, and the broader consequences of their formation and spread. The analysis of the certification of forests and fisheries offers a wealth of insights from which to better understand the ability of non-state governance programs to ameliorate global environmental problems. Auld, Graeme and Lars H. Gulbrandsen 'Transparency in Nonstate Certification: Consequences for Accountability and Legitimacy' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 10, No 3, 2010, pp. 97-119. > Download full-text article Nonstate certification programs have formed in the past 20 years to address social and environmental problems associated with production practices in several economic sectors. These programs embody the idea that information disclosure can be a tool for NGOs, investors, governments, and consumers to support high performers and hence, advocates hope, place upward pressure on sector-wide practices. Many unanswered questions remain, however, about information disclosure's practices and outcomes. We compare the use of procedural and outcome transparency in the rule-making and auditing processes of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). We highlight key differences in how transparency relates to accountability and legitimacy of the programs. The MSC uses transparency and stakeholder consultation instrumentally, whereas the FSC treats them as ends unto themselves. This underscores the importance of considering transparency alongside other governance aspects, such as who the eligible stakeholders are and who gets decision-making power. Røgeberg, Ole, Steinar Andresen and Bjart Holtsmark 'International Climate Treaties: The Case for Pessimism' Climate Law, Vol 1, No 1, 2010, pp. 177-197. > Purchase full-text article here The COP 15 outcome is consistent with the slow pace and modest achievements made in the course of 20 years of negotiations. There is an increasing realization that supplements will be needed to the UN approach to move the process forward. Still, we have serious doubts that even the cleaverest design and strong political will of key actors will be sufficient to solve the problem. Given the projections for population and economic growth, particularly in the South, the achievement of a temperature-increase maximum of two degrees seems like a mission impossible. The only hope seems to be some kind of technological solution that we are not aware of today. Tvedt, Morten Walløe 'One Worldwide Patent System: What’s in It for Developing Countries?' Third World Quarterly, Vol 31, No 2, 2010, pp. 277-293. > Purchase article here or download post-print version here. > Read related FNI News Release This article offers a discussion of the probable effects of a Worldwide Patent System for developing countries. It draws upon insights from the ongoing processes in the World Intellectual Property Organization and elsewhere relevant for the global patent system and discusses these features from a developing country perspective. For scientifically advanced developing countries the effect in their most advanced and most global enterprises is potentially positive as they will benefit as much as other multinational companies. In areas of research and development where these most advanced developing countries do not possess a high level of technological capacity, a Worldwide Patent System is unlikely to create any benefits for them. For countries with the ability to copy and produce inventions made by others a Worldwide Patent System will have a negative effect as inventors will have little opportunity to utilise the system, whereas they will be bound by a larger number of exclusive rights narrowing down their space for innovation. For the least developed countries an additional problem arises: it might become even more difficult to import essential goods because patents will be in force in these countries even though there is no production of that product in the country. Flacké, Magnus Jatropha - vidunderplante og problem ('Jatropha - Miracle Plant and Problem') FNI Report 5/2010. Lysaker, FNI, 2010, 91 p. In Norwegian. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report is based on a case study on the Indian state Chhattisgarh’s ambitious biofuel programme. Jatropha curcas is promoted as a development opportunity for the landless poor. Its proponents argue that planting of jatropha can contribute to national and local energy security, generate employment, and be a new source of livelihood, without being a threat to food security. This report explores how the planting in fact affects poor people’s access to land, by looking at the change in the existing resource regimes in the affected areas. The jatropha programme has brought limited benefits to some, mostly through wage labour. It also reveals that the common land that has been identified as available for planting is a vital part of the livelihood for millions of rural poor in India. A key conclusion is that the more marginalized the household is, the more dependent it is on the income from the common property resources. When the state plants jatropha on the common land, the definition of the land changes, and access gets restricted. When subsistence farmers and other rural poor lose access to this common land, their safety net is taken away. Schüller, David On the Optimal Allocation of Green Technology under Climate Change Agreements FNI Report 8/2009. Lysaker, FNI, 2009, 44 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report investigates whether a technology transfer mechanism can help to reach a cooperative outcome, in a game on a climate change treaty that involves emission caps for both developed and developing countries. A climate change treaty without the inclusion of developing countries and their acceptance of emission limits is likely to be ineffective. Too little research and development of green-technology is currently undertaken, considering its potential global impact, especially in developing countries. Analyzing a simple game with two asymmetric players, a tentative result is that the technology-transfer mechanism considered here cannot help to establish the cooperative outcome as a Nash-equilibrium. However, the inclusion of secondary benefits in the payoff function, which are likely to occur when such a transfer takes place, could change this result. Skodvin, Tora and Steinar Andresen 'An Agenda for Change in U.S. Climate Policies? Presidential Ambitions and Congressional Powers' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 9, No 3, 2009, pp. 263-280. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or purchase the original article here U.S. membership in the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) constituted an important element in the Bush administration’s voluntary and non-committing ‘soft-law’ approach to climate change. With the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the U.S. has embarked on a shift in its climate policy towards a legislative, ‘hard-law’ strategy. Obama’s approach implies that the distribution of interests in Congress becomes more significant. In this article, we assess the rules and procedures governing the relationship between the president and the Congress embedded in the U.S. Constitution and explore implications of a stronger congressional involvement in U.S. climate policies for President Obama’s ability to realise his climate policy ambitions at both the domestic and the international levels. We argue that the strong relationship between natural resource dependence (coal and oil) and opposition to climate policies is a constant feature of the U.S. climate policy debate. To succeed, Obama must break the enduring gridlock characterising congressional debate in this policy area by designing policies that, through compromise and compensation, can mobilise the support of oil- and coal-state representatives in Congress. The acceptability of an international climate treaty in Congress, moreover, depends inter alia on the resolution of the difficult issue of developing country participation. Success may be enhanced by using the APP and the Major Economies Initiative as informal arenas for negotiation and sector-based cooperation, thus providing a much-needed supplement to the UN-based negotiation process. Skjærseth, Jon Birger and Tora Skodvin Climate Change and the Oil Industry: Common Problems, Varying Strategies. Paperback edition. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2009, 260 p. > For orders and more information, see Manchester University Press Multinational corporations are not merely the problem in environmental concerns, but could also be part of the solution. The oil industry and climate change provide the clearest example of how the two are linked; what is less known is how industry is responding to these concerns. This volume, available for the first time in paperback, presents a detailed study of the climate strategies of Exxon Mobil, Shell and Statoil. With an innovative analytical approach, variations in corporate climate strategies are explained at three decision-making levels: within the companies themselves, in the national home-bases of the companies, and at the international level. The analysis generates policy-relevant knowledge about whether and how corporate resistance to a viable climate policy can be overcome. The analytical approach developed is also applicable to other areas of environmental degradation where multinational corporations play a central role. Boasson, Elin Lerum 'On the Management Success of Regulative Failure: Standardised CSR Instruments and the Oil Industry's Climate Performance' Corporate Governance, Vol 9, No 3, 2009, pp. 313-325. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may serve as a regulatory framework for corporate practices or as a management trend that helps to improve the legitimacy of corporations. This article explores whether and how petroleum corporations’ adherence to standardised CSR instruments has influenced how they deal with climate change. It is a comparative case study of Hydro and Shell based on assessments of central documents, publications on CSR and interviews with corporate representatives. The assessment shows that management trend mode of CSR has prevailed within both companies. Company conduct is deeply influenced by the global petroleum field, but it mainly promotes CSR as legitimacy enhancer and hinders the instruments in working as regulative frameworks. Hydro executives have no aim of applying the CSR instruments to guide their actions. Executives at Shell have tried, but without being fully able to get the vast Shell group to adapt. Thus far, the failure of CSR as a regulative framework seems to contribute to its success as legitimacy enhancing concept. Nonetheless, it is not clear whether the two trends will continue to contrast or if they may start to work in conjunction. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. Non-State Global Environmental Governance: The Emergence and Effectiveness of Forest and Fisheries Certification Schemes Doctoral dissertation, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Oslo. Oslo, Unipub, 2009, 234 p. > Read related FNI news release This doctoral dissertation examines the emergence and effectiveness of environmental certification in the forestry and fisheries sectors. Certification schemes have emerged from NGO targeting of major retailers along the market supply chain, such as IKEA and Home Depot. Once aligned, those retailers became central allies with NGOs in the process of persuading or forcing producers to adopt standards. The global scheme for forest certification, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), has been a model for other certification schemes, including the Marine Stewardship Council in the fisheries sector. In the forestry sector, industry-based certification schemes soon formed to compete with the FSC. These schemes had less stringent environmental and social standards than FSC, but they have gradually strengthened their standards. The study shows that competition among certification schemes has resulted in an upward harmonization of standards. A limitation to effective problem solving is that voluntary certification schemes are often not adopted where there is greatest need to change producer practices. Andresen, Steinar and G. Kristin Rosendal 'The Role of the United Nations Environment Programme in the Coordination of Multilateral Environmental Agreements' In Biermann, Frank, Bernd Siebenhüner and Anna Schreyögg (eds), International Organizations and Global Environmental Governance. London, Routledge, 2009, pp. 133-150. > For orders and more information, see Routledge's website UNEP’s score regarding coordination is quite low. We explain this by three factors: First, although UNEP is formally the main coordinating actor, there are other relevant actors that have more resources and also very relevant competence. There are examples of synergies, not the least between UNEP and IUCN, but turf battles are more prominent, and UNEP has not profited from the stronger link between environment and the development. Second, UNEP’s location as well as its strained funds explains modest performance. Third, internal organization and bureaucratic culture have also contributed to the rather modest score in terms of coordination. Proposed improvement may include that UNEP needs to focus more on the main challenge in global environmental governance today, namely implementation on the ground. It should also be concentrating more resources in terms of bottom-up think tank assistance and scrap the old top down culture. UNEP can assist countries through its considerable experience and expertise in environmental management. Flåm, Karoline Hægstad and Jon Birger Skjærseth 'Does Adequate Financing Exist for Adaptation in Developing Countries?' Climate Policy, Vol 9, No 1, 2009, pp. 109-114. > Access full-text version here (subscribers only) Irrespective of mitigation efforts, adaptation measures will be needed in most parts of the world. The greatest challenge will be for developing countries. The estimated needs for adaptation funding in developing countries are considered in the context of the status and ‘delivery’ of the current financing efforts made under the UN regime and the anticipated Adaptation Fund. A considerable gap exists between the actual (as well as projected) supply of funding and estimated adaptation needs. A number of alternative financial mechanisms are suggested to close the gap between estimated needs and actual delivery. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland 'Idealer og virkelighet i internasjonal miljøpolitikk' ('International Environmental Policy Cooperation: Ideals and Reality') In Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds): Internasjonal miljøpolitikk ('International Environmental Politics'). Bergen, Fagbokforlaget, 2008, pp. 187-206. In Norwegian. > For orders and more information, see Fagbokforlaget's website This concluding chapter presents a comparison of the nine international environmental regimes assessed in the book. This comparison shows that the cognitive, normative and regulative elements of the international cooperation may all crucially affect how these environmental issues are coped with. While it may be difficult to reach international agreement on strong regulations at an early stage, ambitious normative aims and strong cognitive messages may breed the ground for stronger international regulations later on. Moreover, some problems are harder to cope with at an international political level than others. While these problems often stem from the political malignancy of the issue, there may also be other reasons. While there is a clear tendency to treat more and more types of environmental problems as global, it may in some instances be easier to develop fruitful solutions at a regional level. There are no universal solutions to international political cooperation related to environmental problems. The solutions sought must be adjusted to the nature of the specific character of the different environmental issues. Andresen, Steinar and Elin Lerum Boasson 'Internasjonalt klimasamarbeid' ('International Climate Cooperation') In Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds): Internasjonal miljøpolitikk ('International Environmental Politics'). Bergen, Fagbokforlaget, 2008, pp. 71-85. In Norwegian. > For orders and more information, see Fagbokforlaget's website The international climate cooperation consists of three elements: The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. IPCC has primarily affected the cognitive understanding of this environmental problem, the convention presents the normative aims and principles while the Kyoto protocol breeds the ground for creation of global and national regulation of mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. The dominant understanding of climate change has changed tremendously during the two decades that have passed since the international cooperation on climate change started. Many countries have also introduced a range of normative and regulative measures. All of the three elements of the international cooperation have been important - although far from the only causal forces - in this respect. Yet the emissions are still increasing. The time constraint concerning the issue and the malign structure poses great challenges for future efforts towards enhancing the international cooperation on climate change. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland 'Framveksten av internasjonal miljøpolitikk' ('The Development of International Environmental Politics') In Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds): Internasjonal miljøpolitikk ('International Environmental Politics'). Bergen, Fagbokforlaget, 2008, pp. 17-35. In Norwegian. > For orders and more information, see Fagbokforlaget's website The chapter presents various analytical approaches to international environmental politics and gives an overview of the development of this policy area, globally and in Norway. The theoretical emphasis is on normative, cognitive and regulative mechanisms in environmental governance. International environmental politics has primarily evolved since the early 1970, with the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 as the point of departure. While the early treaties mainly focused on the protection of species and areas, pollution came to the fore during the 1980s, and the international agreements became more concrete and demanding. The "third generation treaties" of the 1990s and 2000s are generally even more sophisticated, and many of them rely on market and incentive based mechanisms. Skjærseth, Jon Birger 'Internasjonal ozonpolitikk: Eksempel på effektivt miljøsamarbeid' ('International Ozone Politics: An Example of Effective International Cooperation') In Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds): Internasjonal miljøpolitikk ('International Environmental Politics'). Bergen, Fagbokforlaget, 2008, pp. 55-68. In Norwegian. > For orders and more information, see Fagbokforlaget's website In 1974, scientists discovered that man-made substances could destroy the ozone layer. Today, production and consumption of the most important ozone depleting substances have almost ended. The achievements are partly due to an innovative organization of the international cooperation that reduced the scientific uncertainty and promoted high compliance among almost all countries in the world. The other main reason is that the problem is more benign than most other global challenges, such as climate change and loss of biological diversity. Production of ozone depleting substances is not critical to any single company, country or the world economy and substitutes have been developed at a low price. Still, a number of challenges remain and the ozone layer will not be cured until the mid of this century due to the persistence of ozone depleting substances in the atmosphere. This chapter explores how the scientists discovered the problem, how governments and business responded to the challenge and the consequences for Norwegian ozone policy. Flåm, Karoline Hægstad and Jon Birger Skjærseth Financing Climate Change Adaptation in Developing Countries: Current Picture and Future Possibilities Occasional Paper 2/2008. Oslo, Norwegian Church Aid, 2008, 23 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) Developed countries have made legal commitments under the UNFCCC to help provide adaptation funding for developing countries. Four multilateral adaptation funds have been established at the international level. The Adaptation Fund under the Kyoto Protocol is financed through a two percent levy on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) transactions, whereas the three other funds are all dependent on voluntary pledges. So far, the output of these funds is far short of the estimated needs, even with the AF up and running. However, bilateral ODA has not been taken into account in this paper. Whatever the development of the multilateral adaptation funds, the considerable gap between their projected ‘supply’ and the estimated needs, has made it necessary to consider new and additional ways to generate adaptation funding. We have presented some of the proposals that have been put on the table so far: increasing and/or extending the CDM adaptation levy so that it also covers the JI and the ET; applying adaptation levies on bunker fuelled transports; funding adaptation through carbon taxes; and using revenues from auctioning of emission permits. Andresen, Steinar, Elin Lerum Boasson and Geir Hønneland (eds) Internasjonal miljøpolitikk ('International Environmental Politics') Bergen, Fagbokforlaget, 2008, 210 p. In Norwegian. > For orders and more information, see Fagbokforlaget > Read related FNI news release (in Norwegian) The global climate crisis has brought environmental concern to the top level of international politics. This book gives an overview of the most important international regimes aimed at solving the world's environmental problems, including climate change, pollution to air and water, and loss of biological diversity. The authors describe the problems, the international cooperative mechanisms and their effects, globally and in Norway. They also discuss why the effects vary between different functional fields, and how the regimes can be improved: How can reality be brought closer to the ideals? Auld, Graeme , Lars H. Gulbrandsen and Constance L. McDermott 'Certification Schemes and the Impacts on Forests and Forestry' Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol 33, 2008, pp. 187-211. > Access the full-text version (subscribers only) Certification schemes have emerged in recent years to become a significant and innovative venue for standard setting and governance in the environmental realm. This review examines these schemes in the forest sector where, arguably, their development is among the most advanced of the sustainability labeling initiatives. Beginning with the origins, history, and features of schemes, the review synthesizes and assesses what we know about the direct effects and broader consequences of forest certification. Bearing in mind underlying factors affecting producers’ decisions to certify, direct effects are examined by describing the uptake of schemes, the improvements to management of audited forests, and the ameliorative potential of certification for landscape-level concerns such as deforestation and forest protection. In assessing broader consequences, we look beyond the instrument itself to detail positive and negative unintended consequences, spillover effects, and longer-term and slow-moving effects that flow from the emergence of the certification innovation. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. 'Organizing Accountability in Transnational Standards Organizations: The Forest Stewardship Council as a Good Governance Model' In Boström, Magnus and Christina Garsten (eds), Organizing Transnational Accountability. Cheltenham (UK)/Northhampton (USA), Edward Elgar, 2008, pp. 61-79. > For orders and more information about the book, see Edward Elgar It is not clear if non-state governance schemes that claim to take responsibility for collective goods or public interests are answerable only to their own members or if they must answer to the general public. In this chapter I examine the notion of accountability as hierarchical control (upward) and the notion of accountability as responsiveness (outward) by looking at accountability arrangements in forest and fisheries certification schemes. I argue that while most non-state certification schemes are well placed to achieve a high standard of accountability as control, multi-stakeholder certification schemes such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Marine Stewardship Council have a greater organizational capacity for responsiveness than certification schemes dominated by business interests. I also argue that some business dominated certification schemes take advantage of the flow of popular organizational recipes to adopt particular accountability arrangements in order to divert criticism of their activities rather than to enhance responsiveness to those affected by their activities. Kasa, Sjur, Anne. T. Gullhaug and Gørild Heggelund 'The Group of 77 in International Climate Negotiations: Recent Developments and Future Directions' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 8, No 2, 2008, pp. 113-127. > Access the full-text version (subscribers only) The article describes and analyzes the main set of G77 positions in the climate negotiations and the dynamics behind the emergence of these positions. While it is puzzling that the G77 has managed to maintain itself as a group in spite of internal differences along variables as prosperity, emissions and vulnerability to climate change, the article claims that a core element behind this cohesion is that these countries share domestic governance problems as much as poverty and economic underdevelopment. Second, the article discusses how recent trends of economic and political development in the third world influence the climate policy strategies of the G77 group in the future. The main factor here is the economic and social progress in states like China, India and Brazil, which separates them from the poorer and less powerful G77 states. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. 'Accountability Arrangements in Non-State Standards Organizations: Instrumental Design and Imitation' Organization, Vol 15, No 4, 2008, pp. 563-583. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) This article analyses accountability arrangements in the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and other organizations that set standards for certification and eco-labeling. It focuses on two types of accountability that are likely to be achievable and important to non-state standards organizations: control and responsiveness. In setting a global standard based on a multi-stakeholder governance structure, FSC established a model for other certification schemes, specifically within the forestry and fisheries sectors. By creating the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), FSC-supporters exported the certification model to the fisheries sector. Industry-led forest certification schemes that were initiated to compete with FSC and offer an industry-dominated model have come to mimic procedural accountability arrangements initially established by their competitor. However, they have carefully filtered out the prescriptions that could reduce their influence in standard-setting processes. The article argues that while certification schemes could enhance control of corporate environmental and social performance, some of the industry-dominated schemes adopt popular and fashionable accountability recipes to divert criticism of their activities instead of acting responsively to external constituents such as environmental and social groups. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. 'The Role of Science in Environmental Governance: Competing Knowledge Producers in Swedish and Norwegian Forestry' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 8, No 2, 2008, pp. 99-122. > Download full-text version (PDF) or access it at the website of MIT Press, the copyright holder (subscribers only) This article explores the influence of scientific knowledge in rule-making processes to enhance environmental protection in Swedish and Norwegian forestry. It examines the mapping and protection of small reserves; the development of plans for protection of large reserves; and rule-setting in voluntary forest certification schemes. The analysis shows that Sweden has enacted more stringent environmental protection policies on all measures examined. Whereas variation in the state of knowledge about environmental protection needs does not explain these differences, variation in the access to the science-policy dialogue and in the distribution of costs and benefits in the forestry sector does help explain the differences in the stringency of Norwegian and Swedish forest policy. I conclude that the influence of knowledge depends on the process by which it is created. Although scientific information usually has little influence when strong economic counter-forces are involved in the decision-making process, this problem can be ameliorated by facilitating processes of coproduction of knowledge among scientific experts, practitioners, and decision-makers. Boasson, Elin Lerum 'Et nytt samarbeidsklima?' ('A New Climate of Cooperation?') Røst, No 1, 2007, pp. 19-26. In Norwegian. > More information The international climate cooperation has resulted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Climate Convention (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. All these three have contributed to changing the way we think about the climate problem. At the same time, they also influence the way the international negotiations are carried out. IPCC functions in a cognitive way by influencing how we interpret the climate problem. Its work has contributed to strengthening the perception that climate change is man-made and serious. The Climate Convention gives a normative understanding of the climate problem, which contributes to increasing conflicts between developing and industrial countries. The Kyoto Protocol gives formal binding regulations that have made it possible to create advanced systems to handle emissions globally. So far, it is the work of the IPCC that has had the greatest influence on international opinion and on the way the climate problem is handled. Rosendal, G. Kristin 'Norway in UN Environmental Policies: Ambitions and Influence' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 7, No 4, 2007, pp. 439-455. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) This is a study of Norway’s ambitions for influencing UN environmental policies and then on the scope for impact. On the whole, it is clear that Norway has not been particularly successful in its general efforts at strengthening UNEP. These proposals have failed, due mainly to opposition from key states. Norway is after all a minor player in global governance issues, even in those pertaining to the environment. Norway has been more successful in efforts that indirectly strengthen UNEP, by supporting UNEP in initiating new MEAs. We found three main factors that help to explain why Norway has a relatively high level of influence at the international environmental arena compared to its size. First, there is a relatively straightforward domestic decision-making process with little conflict. Second, Norwegian officials and NGOs possess considerable expertise in these issues, adding to the intellectual leadership role of Norway in pushing for new principles and international legislation through UNEP. Third, Norway is sometimes able to join forces in environmental alliances with other like-minded countries. This would seem to carry the widest scope for increasing impact. Andresen, Steinar (guest ed) 'The Role of UN in Global Environmental Governance: Potential for Increased Effectivenss?' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Special Issue, Vol 7, No 4, 2007, pp. 317-468. > For more information see SpringerLink's website This is a special issue based on a reserach project on the issue, carried out at the Fridtof Nansen Institute. American and European scholars have also been part of the project and have also contributed to this special issue. The first article assesses the effectiveness of key UN institutions and concludes that overall their effectiveness is quite low, although there are variations. The next article goes more in depth regarding one of these instiutions, UNEP, particularly the circumstances regarding its creation. Next follows four articles on key actors witin these institutions: The US, the EU, China and Norway. Their approaches and interests regarding these institutions are very different. This goes a long way in explaining why effectivness is quite low, although other factors play a part as well. Considering the strong variations in preferences and interests, the potential for profund and effective reform is modest. Andresen, Steinar 'The Effectiveness of UN Environmental Institutions' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 7, No 4, 2007, pp. 317-336. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) This is a study of the effectiveness of key UN institutions focusing on environment and sustainable development: The global conferences on development and the environment, the CSD and UNEP, primarily its co-ordinating functions. According to the indicators used to measure effectiveness here, it is concluded that the overall effectiveness of these institutions is quite low. This particularly applies to the CSD. UNEP has been quite effective in creating new institutions but has been less effective in co-ordinating them. As to the global conferences, their significance has been reduced over time. Andresen, Steinar 'Key Actors in UN Environmental Governance: Influence, Reform and Leadership' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 7, No 4, 2007, pp. 457-468. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) In the introductory article to the current journal, it was concluded that the effectiveness of the UN environmental institutions studied was quite low. Key actors, especially the US and the EU, play a considerable role in explaining the course of development in these institutions. However, this does not mean that these processes are mainly state-driven as a number of other factors matter. The potential for reform and increased effectiveness is limited as the main actors, the US the EU and G-77/China have very different interests and perceptions as to the future directions of these institutions. Kaasa, Stine Madland 'The UN Commission on Sustainable Development: Which Mechanisms Explains Its Accomplishments?' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 7, No 3, 2007, pp. 107-130. > Download full-text version (PDF) or access it at the website of MIT Press, the copyright holder (subscribers only) The CSD has been criticized for lack of effectiveness since its establishment in 1993. The main objective of this article is to describe and explain the mechanisms that affect the work of the CSD in order to understand how it would be possible to enhance the potential for effectiveness. The study applies the perspectives of 'distribution of capabilities' and 'institutional design' to evaluate its accomplishments. The CSD has achieved some results regarding monitoring and reviewing the implementation of Agenda 21 and promoting dialogue and building partnerships, due to the role of NGOs and the Secretariat. However, the member states positions and interests have overall contributed to low goal achievement, especially in the area of policy guidance. Sæverud, Ingvild A. and Jon Birger Skjærseth 'Oil Companies and Climate Change: Inconsistencies between Strategy Formulation and Implementation?' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 7, No 3, 2007, pp. 42-63. > Download full-text version (PDF) or access it at the website of MIT Press, the copyright holder (subscribers only) This article examines major oil companies in terms of climate strategies and their implementation. More specifically, it takes a critical look at Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil, and the relationship between rhetoric and action regarding investments in climate-friendly activities. Empirical evidence indicates a generally high degree of consistency between what these companies say and what they do, but interesting differences are also found: ExxonMobil has done somewhat more than its climate strategy formulations would suggest; Shell has done somewhat less, whereas BP’s activities are mainly in line with its statements. Factors at three levels contribute to explaining these differences: 1) the company level, 2) the political framework conditions in the various regions where the companies operate, 3) international climate cooperation. The findings and explanations, although restricted to the three oil companies with regard to climate change, provide insight into the relationship between corporate strategies and implementation more generally. They offer understanding and analytical categories for assessing how well and why such multinational entities put into practice stated objectives. Andresen, Steinar and Tora Skodvin 'Non-State Influence in the International Whaling Commission' In Betsill, Michele and Elisabeth Corell (eds), NGO Diplomacy: The Influence of Nongovernmental Organizations in International Environmental Organizations. Cambridge (MA)/London (UK), MIT Press, 2008, pp. 119-149. > For orders and more information about the book, see MIT Press This chapter assesses the influnece of three groups of NGOs in the IWC; green NGOs, scientists and industry. A first general conclusion is that the domestic level is of equal, if not greater significance, than the international level. For example, the environmental movement utilized a very powerful channel domestically during the 1980s, instrumental in bringing about the moratorium against commercial whaling. A second general conclusion is that the single most important determinant of scientific impact is is the scientific community's ability to generate consensual knowlledge. A third general conclusion is the significance of how an issue is framed for the turn of events and the subsequent influence of non-state actors. A fourth general conclusion is the importance for NGOs to forge alliances with other actors in order to gain influence. Fosse, Leif John and Peter Johan Schei (eds) Can Community Conservation Bring International Goals Down to Earth? Chairman’s Report from a Workshop on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment TemaNord Report 543. Copenhagen, Nordic Council of Ministers, 2007, 55 p. This is a report from a workshop on the role of local communities and indigenous peoples in the follow-up of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in environment and in development policy and practice. The event formed part of the 26th Annual Conference of the International Association of Impact Assessment in Stavanger, Norway, 23-25 May 2006. The workshop gathered a wide range of expertise including indigenous peoples, people with hands-on and research experience from community based natural resource management, representatives of the International Institute for Environment and Development, The World Conservation Union, World Resources Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank. The workshop formed part of the Nordic Council of Ministers' efforts to make sure that the knowledge generated, and the policy recommendations made by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment are acknowledged in relevant international fora, including the multilateral environmental agreements, and the Millennium Development Goals. This report summarises some of the experiences and necessary conditions for community conservation to contribute to these global targets. Backer, Ellen Bruzelius 'The Mekong River Commission: Does it Work, and How Does the Mekong River Basin's Geography Influence its Effectiveness?' Südostasien aktuell/Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, Vol 26, No 4, 2007, pp. 31-55. > Download full-text version (PDF) The article assesses the effectiveness of the Mekong River Commission, its impact on the policies of its members, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Viet Nam, and their engagement with the Commission. It also seeks to account for China's influence on their cooperation, as China, the strongest upstream riparian state, is not a member of this cooperation scheme for the Mekong River basin. This is achieved using a model for explaining regime effectiveness which rests on the two main variables of problem malignance and problem-solving capacity. Furthermore, the level of engagement of the riparians is accounted for by mainly two geographical variables: position on the river (upstream/downstream), and size of fraction of territory within the basin. Tvedt, Morten Walløe 'The Path to One Universal Patent' Environmental Policy and Law, Vol 37, No 4, 2007, pp. 297-305. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) A world patent or universal patent describes an exclusive right granted to one individual company or person, by one centralised institution, which at once becomes legally binding for all citizens in all the countries subscribing to the system, and enforceable upon every private person and public institution globally. Currently, there is not one single coherent world patent system, but rather a number of nation-specific systems tied together by international harmonisation and regional cooperation. A universal world patent would be a huge benefit for multinational companies seeking worldwide exclusive (time-limited) monopolies. The article identifies the following four steps as those required before a worldwide patent bureau can grant the first world patent: 1. Change the authorisation of the WIPO Bureau from being a fact-finding bureau to one with the competence to grant patents (or agreeing that the trilateral offices are to share the role as a universal bureau). 2. Harmonise the pre-grant issues, as prior art, novelty, inventiveness, industrial application, grace period and the right owner of the patent. 3. Make national decisions recognising and accepting the universal world patent granted by the worldwide patent bureau (ratification or membership). 4. Establish a system for reviewing and revoking a patent after it has been granted (although this is not immediately necessary for granting patents). Such a supranational system would break radically with the present system of international law. The basic principle in international law is that states are the subjects of law. Private citizens are not automatically bound by international treaties. An international agreement must be transferred into national legislation to alter the legal situation between private parties. If a world patent bureau is authorised to grant patents, this will break with the current system in international law in establishing a law level above that of the nation state; it will be supranational. This article also identifies the relevant forums where such a Universal Patent System is emerging. Korppoo, Anna Russian Voluntary Targets Proposal Workshop Report. London, Climate Strategies, 2007, 5 p. > Download paper from the Climate Strategies website he Russian Federation initiated a discussion on voluntary targets in COP-12 in Nairobi in December 2006. The proposal is divided into two main parts; a) access to Annex B for those countries not included in it; and b) establishment of a framework for voluntary targets, and financial and technological incentives to support them. This workshop report aims toclarify the proposal and the initial responses to it. Andresen, Steinar and Jon Birger Skjærseth 'Science and Technology: From Agenda Setting to Implementation' In Bodansky, D., J. Brunnee and E. Hey (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law. Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 182-205. > For orders and more information about the book, see Oxford University Press We discuss how science and technology, conceived of as two separate processes, can contribute to enhance the effectiveness of international environmental politics. As to science, it represents an important premise for decision makers in the five international regimes studied.There is a tendency to more and border input as regimes mature. However science tends to be most important in the agenda setting stage. Although science is important as decision premise, it usually has a moderate impact on decisions taken unless it interacts with other 'benign' factors such as a feasible technological cure. Much less is known about how technology can be utilized to enhance effectiveness. Even though technology can contribute to solving transnational environmental problems, it is not generally reflected in the 'design' of the regimes. However, some international regimes use technology specifications as parts of their rules and standards. Technology can also be utilized to enhance effectiveness of international regimes when commitments are implemented at the national level in the form of policy instruments. Wettestad, Jørgen 'Monitoring and Verification' In Bodansky, D., J. Brunnee and E. Hey (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law. Oxford/New York, Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 974-995. > For orders and more information about the book, see Oxford University Press To what extent do flexibility mechanisms represent totally new challenges and require new procedures and solutions regarding monitoring and verification in international environmental politics? A first main finding is that, for a long time, international environmental commitments were only monitored, with very little verification. But verification has increased over time, through the use of review teams and the establishment and operation of compliance committees. Hence, although the increasing use of flexibility instruments can benefit from established monitoring procedures and some relevant baseline data, the foundation is not ‘rock solid’ – regarding data, verification instruments and practice in particular. The increasing use of international emissions trading and other flexibility mechanisms undoubtedly means more complex multi-level governance systems and hence increasing challenges. But institutional capacity also is increasing, not least on the verification side. Formal access will probably increase as well, partly due to electronic registries at various levels. Hence, no dramatic change in terms of the balance between challenges and capacities should be expected. If a change in this balance occurs, the change will probably be more towards an improving situation. Stokke, Olav Schram 'Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Shaming, and International Regime Effectiveness' Journal of Business Research, Vol 60, No 5, 2007, pp. 501-511. > Download full-text post-print version (PDF) or access the original article here (subscribers only) The article presents and applies a set-theoretic comparative technique, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), to a string of case studies on shaming as a strategy for improving the effectiveness of international regimes for resource management. This technique is particularly attractive when the number of cases available is greater than the researcher can reliably handle by narrative comparison, yet too low to support statistical procedures. QCA can capture causal conjunctions, even in small-to-intermediate-N situations, primarily because it permits the introduction of simplifying assumptions in a way that maintains a clear connection to the underlying cases – thus allowing substantive evaluation of their plausibility. A more recent fuzzy-set version lifts two limitations of the crisp-set version of QCA examined here (i.e., that variables must be dichotomous, and that the analysis makes no allowance for measurement error and non-modeled causality). Stokke, Olav Schram 'Examining the Consequences of International Regimes' In Stokke, Olav Schram and Geir Hønneland (eds), International Cooperation and Arctic Governance: Regime Effectiveness and Northern Region Building. London, Routledge, 2007, pp. 13-26. > See Routledge for more information about the book The analytical framework advanced in this chapter structure the book’s case studies of Arctic institutions at work in five important policy areas: indigenous affairs, communicable diseases, pollution control and biodiversity, climate change and environmental concerns in the oil and gas sectors. The framework has three main components. Effectiveness is assessed by examining whether an institution contributes significantly to the removal or mitigation of the problem that motivated its formation. Such contributions may occur by generating information about the severity of the problem or ways to mitigate it, by making international norms more compelling, or by altering the ability of relevant actors to behave in desirable ways or the cost associated with failure to do so. The same underlying causal mechanisms – shorthanded as ‘cognitive’, ‘normative’ or ‘utilitarian’ – are drawn upon when examining impacts on political participation in Arctic decision making and the development of closer ties between governments, organizations and individuals in the North. Such regional ties show up not only in direct interaction but also in how problems and opportunities are framed by players inside and outside the region. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. 'Creating Markets for Eco-labelling: Are Consumers Insignificant?' International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol 30, No 5, 2006, pp. 477-489. The proliferation of voluntary certification and labeling schemes for environmentally and socially responsible production is often seen as driven by companies and consumer demand. Through a careful examination of the initiation and spread of such initiatives in the fishery and forestry sectors, this article challenges a rational-economic perspective that sees the spread of non-state governance schemes primarily as a market-driven phenomenon. Drawing on a political consumerism perspective, it is argued that transnational environmental group networks and their targeting of firms were key to the emergence of non-state eco-labeling schemes, and that most firms decided to support or participate in such schemes only after intensive environmental group pressure. The article opposes the view that non-state governance challenge traditional state authority by showing that states, through public procurement policies and support, in many countries contributed to create markets for forestry and fishery labeling. Although some states have been more skeptical of fishery labeling, largely because of the way fishery resources are managed, they have come to accept it as a helpful supplement to public rules and regulations. Backer, Ellen Bruzelius Paper Tiger Meets White Elephant? An Analysis of the Effectiveness of the Mekong River Regime FNI Report 15/2006. Lysaker, FNI, 2006, 83 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) This report assesses the achievements of the Mekong River Commission, an organisation where Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam cooperate about the Mekong River which runs through all four. Burma and China, the furthest upstream, do not participate, but hold observer status. The study uses a model outlined by Arild Underdal (in Miles et al, 2002) to understand and account for the effectiveness or lack thereof of the regime. The main explanatory factors are the problem malignity of the cooperation of the river, the low problem-solving capacity of the regime and its members, and other arrangements for cooperation in the region. The report argues that geographical location along the river, combined with size of territory within the river basin, determines the potential for pusher and laggard roles within the regime, while domestic conditions in the state affect whether this potential is fulfilled or not. Skjærseth, Jon Birger, Olav Schram Stokke and Jørgen Wettestad 'Soft Law, Hard Law, and Effective Implementation of International Environmental Norms' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 6, No 3, 2006, pp. 104-120. > Download full-text version (PDF) The article compares the interplay between soft law institutions and those based on hard law in international efforts to protect the North Sea, reduce transboundary air pollution, and discipline fisheries subsidies. Our cases confirm that ambitious norms are more easily achieved in soft law institutions than in legally binding ones, but not primarily because they bypass domestic ratification or fail to raise concerns for compliance costs. More important is the greater flexibility offered by soft law instruments with respect to participation and sectoral emphasis. Second, ambitious soft law regimes put political pressure on laggards in negotiations over binding rules, but this effect is contingent on factors such as political saliency and reasonably consensual risk and option assessment. Third, hard-law instruments are subject to more thorough negotiation and preparation which, unless substantive targets have been watered down, makes behavioral change and problem solving more likely. Finally, although most of the evidence presented here confirms the implementation edge conventionally ascribed to hard law institutions, the structures for intrusive verification and review that provide part of the explanation can also be created within soft law institutions. Skodvin, Tora, Steinar Andresen and Jon Hovi (guest eds) 'Special issue: The negotiation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 6, No 3, 2006, 143 p. > More information here The first part focuses on negotiations of environmental agreements. Skodvin and Andresen critically examines shortcomings of conceptualization of leadership in international regime formation and change. Hovi and Sprinz analyze conditions that tend to limit the domain of of the socalled 'law of the least ambitious program'. Miles uses the analytical 'effectiveness prespcetive' to assess the effectiveness of the Third UN Law of the Sea Conference. Finally in this section Malnes explores problematic sides of the close interaction between science and policy in regime formation. The second part focuses on regime effectiveness. Mitchell argues that such assessments require that the structure of the problems are carefully accounted for. Victor explores factors that might contribute to overcome the law of the least ambitious program in efforts to achieve an effective climate regime. Skjærseth, Stokke and Wettestad explore how the interplay between 'hard law' and 'soft law' may enhance the effectiveness of international regimes. Finally Young and Zurn present and analyze the International Regimes Database. Skodvin, Tora and Steinar Andresen 'Leadership Revisited' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 6, No 3, 2006, pp. 13-28. > Download full-text version (PDF) In the late 1980s and early 1990s the concept of leadership was introduced in the study of international regimes to describe the role negotiating parties sometimes would take on to craft agreement. At the time the concept seemed to grasp an essential feauture of multilateral negotiations: that parties can be differentiated by the extent to which they take on particular responsibility in guiding the others towards a joint solution. In this article we revisit the concept by asking what the characteristic features of leadership are in international negotiations. Our anlysis shows that current conceptualization is ambiguous and this makes it hard to distinguish leadership from other types of bargaining behavior. This problem is reproduced in empirical identifications of leadership. Wettestad, Jørgen 'The Effectiveness of Environmental Policies' In Betsill, Michele, Kathryn Hochstetler and Dimitris Stevis (eds), Palgrave Advances in International Environmental Politics. New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 373-410. This chapter sums up central contributions to the study of the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. With Underdal’s distinction between a problem-solving perspective (i.e. ‘distance to collective optimum’) and a more political and institutional perspective (i.e.‘relative improvement’) as a conceptual backdrop, three major ‘waves’ in the development of the understanding of what constitutes ‘effectiveness’ in this context are identified. With regard to the explaining of effectiveness major contributions are discussed according to the distinction between ‘institutional and problem-solving capacity’ versus ‘characteristics of the problem(s)’. A ‘top five’ list of central problematic characteristics/obstacles to the improvement of effectiveness and some central related institutional cures and techniques is put forward. Main theoretical perspectives and insights are then illustrated by a brief empirical case study of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). A central conclusion is that the analytical challenges involved have been and still are huge. Tracing the effect of a protocol established within an international regime through the national and sub-national processes and through to the effects in terms of environmental improvement is extremely complicated. This is probably also a contributing factor to the fact that other interesting and important issues in this context related to concepts such as fairness and equity have not been much explored. Hence, in terms of knowledge on problem solving and distance to the ‘collective learning optimum’, we are still far away from a truly broad and comprehensive state of effectiveness knowledge. For instance, although we are becoming increasingly certain that regimes do matter, we really do not know that much about how they matter. True, some promising institutional techniques and ‘cures’ have been identified. And as shown by the CLRTAP case study, these techniques have contributed positively to the improving effectiveness of CLRTAP. But we need to know far more about under what conditions these techniques and cures really work. Andresen, Steinar and Ellen Hey, 'The Effectiveness and Legitimacy of International Environmental Institutions' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol 5, No 3, 2005, pp. 211-226. Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) concluded over lhe last few decades have established complex interlinages between the institutions established by them as well as with institutions like UNEP, UNDP, the World Bank and the GEF. Qurestions regarding the effectiveness and legitimacy of theis system of global governance have arisen both in practice and in research. This essay explores the manner in which these questions have arisen, how they have been adressed in recent research and provides the context for the subsequent contributions to this special issue. Andresen, Steinar and Ellen Hey (guest eds) 'Special Issue on International Agreements' International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Special Issue, Vol 5, No 3, 2005, pp. 211-376. Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have established complex interlinakges between the institutions established by the MEAs and institutions like UNEP, the World Bank, the GEF and UNDP. In this volume we discuss various aspects of this relationship. First we set out to discuss the effectiveness and legitimacy of these international institutions. The historical development is highlighted and distinct phases are pointed out. In the next article the role of UNEP and UNDP in MEAs is discussed. In the third article focus is on 'financial institutions between effectievness and legitimacy', and a legal analysis is conducted of the World Bank, the GEF and the Prototype Carbon Fund. In the fourth article focus is on the role of the South in these institutions. It is argued that their role has evolved from 'contestation to participation and engagement'. In the fifth article, focus is on the most important and influential developing country, China. More spesifically, the performance of the GEF in China and how the achievements and challenges are perceived by China. In the final article focus is on the major Northern actors, the US, the EU and Japan. Their role and influence is discussed in relation to such issues as climate change, biodiversity and ozone. Tangen, Kristian, Henrik Hasselknippe and Axel Michaelowa 'Modifying Kyoto' In Sugiyama, Taishi (ed), Governing Climate: The Struggle for a Global Framework Beyond Kyoto. Winnipeg, Canada, International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), 2005, pp. 13-32. > Download entire book The scene is set for negotiations of commitments under the UNFCCC for the period after 2012. This paper discusses how to move these negotiations forward. It argues that a new protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), with binding targets and the same flexible instruments as in the Kyoto Protocol, represents the most promising structure for establishing a framework that will control and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. However, in order to move towards such a framework, negotiations will have to overcome significant and entangled barriers, including: re-engaging the United States; establishing commitments for developing countries that are stronger than those in the Kyoto Protocol; establishing new emission reduction targets; and avoiding stalemates in the negotiations. With the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and other international agreements as a backdrop, the paper attempts to identify modifications to the Kyoto structure and develop concrete strategies that could move the negotiations forward. The suggested modifications to the Kyoto Protocol include: a procedure for permitting allowances from non-Party trading schemes to be used for compliance; sector targets for developing countries; target setting as reductions from baseline; and additional eligibility criteria for CDM host countries. In order to avoid stalemates, it will be important that some Parties show leadership, and the EU is a natural candidate for this role. The paper concludes by discussing some ways in which the EU might play such a role. Bang, Guri, Andreas Tjernshaugen and Steinar Andresen 'Future US Climate Policy: International Re-engagement?' International Studies Perspectives, Vol 6, 2005, pp. 285-303. The question of US reengagement is crucial due to the fact that any global effort to curb GHG emissions will be ineffective in the absence of US participation. Currently, other countries are at a loss to see how the US can be reengaged. In this article, the authors analyze domestic and international trends to establish whether re-engagement is likely. Their conclusion is rather negative, as there is a stable winning and blocking coalition domestically. The domestic strategy for handling this issue is also undecided, which strengthens the negative conclusion. Stokke, Olav Schram, Jon Hovi and Geir Ulfstein (eds) Implementing the Climate Regime - International Compliance Earthscan, January 2005, 272 p. > More information The international climate regime is only as good as the compliance mechanisms that ensure its effectiveness. This book is the first thorough evaluation of its compliance system, assessing its robustness and ability to cope with internal and external pressures and obstacles to meaningful compliance by national governments and other bodies such as business and industry affected by climate treaties. It covers four main themes: a comparative analysis of the formation and structure of the compliance system and the controversies that surrounded it; verification and its ability to respond to climate-specific challenges and obstacles; how external compliance mechanisms such as trade measures can work alongside internal ones; and the role of corporations and NGOs in its implementation. This will be the authoritative treatment of this essential aspect of the regime to deal with the major challenge facing the international community. Andresen, Steinar and Lars H. Gulbrandsen 'The Role of Green NGOs in Promoting Climate Compliance' In Stokke, Hovi and Ulfstein (eds), Implementing the Climate Regime: International Compliance. London, Earthscan, 2005, pp. 169-186. This chapter explores the influence of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the design of the climate compliance regime, flexibility mechanisms, and sinks and how they work to enhance climate performance among both Parties and non-Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. NGOs won acceptance for the dual approach to compliance, with both a facilitative and an enforcement branch, a strong enforcement mechanism, and potentially significant scope for NGO participation in enforcement branch deliberations. A few advisory NGOs seem to have influenced the design of the compliance regime, but it is less certain what their influence would have been without the US coming up with essentially the same approach. NGO influence on the interpretation of sinks and the design of the flexibility mechanisms has been very modest. With regard to enhancing future climate performance, it is shown that NGOs are likely to use both instruments in the compliance system and various strategies to promote their interpretation of the flexibility mechanisms and sinks. Skjærseth, Jon Birger 'Major Oil Companies in Climate Policy: Strategies and Compliance' In Stokke, Hovi and Ulfstein (eds), Implementing the Climate Regime: International Compliance. London, Earthscan, 2005, pp. 187-209. This chapter focuses on two specific questions. First, to what extent and how have major oil companies affected the US exit from Kyoto Protocol and the design of national/regional instruments and compliance systems linked to the Kyoto obligations? Second, why have the oil majors chosen such different climate strategies related to the Kyoto Protocol? Global oil companies want to sell as much oil and gas as possible at the highest possible price in the same global market; the business opportunities and challenges offered by the problem of climate change would thus apparently be the same for ExxonMobil, BP and Shell. Thus we would expect that their different strategies would have to be explained by other differences, such as their internal structures or political contexts. Identifying sources of these different strategies may provide knowledge as to whether and how corporate resistance to a viable climate policy can be overcome. Andresen, Steinar and Jørgen Wettestad 'Case Studies of the Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes: Balancing Textbook Ideals and Feasibility Concerns' In Underdal, A. and O.R. Young (eds), Regime Consequences - Methodological Challenges and Research Strategies. Dordrecht, Kluwer, 2004, pp. 49-71. This article deals with the principle challenges of case study research on the effectiveness of international environmental regimes related to such issues as case selection, causation, data-gathering, regime-linkages and qualitative versus quantitative approaches. The main section of this article is a chronological journey through seven projects dealing with various aspects of regime effectiveness, relating experiences to the principal methodological issues and challenges. A central conclusion is that most often there is a trade-off between textbook ideals and feasibility concerns to be made. But by careful deliberation of theoretical and methodological challenges in the early project phase, combined with an open discussion of the concessions to feasibility, the final trade-off may still produce both interesting and reliable results. Skjærseth, Jon Birger, Kristian Tangen, Philip Swanson, Atle Christer Christiansen, Arild Moe and Leiv Lunde Limits to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparative Study of Four Major Oil Companies FNI Report 7/2004. Lysaker, FNI, 2004, 26 p. > Download full-text version (PDF) Transnational enterprises, and the major oil companies in particular, have long suffered from a rather unpleasant public image. Since the mid-1990s, a growing number of studies have questioned whether oil industry investments are a force for good in developing countries. The main objective of this article is to examine and discuss the response of oil companies to this emerging and widening challenge to business, focusing on the four ‘majors’: ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, and TotalFinaElf. Drawing on business environmental management perspectives and theories of domestic politics, two key questions are addressed: How have companies dealt with calls for wider corporate social responsibility? What can explain differences in response between companies? In addition, we briefly discuss the dilemmas companies are facing defining the limits of their responsibility. The case studies indicate significant variations among the companies, particularly at the rhetorical level, but also in terms of what they do and how they do it. These differences can be explained by a combination of company-specific features and different home-base countries. Nevertheless, even the most ‘progressive’ companies run into difficulties in setting the borders or limits to corporate social responsibility, e.g. how companies should relate to interference in what has traditionally been seen as the domestic affairs of host countries. More specifically this involves transparent reporting, the so-called ‘paradox of plenty’ and investments/disinvestments in areas with poverty and unrest. Stokke, Olav Schram 'Trade Measures and Climate Compliance: Interplay Between WTO and the Marrakesh Accords' International Environmental Agreements, Vol 4, No 4, 2004, pp. 339-357. This article examines the potential of trade measures to induce more climate-friendly policies, focusing on the relationship between global trade rules and the Kyoto climate regime. At the core of this interplay is the normative consistency of trade-related rules in the two regimes and any hierarchical relationship between them. The stronger clout of the WTO and its compulsory dispute settlement system suggest that issues involving competing claims would be referred to WTO bodies. Such bodies have so far been restrictive regarding the exceptions in WTO agreements to the general ban on embargoes and discrimination. The normative compatibility of the two regimes will also depend on their participatory interplay, specifically how they differentiate groups of actors as to rights and obligations. Non-members of WTO receive the least protection, and their vulnerability to climate-related trade measures is largely determined by their interdependence with states that consider employment of such measures. Among WTO members, the findings of a dispute settlement body would presumably differ depending on the status of the target under the Kyoto Protocol. A non-complier with Kyoto commitments would be more shielded than a non-party, because by joining the Kyoto regime a non-complier has exposed itself to regime-internal and less trade intrusive measures that should be exhausted first. A third dimension of interplay is linkage, or efforts to influence the regime interplay. To date there has only been moderate cross-agency coordination, but considerable attention is paid within each regime, including in the Millennium Round of trade negotiations, to the desirability of avoiding conflict between them. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. and Steinar Andresen 'NGO Influence in the Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol: Compliance, Flexibility Mechanisms and Sinks' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 4, No 4, 2004, pp. 54-75. > Download fulltext version (PDF) While most scholars agree that NGOs make a difference in global environmental politics, there has been little systematic work that looks at the actual influence NGOs have on policy outcomes. This paper looks to shed some new light on the question of NGO effectiveness through an evaluation of the role played by NGOs in climate negotiations. We begin with a brief sketch of different kinds of green NGOs, along with a review of the sorts of strategies and resources they employ. Next, we look to gauge the influence that NGOs have had on recent rounds of negotiations to do with compliance, flexibility mechanisms, and appropriate crediting rules for sinks. Our analysis is based on detailed interviews with members of some of the most prominent environmental NGOs involved in climate work. Finally, we suggest, based on our findings, some means by which NGOs may look to extend their influence in the development of the climate regime. Our analysis points to the crucial need for further “insider” capacity—that is, NGOs are likely to have the most far-reaching influence on future climate negotiations if they foster ways to work closely and collaboratively with key negotiators and governments. Hovi, Jon, Tora Skodvin and Andresen, Steinar 'The Persistence of the Kyoto Protocol: Why Other Annex I Countries Move on Without the US' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 3, No 4, 2003, pp. 1-24. > Download fulltext version (PDF) The United States, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is not going to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (KP) for the foreseeable future. Yet most other countries have decided to remain on the Kyoto track. Four main explanations for this seeming puzzle is discussed. The first is that the other countries still think the KP will lead to substantial cuts in emissions and that this will outweigh the costs of implementation. Secondly, by implementing the treaty, parties hope that others will follow suit later on. Thirdly, EU climate institutions have created a momentum that has made it difficult to change course. Finally, the KP persistence may be linked to the ambition of the EU to stand forth as a leader in the game. While the two first explanations are discarded, the two latter ones seem more promising. Skjærseth, Jon Birger Major Oil Companies in Climate Policy: Strategies and Compliance FNI Report 3/2003. Lysaker, FNI, 2003, 23 p. This report looks at the climate strategies of major oil companies with a specific view on compliance and compliance systems at national, regional and international levels. Major European and US oil companies in alliance with other industries have affected compliance systems in different ways. ExxonMobil and the US fossil fuel lobby have contributed to defeat any mandatory climate commitments in the US and consequently any compliance systems linked to mandatory obligations. The fossil fuel industry has used a wide range of startegies to achieve their goal – including legal threats, media pressure directed at politicians, political donations and exploiting a number of studies showing the negative economic consequences of the Kyoto Protocol in the US. These efforts fit well with coercion as the mechanism whereby influence has been exercised. On the other side of the Atlantic, BP and Shell increasingly in alliance with other industries have chosen a significantly different strategy. These companies have influences compliance systems by voluntarily setting an example for a proactive climate startegy. BP and Shell have taken the lead in adopting and developing GHG emission targets, reporting and verification routines, and in-house emissions trading systems. As such, these companies have served as models for other companies as well as for compliance systems in the UK and the EU, by means of unilateral action. Stokke, Olav Schram Trade Measures, WTO, and Climate Compliance: The Interplay of International Regimes FNI Report 5/2003. Lysaker, FNI, 2003, 19 p. This report examines how the potential of trade measures to induce more climate-friendly policies is affected by three aspects of interplay between the global trade rules and the Kyoto climate regime: (1) The normative compatibility of trade-related rules of the two regimes is likely to be settled by trade- rather than climate-regime bodies, and the former have so far tended to interpret narrowly the exceptions to the general ban on embargoes and discrimination. (2) Such compatibility depend upon the participatory interplay of the two regimes, especially how they differentiate groups of actors with regard to the rights and obligations they enjoy under the two regimes when seen in conjunction. Non-members of WTO receive the least protection, and their vulnerability will largely be determined by their interdependence relationships, economic and political, with the prospective enforcers. The findings of a dispute settlement body would presumably differ depending on the status of the target under the Kyoto Protocol. A non-complier with Kyoto commitments would be more shielded than a non-party because the latter would find it more difficult to reject the enforcer's argument that it has exhausted the range of reasonably available and less trade-intrusive measures. (3) As to linkage, or efforts to influence the regime interplay, there is only moderate cross-agency coordination but considerable attention within each regime, including in the Millennium Round of trade negotiations, to the desirability of avoiding conflict between them. Gulbrandsen, Lars H. 'FNs konferansediplomati om miljø og utvikling. Fra normdannelse til handlingslammelse?' ('UN Conference Diplomacy on Environment and Development. From Initiation to Inaction?') Internasjonal politikk, Vol 61, No 1, 2003, pp. 3-28. In Norwegian. > Download full-text version (PDF) This article identifies the development, effects and usefulness of UN global conferences on sustainable development, with a particular focus on the world summits in Stockholm (1972), Rio (1992) and Johannesburg (2002). It is argued that the global conference diplomacy has contributed to agenda setting and greater awareness, the integration of non-governmental actors in international environmental and development politics, and the adoption of new norms, principles and standards, as well as international and domestic capacity building. Based on the experiences from Johannesburg, negative effects of the conference diplomacy are also discussed, including renegotiations and backsliding, re-circulation of commitments, a fragmented agenda and lack of co-ordination, counterproductive issue-linkages, and inefficient use of time and resources. The lack of progress on several issues in Johannesburg may indicate that the conference diplomacy is more effective in the agenda setting phase than in the implementation phase. Andersen, Regine 'The Time Dimension in International Regime Interplay' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 2, No 3, 2002, pp. 98-117. > Download full-text version (PDF) Interplay between different international agreements is a novel field of study in regime theory. The importance of understanding this interplay is increasing, due to the rising number of international agreements with overlapping functional scopes. By including the time dimension in the study of regime interplay, perspectives are opened up, which may provide a better grasp of the dynamics of regime development. Three propositions are suggested in the article on how different development stages of overlapping international regimes affect their interplay. The propositions are illustrated with the case of overlapping regimes pertaining to the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The regimes are the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The case study shows that an analytic grasp of the time dimension might uncover barriers to regime formation, as well as strategic opportunities. Andresen, Steinar and Shardul Agrawala 'Leaders, Laggards and Pushers in the Making of the Climate Regime' Global Environmental Change, Vol 12, No 1, 2002, pp. 41-51. The article identifies four forms of leadership, intellectual, instrumemental, power-based and directional. Next, theoretical claims about the dominance of particular forms of leadership at particular stages of regime formation are empirically tested by examining the agenda-setting and negotiation phases of the climate regime. The analysis tends to support the theoretical claims that intellectual ladership is particularly prominent during agenda-setting. Evidence to support the influence of entrepreneurial leadership during negotiations is mixed at best for the climate regime. Structural or power-based leadership meanwhile was largely absent during the agenda-setting of the climate regime, but has been in clear evidence through the negotiations of the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Skjærseth, Jon Birger and Tora Skodvin 'Climate Change and the Oil Industry: Common Problems, Different Strategies' Global Environmental Politics, Vol 1, No 4, 2001, pp. 43-64. > Download fulltext version (PDF) The primary focus of most academic climate policy studies has been the robustness of climate science and the development of international negotiations and institutions, in which states, and sometimes societies, have been pinpointed as the key players. Systematic comparative studies of multinational and even global non-governmental actors have been in short supply. This research lacuna is particularly glaring since the position of a major non-state actor - the oil industry - may be crucial to the viability of the climate regime. This analysis shows firstly that there are striking differences in the ways European-based and US-based oil companies have responded to the climate issue - here represented by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and ExxonMobil. Secondly, the analysis suggests that one major source of explanation to this difference is found in the national political contexts of the companies' home-base countries. The importance of national political context implies that the conditions for changing oil companies` climate strategies are likely to be located in the political context rather than in the companies themselves. Miles, Edward, Arild Underdal, Steinar Andresen, Jørgen Wettestad, Jon B. Skjærseth and Elaine Carlin Environmental Regime Effectiveness: Confronting Theory with Evidence Cambridge (MA) and London (UK), MIT Press, 2001, 508 p. One key question within political science is whether international regimes have an independent effect or whether they are merely a reflex of underlying power structures. Within this joint international project we discussed this question in relation to 15 international regimes, all of them within the issue area of the environment apart from one control regime. As we broke the regimes up in various components and time phases, altogether we had more than 30 units of analysis. Here are some of the main conclusions: First, most environmental regimes do succeed in changing actor behaviour in the direction intended. Second, even strongly malign problems can be solved effectively, although there are exceptions. Third, most regimes tend to grow and become more effective as they develop. There are also indications that more recent regimes are more effective than older regimes, compared at the same time of their life cycles. Five, deliberate institutional engineering is possible under certain circumstances. As for the bad news, first, although there are progress, there is substantial room for improvements. Second., some improvements are also essentially due to fortunate circumstances. Third, problems characterised by high malignancy and poor knowledge are very difficult to deal effectively with. Fourth, although political engineering is possible it will most often be a difficult exercise. Finally, even though soft factors like knowledge and organisational arrangements may make a difference, in dealing with highly malign problems, power seems to be a critical asset. Agrawala, Shardul and Steinar Andresen (Guest Editors) National Climate Policies: Evolution, Drivers and Future Prospects Energy and Environment, Special Issue, Vol 12, Nos 2&3, 2001, pp. i-xi, 107-252. This issue of Energy and Environment is a special issue, with Shardul Agrawala (International Research Institute for Climate Prediction, Columbia University) and Steinar Andresen (Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Lysaker, Norway) as guest editors. Along with several other contributors they focus on the climate policy of the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, Japan, Canada and India. These are the top seven CO2 emitters, and they also carry the most political clout within the climate negotiations. Agrawala, Shardul and Steinar Andresen 'Two Level Games and the Future of the Climate Regime' (Editorial) Energy and Environment, Vol 12, Nos 2&3, 2001, pp. v-xi. In this editorial to the special issue, the future of the climate regime is discussed, taking the interests and policies of these seven key actors as a point of departure. The perspecticve applied is the two-level game: how the interaction between the international level and domestic makes it difficult to adopt ambitious policies - and even more difficult to implement them. Not much can be expected in terms of climate policy initiatives from the US, given the domestic political realities. To a large extent the same goes for Canada and Japan. China and India can be expected to resist taking on specific commitments in the near future. The one actor among the seven that can be expected to stand forth as a leader is the EU. It appears the EU has the willingness to take on such a role, but it is more uncertain whether it also has the ability and necessary credibility, as a number of EU countries are not even close to meeting their Kyoto targets. All in all, there are not many happy compliers of the Kyoto targets. The authors will argue that a renegotiation of the targets may be the only realistic option. The key parties at the reconvened CoP 6 in Bonn chose a different strategy: They watered down the Kyoto commitments. In reality the two strategies are not very different in substance, but the cosmetics differ. Agrawala, Shardul and Steinar Andresen 'US Climate Policy: Evolution and Future Prospects' Energy and Environment, Vol 12, Nos 2&3, 2001, pp. 117-138. US scientists were in the very forefront in analyzing the climate problem in the 1950s and 1960s. When the issue hit the international political agenda with full force by the end of the 1980s, however, on the political front the US was a very cautious actor. High costs and scientific uncertainty were stressed by the republican Administration. With the new Democratic Administration (1992-2000) US climate policy was gradually getting more in line with other OECD countries. But there was a deep split between the Administration and Congress, where the latter insisted on 'meaningful developing country participation' before any ratification would be considered. The new Bush Administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol and is seen as a main blocking force against effective international action. How to explain the development of US climate policy? This article attempts to explain through the US governance structure, micro politics of liberal and conservative interests, industry and environment interest groups, executive branch micro politics, the role of ideologues, and national culture and undercurrents. Especially the governance structure and the role of ideologues (from Chief of Staff J Sununu to Vice President Al Gore) have been important. As to the future, although the Kyoto Protocol may be dead in the US, this dos not mean that climate politics is also dead, as some measures are underway and can be expected to continue. Emissions may also be somewhat reduced as a result of factors unrelated to climate politcs, if the economic downswing continues. But it is highly unlikely that there will be a major shift in the balance of power between anti- and pro-emission reduction interests within the Bush White House. Tostensen, Arne, Regine Andersen, Inger Nordal. Norwegian Research Support to Developing Countries: The Cases of Uganda and Zimbabwe Oslo, Norges Forskningsråd, 1998, 118 pp. The aim of this report is to provide NORAD with a better basis for decisions regarding research support to the two countries. The structure of the research sector, the various research organisations as well as NORAD supported projects are described and assessed. Emphasis is put on relevance of the research topics with regard to the developmental priorities in the country, the procedures for quality control, institutional and financial aspects as well as capacity for handling donor support. Recommendations are proposed regarding the general direction of and channels for support as well as priorities for NORAD with to selection of organisations for support considerations. Top		More Global governance and sustainable development publications on FNI's Global governance and sustainable development page More publication summaries: Global governance and sustainable development Marine affairs and Law of the Sea Biodiversity and biosafety Polar and Russian politics European energy and environmental politics Chinese energy and environmental politics Free e-subscription to FNI's publications on global governance and sustainable development: Click here to register.
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