The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) may be supporting the violation of the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions constituted by the illegal occupation of Western Sahara...Show moreThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) may be supporting the violation of the UN Charter and Geneva Conventions constituted by the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by accepting extraterritorial nationally determined contributions (NDC) reports. Through the use of theory-testing process-tracing, this thesis investigates why the UNFCCC’s acceptance of extraterritorial NDC reports might influence the legitimacy of occupations. By conducting a case study of Morocco, the theoretical argument of this thesis is developed: Occupying powers seek legitimacy over their occupation by partaking in international organization processes which subsequently are approved by the international organization. This approval dissuades other states from objecting to the occupation and attempts to legitimate it, thereby perpetuating the status-quo which ultimately increases the external sovereignty of the occupation. By evaluating NDC reports, reports by the Western Sahara Resource Watch, and speeches at the UNFCCC, this study has identified the presence of the causal mechanism. Hence, this thesis contributes to the scholarly literature by addressing the influence that international organizations have on the legitimacy of occupations, a field that so far has gained little attention in academia.Show less
More than a purely ecological issue, the climate crisis is strongly rooted in colonial histories and linked to questions of global social justice. One way in which this notion of climate justice...Show moreMore than a purely ecological issue, the climate crisis is strongly rooted in colonial histories and linked to questions of global social justice. One way in which this notion of climate justice has come to be articulated in the international environmental regime is through the negotiations on, and institutionalisation of, “loss and damage” under the UNFCCC. The African Group of Negotiators – representing a continent which is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts – has been an important actor in these negotiations, although its particular role has not substantively been studied. An important question is the extent to which the AGN manages to express agency within an international framework which exists against the backdrop of unequal global power relations – especially considering the relationship between this global order and the origins of anthropogenic climate change, and the already devastating impacts experienced. Using insights from structuration, complexity and frame theory, this research finds that while on one hand, the behaviour of the AGN reflects and in some ways reproduces status quo power relations, there is also potential for transformation – particularly through the use of strong, justice-based ideational arguments.Show less
In this work, I aim at answering the question "What are the effects of India's rising emissions on the country's commitment to climate action?". Exposing India's rise as a global emitter and its...Show moreIn this work, I aim at answering the question "What are the effects of India's rising emissions on the country's commitment to climate action?". Exposing India's rise as a global emitter and its new capacity to act on climate change, I evaluate the validity of this country's exemption from binding commitments granted at the first UNFCCC Conference of Parties (in Rio de Janeiro, 1992) and reflected in the Kyoto Protocol. Annexes to the Protocol allocated binding targets for emissions reductions to developed countries (“Annex 1”) and an exemption from compulsory environmental action for less developed and emerging ones (“Non-Annex”). The division was based on each Party's cumulative emissions and capacity to act; in India's case, both have changed sensibly since the '90s. The empirical chapter confirms a growing external pressure from other countries for India to adopt new commitments. UNFCCC Parties recognised the necessity to include India into a new post-Kyoto Protocol regime for global climate policy to be successful in the coming decades. On the other hand, India's geographical vulnerability to the harmful consequences of global warming put the government under internal pressure to step up environmental action.Show less
The purpose of this thesis is to explore and test whether framing climate change as a security issue impacts the way non-state actors can participate in national and global climate change...Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to explore and test whether framing climate change as a security issue impacts the way non-state actors can participate in national and global climate change policymaking. While it has been argued, in general terms, that securitizing an issue creates a state-centric security response, it has yet been untested to what extent this impacts environmental NGOs and civil society in climate change policymaking. After an analysis of the discourse on climate change over the past decade, I posit that since 2007 we have seen and will continue to see an increase of environmental NGOs indirectly excluded from climate change decision-making processes by states. This thesis, therefore, contends that climate change should be de-securitized and approached with a multidimensional climate change framework, incorporating a green theoretical standpoint. Drawing from an extensive questionnaire and two case-studies, I evaluate the role of non-state actors in climate change policymaking. The results suggest that the more climate change is framed as a security issue, the more non-state actors are indirectly excluded from climate change policymaking.Show less
