Search

This paper assesses the role of the BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, India, and China — in UN climate change negotiations. The paper explores the formation and evolution of the group, and focuses on how the four major developing countries of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa have coordinated their positions and acted jointly to achieve an agreed outcome with other players in the recent UN Climate Change Conferences in Copenhagen and Cancun, based on an analysis of their country profiles and negotiation positions on a wide range of climate issues. The paper argues that the emergence of the BASIC Group is a reflection of the ongoing power shift from EU–US agreement to BASIC–US compromise in UN climate negotiations since the early 1990s. The rise of BASIC also has its roots in recent global market dynamics and further reflects the power transformation in the economic dimension of the international system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the performance of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) in global climate change negotiations. It provides theoretical insights on the priorities of the AGN, outlines how the African region self-organises in situations of regime complexity and critically analyses the inherent characteristics that create unique constraints to meaningful participation of the AGN in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The study finds that the political mandate of the AGN together with the consistent technical support from climate-focused continental institutions have strengthened the AGN in these negotiations, where the group has had a consistent set of priorities. The article also highlights areas that could enhance the performance of the AGN, including a critical examination of the effect of multiple coalition membership. The conclusion is that as subordinate actors the AGN is effectively contesting the rules and practices of contemporary global climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that South Africa's climate change policy and engagement should go beyond advancing its transition to a low carbon economy, and should include adaptation, green industrialisation, and resilience. In this context the article argues that South Africa and other African countries should go beyond the narrow limits of the just energy transition framework and adopt the more holistic concept of climate resilient development. It is proposed that South Africa should support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Union (AU) to strengthen renewable energy infrastructure, green industrial value chains, adaptation and resilience – thus adopting a climate resilient developmental regionalism approach. The EU carbon border adjustment measure is critically discussed. The AfCFTA and the AU are urged to build more coherent approaches between their negotiating positions in the WTO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas in the Global North the energy transition narrative focuses on the idea of 'global sustainability', in the Global South it is increasingly connected to old and new challenges that derive from dependence on natural resource extractivism and rentierism. In vast regions of South America, for instance, fossil fuels extractivism and the idea of (post-)development are inextricable. On the one hand, capitalist modernisation, energy security, and even political stability hinge on domestic use of fossil fuels and the rent generated by their exports. On the other hand, the idea of ending extractivism, which is again topical in Latin America, invites policymakers to dream on post-development and the possibility of converging toward the 'green' energy transition. This contribution builds on insights from Ecuador and Colombia, as paradigmatic examples, to address the juncture triggered by the energy transition in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an analytical framework drawn from organisational studies to unpack and evaluate climate change relations under the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership. The article finds that, while the EU and South Africa share a common purpose and high-level climate goals, many of the formal organisational structures set up under the partnership to tackle climate change and the environment are weak and have fallen into disuse. At the same time several factors outside of the strategic partnership, such as South Africa's hosting of the Durban climate change meeting, have played a significant role in promoting climate cooperation between the two partners. Therefore, while the strategic partnership creates an additional opportunity for climate cooperation, it is by no means the only or even the most important instrument in the EU's foreign policy tool box for negotiation and dialogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a rationale for understanding how the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) operates in advancing the global response to climate change. It does this by highlighting key characteristics of this framework convention, whose multilateral process has led to the establishment of treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The article also points out the complexity of the process within the annual meetings of the UNFCCC's Conference of the Parties (COP), the supreme decision-making body of the convention. Furthermore, the slow pace of progress of these multilateral negotiations and the reasons responsible for such slow progress are highlighted. The article notes that the next COP, under the leadership of Egypt, presents a significant opportunity to Africa to influence the process. As a whole, the article aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of this important multilateral process and the value of incremental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate clubs emerged as a concept to revitalise the international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and mitigate the free-riding problem. The underlying idea suggests that countries committed to reducing emissions can advance a stable coalition in the form of a club with other countries. As a result, more countries would put forth targets for more ambitious emissions reductions. This article analyses South Africa’s memberships in current climate related clubs. We contextualise South African climate club governance in its wider geopolitical and national context of low-carbon development. The purpose of the analysis is to identify if and how South Africa can possibly contribute to advancing ambition for change within climate clubs. Furthermore, it advances ideas about possible design options for climate clubs that may appeal to developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the 2015 Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with a focus on mitigation. The history of climate negotiations and the mitigation agenda shows the divide between developed and developing countries, with the latter insisting that the former, having caused the problem, need to do more to reduce carbon emissions to address climate change. However, as some emerging economies had continued to emit more carbon, there were calls to treat these as developed countries, requiring increased mitigation measures. The article examines the record of these emerging economies, and establishes that there was some convergence in Paris, a positive element that resulted in a single global climate treaty. However, the Paris negotiations also witnessed contestations, with the final agreement insufficient to keep global warming within advised limits, and in any case only partly legally binding, leaving its implementation success to good will. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With a changing geopolitical landscape following the Northern-induced global financial meltdown, stagnation on global governance reform and failure to reach agreement on issues ranging from trade (Doha Development Round) to climate change (United Nations Convention on Climate Change), the India–Brazil–South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum finds itself at the proverbial crossroads. At this point, with no summit having taken place since 2011, the future of IBSA is uncertain in part because the three IBSA partners have allowed ambivalence and lack of leadership to hold sway. Yet the current fluidity in the international environment has ironically meant that IBSA is more relevant and needed than ever before. IBSA is well placed to play a vital role in arresting the current trajectory of the global governance architecture, particularly when it comes to concerns of development. As this article argues, it is in the area of development cooperation that IBSA has found its niche in demonstrating the possibilities that development diplomacy and South–South cooperation avail, while challenging traditional norm conceptions when it comes to the future of international development financial institutions. Yet the question remains as to how this will be used going forward, as there is little strategic discussion between the trilateral partners on the future of development diplomacy and the IBSA Fund. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to developments in Copenhagen in 2009 and Cancun in 2010, global climate policy negotiations seldom culminated in concrete decisions concerning ways in which Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) could be linked to sustainable development and carbon markets in developing countries, such as those in some parts of Africa.That changed with the expansion of the REDD initiative, to REDD+. Key arguments in the discussions have concerned contested methodologies for measuring, reporting and verifying carbon stocks; ensuring adequate technology transfer; and rectifying the shortage of local experts to deal with REDD+. However, there has been no contestation on the fact that REDD+ creates financial value for carbon stored in forests, an aspect that would encourage developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation of forested lands and to invest in low-carbon growth paths. This article sheds light on how REDD+ has developed in global climate negotiations and how African governments have and should engage with REDD+. The conclusion is that since the Bali Action Plan of 2007, there has been significant progress in creating enabling global architecture with regard to REDD+, and African governments should now grasp the opportunities offered by REDD+ while advocating for a fair, legally binding and ethical arrangement to engage over the forests which are so key to many of their economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ahead of the 'African Conference of the Parties' (COP) scheduled to take place in Durban in November 2011, the ability to maintain an African common position will be paramount in providing a platform from which to pursue the continent's priorities on climate change. This article considers the role of international organisations in shaping the Africa Group's common position from COP15 in Copenhagen ahead of Durban. In addressing this role the analysis considers the position of the African Union and the regional economic communities, as well as the challenges facing the African Union from nested international organisation interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]