Conversations on the Regime and the Institution: The Copenhagen Accord and Global Environmental Governance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/bcgppp.v1i1.1195Keywords:
Copenhagen Summit, Global Environmental Governance, Climate Change, Regime Theory,Abstract
This paper presents an inquiry into the state of conversations in international politics on the prospects for the global environmental governance of climate change. The essay reviews the literature on regime theory and its discontents to provide a working understanding of the authors’ conception of global environmental governance for climate change as a regime. The most recent cases of global environmental governance on climate change are discussed, focusing on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as the primary arena for governance-building discussions, leading up to the 2009 Copenhagen Summit. The paper then considers the conversations that posit the failures of Copenhagen and question a current existential crisis facing global environmental governance on climate change. Finally, it is suggested that these failures of the Copenhagen round can be understood within the context of regime theory and its limitations in International Relations. The experience of Copenhagen is representative of continuity with both regime theory and the recent history of global environmental governance on climate change. While the Copenhagen Accord may represent a failure as an international institution on climate change it is perhaps not a failure if interpreted more broadly as part of a governing global climate change regime.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright of their manuscripts and video submissions. Bridges: Conversations in Global Politics and Public Policy applies a Creative Commons licensing structure known as an Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada license.
Under the terms of this licensing framework anyone is free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work, under the following conditions:
Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Noncommercial Use. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
No Derivative Works. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work.
Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder, the author of the piece. The author's moral rights are retained in this license.
For more information on this copyright agreement, you may refer to: The Creative Commons Deed http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/ and http://creativecommons.org/international/ca/