Assessing Green Diplomacy

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Assessing Green Diplomacy
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Success failure in green diplomacy

• Toxic Waste Trade
• Whaling
• Acid Rain
• CITES
• Ozone Depletion
• Climate Change

3
Lessons Learned

• Lead states/laggard states
• Importance of nonstate actors
• Importance of organizational structure
• Importance of symbolic politics
• Least common denominator
• Strengths of convention/protocol
• Allows incremental progress
• Works well for simple issues
• Weaknesses of convention/protocol
• Works less well for complex issues
• Role of U.S.

4
Institutional Problems

• Weakness of UNEP
• Physical political isolation
• Under-funded
• Dominant economic institutions downplay
  environment
• WTO, World Bank, IMF
• Business
• A World Environment Organization?

5
Three Alternative Futures

• Business-as-usual
• Liberal environmentalism
• Fortress World
• Rich protect themselves
• Securitizing energy
• Global Transformation
• Addresses the intertwined dimensions of the
  global problematique
• Inequity, violent conflict, environmental
  degradation
• Evidence for all three

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Liberal environmentalism

• Business-as-usual
• Proliferation of agreements institutions
• Hundreds of treaties since Stockholm, yet
  environmental conditions worsen
• Green diplomacy embedded in ideology of growth
• Voluntary initiatives emphasized over binding
  commitments

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Capitalism, Globalization and Ecology

• Market logic
• Economic efficiency cheap labor materials
• Market expansion growth imperative
• Profit motive short time horizon
• Ex Banking industry renewable energy
• Pro-free trade argument
• Trade increases GNP wealth promotes environment
• Anti-free trade argument
• Shadow ecologies race to the bottom time frame

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Darker Green A Global Green Deal

• Based upon common but differentiated
  responsibility
• North would supply funds technology to enable
  South to leapfrog into sustainable development
• EX Per capita emissions approach to GHGs
• What would it take??

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Green Politics Beyond the State

• Subnational initiatives
• States, cities, neighborhoods
• Voluntary Type-2 Initiatives
• Pew Center on Global Climate Change ISO 14001
  Forestry Stewardship Council Marine
  Stewardship Council
• Green investment
• Climate insurance industry
• Earth Charter
• Declaration of Interdependence
• Exemplary mobilization
• City Repair
• Global Ecovillage movement
• Lifestyle politics

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Addressing the Root Causes

• What underlies I PAT?
• What are the causes of exponential growth?
• Social structures
• Culture values
• Is there a role for the average citizen in green
  diplomacy?