Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
Ch
hapter 22: Environm
mental issu
ues

The current use

u and de
egradation of the eartths resourrces is unssustainable
e and
clo
osely conne
ected in so
ometimes ccontradicto
ory ways to
o the proceesses of
glo
obalization.

There are vast inequalities betwe

een rich and poor in their use off the earths
ressources an
nd in the ec
cological s hadow or footprint
f
th
hat they im pose on it..

The response
e at the intternational level is to attempt to
o provide gglobal envirronmental
govvernance. In a system of soverreign states, this invo
olves internnational
coo
operation.

neteenth and early tw

wentieth ce
enturies, in
nternationaal environm
mental
In tthe late nin
politics was strictly
s
limitted, but fro
om around 1960 its scope expaanded as
envvironmenta
al problems acquired
d a transna
ational and then a gloobal dimension.

The process was reflec

cted in and
d stimulated
d by the three great U
UN confere
ences of
197
72, 1992, and
a 2002, whose mo
ost importa
ant role was to make the conne
ection
bettween the internation
nal environ
nmental and developm
ment agenndas, as ex
xpressed
in tthe importa
ant concep
pt of sustaiinable deve
elopment.

Inte
ernational environme
ental politiccs reflected
d the issue
e-attention cycle in de
eveloped
cou
untries and
d relied heavily on inccreasing scientific
s
kn
nowledge.

Inte
ernational environme
ental meet ings serve
e several po
olitical objeectives alo
ongside
envvironmenta
al aims.

A kkey functio
on of international coo
operation is transbou
undary reg ulation, bu
ut
atte
empts at environmen
e
ntal action may conflict with the
e rules of thhe world trrade
reg
gime.

Inte
ernational action is needed
n
to p
promote en
nvironmental norms, develop scientific
s

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.

Baylis,, Smith and

d Owens: T
The Globa
alization of World Pol itics 6e
Re
evision guiide
und
derstandin
ng, and ass
sist the parrticipation of
o developing countrries.

ernational cooperatio
on is necesssary to prrovide gove
ernance reegimes for the global
Inte
com
mmons.

nge, becau
use of its alll-embracin
ng nature and
a its rootts in essen
ntial
Climate chan
human activitties, poses
s an enorm
mous challe
enge for internationall cooperatiion.

A limited starrt was mad

de with the Kyoto reg
gime, but th
his was unddermined by the
he USA. Although the
e 2009 Co
openhagen Conferencce was a
abssence of th
dissappointme
ent to clima
ate activistts, the 2011 Durban Platform
P
heeld out the
e
posssibility tha
at NorthS
South differrences mig
ght be reso
olved in a nnew comprrehensive
clim
mate agree
ement.

The environm
ment has been
b
a grow
wth area fo
or IR scholars interessted in iden
ntifying
the
e conditions under wh
hich effect ive interna
ational coop
peration caan emerge
e.

er in the im
mportance that they attach
a
to va
arious kindds of explanatory
Scholars diffe
eir analyses
s of interna
ational env
vironmenta
al regime-bbuilding acttivities
facctors in the
cru
ude calcula
ations of th
he power a nd interestts of key actors suchh as states,, cognitive
facctors such as shared scientific kknowledge
e, the impact of non-ggovernmen
ntal
acttors, and even
e
the ex
xtent to wh
hich the sys
stem of sta
ates is itse lf part of th
he
pro
oblem.

IR scholars are
a also intterested in the extentt to which the
t environnment in general
d particula
ar environm
mental prob
blems are now being seen as ssecurity iss
sues in
and
aca
ademic, po
olitical, and
d popular d
discourse, and wheth
her this seccuritization of the
envvironment is something to be w
welcomed.

Oxford Universityy Press, 2014.