Currently, the Philippines is dealing with a climate change crisis which significantly impacts the severity and frequency of the natural disasters they encounter (Climate Change Adaptation, 2023;...Show moreCurrently, the Philippines is dealing with a climate change crisis which significantly impacts the severity and frequency of the natural disasters they encounter (Climate Change Adaptation, 2023; Mateo, 2023). With the Philippines losing significant amounts of money each year due to natural disasters, it is of even greater urgency that light is shed on the severity of the climate change crisis in the country. This research investigated the research question: ‘How do people in the Philippines experience and understand the effects of climate change?’. How do house safety, preparedness, and (local) climate change governance influence their experiences and understanding of climate change’s effects in the Philippines? Using an inductive approach and digital ethnographic methods such as online interviewing, semi-structured interviews were held via Zoom with five interlocutors of varying ages, gender, location, occupation, and income. After gathering the data from the interlocutors, it was found that the answer to the research question comprises multiple elements related to house safety, preparedness, and climate change governance. The built and material environment, economic environment, social environment, and political environment all play a significant role in the Philippine people’s understanding and personal experiences with the effects of climate change.Show less
The ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union has determined its trajectory and set in motion the green transition of the European economy. Even though the European climate...Show moreThe ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union has determined its trajectory and set in motion the green transition of the European economy. Even though the European climate ambitions seem political of nature, the European Central Bank has recently shown its willingness to support the Union’s climate ambitions within its institutional capacity. European policy research organisations put forward new ideas on greening policy instruments, which also touch upon other institutional characteristics of the ECB. However, the monetary authority is de jure independent of exogenous actors in determining its policies and strategy. Recently though, under Lagarde's presidency, the ECB has for the first time opened up to ideas from civil society, think tanks and academia when defining its new long-term "green" strategy. While the new strategy is still on the drawing board, theories from discursive institutionalism assert that ideas resonate the ECB’s communication strategy, through discourse. When juxtaposing and comparing the results from two qualitative research methods, the study concluded that specific, programmatic ideas are not significantly represented in the ECB's discourse. Instead, more a general and normative ideational shift has taken place where a stronger and more decisive change in tone has become visible in the ECB’s discourse on its green strategy that can rather be explained by other exogenous events and factors.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges (LUC) (BA/BSc)
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In recent years, a debate has emerged around the potential of plastic pollution to direct attention away from other, arguably more urgent environmental issues, such as climate change. Little...Show moreIn recent years, a debate has emerged around the potential of plastic pollution to direct attention away from other, arguably more urgent environmental issues, such as climate change. Little research has examined pro-environmental behavior (PEB) spillover from engaging in action against plastic pollution (plastic PEB) to supporting climate change policy. In this study, 81 undergraduate students at a university in the Netherlands completed a plastic cleanup activity as part of a sustainability-focused course. Subsequently, these students, as well as 80 students in a control condition, completed an online survey assessing frequency of engagement in plastic PEB, climate change concern, environmental self-identity, and support for a campus climate change fund. Results showed no spillover from plastic PEB to climate change policy support. However, this study also investigated the potential mediating effect of climate change concern, which revealed that frequency of engagement in plastic PEB had a significant positive effect on climate change concern, but climate change concern had no effect on climate change policy support. These findings suggest that encouraging individuals to engage in plastic PEB can increase awareness and concern about climate change, yet there is a disconnect between climate change concern and climate change policy support. The results of this study have implications for those interested in PEB spillover between different environmental issues, specifically using widespread initiatives, such as plastic cleanup activities and recycling, to increase awareness and policy support for other sustainability efforts.Show less
The year 2020 has not evolved as many had expected. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has put almost all parts of the societies all over the globe on halt. Besides impacting human health, the...Show moreThe year 2020 has not evolved as many had expected. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has put almost all parts of the societies all over the globe on halt. Besides impacting human health, the fastest and the most severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the economic and financial sectors. The global health crisis has occurred at the time when the world is already in a major crisis, the climate crisis or green crisis. In spite of all the austere consequences of green crisis, the actions taken to lessen the green crisis are nowhere near the efforts required to meet the Paris agreement goal of keeping the global temperature well below 2°C and preferably 1.5 °C. Many started viewing the already existing green crisis and the newly emerged Covid-19 crisis as part of the same battle and they envisioned an opportunity in response to Covid-19 crisis to address the green crisis as well and they strived to attach green conditions to the Covid-19 recovery until they reached the green recovery agreement which not only helps in the recovery from the ramifications of the Covid-19 crisis but also addresses the green crisis. This research has sought to find out how a devastating crisis has opened up the window of opportunity for another destructive crisis. A small-N, Within-Case analysis approach is used to study the intervening variables on causal path from the Covid-19 crisis to the opening up of the window of opportunity for green crisis recovery. Moreover, theory-testing process tracing was applied on the case of EU to find out whether Advocacy Coalition Framework helps to comprehend the puzzle and answer the research question. The result of the research revealed that actors in coalitions made extensive use of frames and changed the policy image as well as used expertise to dominate the decisions, resulting in the Covid-19 recovery plan with green strings attached to it to also address the green crisis.Show less
