Environmental Politics and Policy Flashcards

1
Q

What did the IPPC report find

A
  • IPPC report had found that we have globally reached the point of no return with little chance of keeping the world from warming by 1.5 Celsius
  • 1.5 Celsius would have a great impact on humanity being able to handle: crop failure, heatwave, extinction, flooding
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2
Q

Who is responsible for CO2 emmisions?

A
  • Annual CO2 emissions have been contributed consistently by the United States since the 1930’s and whilst not the biggest contributor of emissions (that is China) it has a higher per capita emission than China and India
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3
Q

How do countries like China and India defend its CO2 emmisions

A
  • Countries like China and India argue that their developmental stage should be taken into account as western nations had built their economies with very few environmental constraints
     So is it fair to put them under strict conditions which will damage their economy whilst others had been able to do so without it?
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4
Q

Outline the aims of 2015 Paris Climate Agreement

A
  • Signed in April 2016 (effective from November 2016)
  • Aims:
     Holding increase in global average temperature to <2C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C
     Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change
    and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development
     Making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development
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5
Q

Outline the criticisms of 2015 Paris Climate Agreement

A
  • However, there is no real enforcement mechanism rather countries report their contribution to mitigate global warming suggesting a name and shame method

BUT

  • It is increasingly being used in climate litigation: with countries legal battles where government is being held accountable for not taking adequate steps to meet this climate agreement
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6
Q

Will the Paris Agreement work?

A
  • If the Paris Agreement is followed it would get us to a 2.6C of warming by the end of the century which would need a radical transformation of economy to get to <2.1C
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7
Q

Give examples of environmental policies that would reduce CO2 emissions

A

 Emissions standards (e.g. for cars, production, etc.)
 Carbon taxes “Cap and trade” schemes
 Investment in clean energy (e.g. wind, solar, water)
 Banning deforestation / investing in tree planting – requires the right trees to be planted in the right places to trap the greenhouse gasses

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8
Q

Give examples of environmental policies that would reduce the negative impact humans have had on the planet

A

 Water and air pollution standards
 Recycling regulations
 Packaging and waste disposal regulations
 Chemical usage regulations
 Biodiversity protection (e.g. preservation of fish stocks)
 Organic farming subsidies

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9
Q

Explain the Tragedy of the Commons - (Hardin 1968)

A
  • A theory to explain why we don’t unilaterally protect the environment
  • It is rooted in this medieval idea of common land (land of common usage where anyone’s animal could graze), which was found to have degraded faster than private land
  • This is because common land is a public good, and is depleted by private actions since people benefits from it while the damage is shared by the entire group
  • Suggests the commons can only be protected by collective institutions to restrict private usage
     We need global standards, global enforcement, and global government as we can’t relay on individuals as they are likely to take advantage
  • There is a difference between our individual and collective incentives, which leads to us being in a suboptimal equilibrium as there is always an incentive to use common land
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10
Q

Outline Ostrom 1990s study that addresses way to prevent the tragedy of the commons

A
  • Looked at the theory and evidence of how local community’s preserve common pool resources
  • Identified 8 design principles of stable local common pool
     Clearly defined boundaries (exclusion of external parties)
     Common rules adapted to local conditions
     All resource appropriators participate in decision-making
     Monitoring accountable to resource appropriators
     Sanctions for resource appropriators who violate rules – PARIS AGREEMENT DOES NOT FOLLOW THIS PRINCIPLE
     Cheap conflict resolution mechanisms
     Self-determination of local communities to set own rules
     Larger common-pool resource problems require multiple layers of nested enterprises (with small local CPRs at the base)
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11
Q

What is the delaware effect - 1955

A
  • Market competition leads to a race-to-the-bottom in regulatory standards (a “Delaware effect”)
     So competition between regulatory jurisdictions (US/EU etc) forces states to reduce regulatory burdens on businesses to attract investments
     This leads to convergence on low standards
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12
Q

What is the california effect - vogel 1995

A
  • Market competition leads to a race-to-the-top in regulatory standards (a “California effect”)
     If states with the largest markets set high environmental standards, then producers in other states are forced to meet these standards to gain access to these markets,
     Allows politicians to enforce environmental policies without fear of pushback from big industry’s
     Leads to convergence on high standards
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13
Q

Case study - California effect

A

 Reach directive went into effect in 2007 which regulated the production and distribution of chemicals, manufacturers were upset at first but because Europe was the largest market in the world for these chemicals at that time there was a convergence on higher standards on these higher standards

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14
Q

What is the EPI

A

EPI score – environmental performance index which looks at how well a country is doing in terms of climate policies

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15
Q

The relationship between EPI and GDP per capita

A

Looking at the relations between a countries GDP per capita and its EPI score had found that richer countries tended to have better environmental policies (Denmark & UK)

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16
Q

The relationship between EPI and public attitudes to environment policies

A
  • World Value Survey (2017-2020) looks at aggregate public opinion on protecting the environment at the cost of economic growth
  • Found that even though the UK had gotten a high score on the EPI index had mixed attitudes towards protecting the environment at the cost of economic growth
17
Q

How do electoral systems shape environmental policy?

A

PR systems − opens up opportunities for Green Parties to gain seats (Scruggs 2002, Neumayer 2003)

This leads to parties taking a pro-environment stance to try & take seats from the green party

PR systems makes it easier for politicians to impose short-term costs on voters (due to a lack of accountability) which would allow them to put through pro-environmental policies

18
Q

How do interest groups shape environmental policy?

A

Interest groups – dictate to some degree the extent of climate and environmental polices

(Cory, Lerner, & Osgood 2021) – found that firms tend to impose climate policies if they are in industry that emit large quantity of greenhouse gasses as well as firms that heavily consume electricity

Found however that firms that are downstream from these emitting industries tend to lobby the most against climate policy due to supply chain linkages

19
Q

How do populist attitudes correlate with climate skepticism

A

Huber 2020

20
Q

Do extreme weather events affect voting behaviour?
(Hazlett & Mildenberger 2020)

READING

A

Political Barrier- short-term policy costs and long-term policy benefits

Effect of Wildfire Exposure- experiencing a wildfire within 5 kilometers increases support for climate-related ballot measures by 5-6% points. This effect diminishes with distance, becoming negligible beyond 15 kilometers.

Partisan Differences: increased support for environmental policies due to wildfire exposure is concentrated in Democratic areas. There is little to no effect in Republican-dominated areas, suggesting preexisting beliefs about climate change play a significant role.

Generalization: While the study provides strong evidence of climate-related impacts on voting behavior in California, it advises caution in generalizing these findings to other contexts or types of climate-related events.

Conclusion: climate-related threats like wildfires can enhance the willingness to support costly climate policies, predominantly among populations already inclined to believe in climate change, thereby intensifying existing political commitments rather than creating new supporters.