In recent years, China has thoroughly changed its position on climate justice and climate governance. They have went from advocating for climate justice and for their right to industrialize to...Show moreIn recent years, China has thoroughly changed its position on climate justice and climate governance. They have went from advocating for climate justice and for their right to industrialize to making global climate governance a key part of their national and international identity. The Green Belt and Road Initiative has been a key factor in how China now profiles itself. In this paper, I argue how the Green Belt and Road Initiative can play a role in China’s global climate leadership ambitions, but also highlight some of its flaws that could hinder it instead.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This research focuses on the analysis of the forms of human-environment relationship that characterize different communities in the coastal area of North Jakarta, and on how these might be...Show moreThis research focuses on the analysis of the forms of human-environment relationship that characterize different communities in the coastal area of North Jakarta, and on how these might be connected to inequalities between local communities. In North Jakarta, relationship with the environment is strongly affected by the presence of environmental issues, namely sea level rise, land subsidence, and chronic floods, which force local communities to come to terms with the surrounding waters on a daily basis, developing different experiences and perceptions of the environment. Moreover, such different experiences and perceptions are connected to political struggles related to the protection of the Jakarta bay ecosystem, the livelihood of fishing communities, and mitigation projects such as the construction of a giant seawall and of reclaimed islands off the coast of the city. The research population includes residents of four different neighbouring districts located along the coast of the Indonesian capital. Despite being so close to each other, these are very different areas, home to fish markets, fishing settlements and industries, luxurious residential areas, shining malls and exclusive leisure spaces. These districts are inhabited by very different communities in terms of social class, income, lifestyle, occupation, and ethnicity. Therefore, they are an ideal field to observe diverse forms of human-environment relationship, and to test to what extent could these be related to the above-mentioned inequalities and to different ontologies of the environment.Show less
While the number of cross-border climate migrants is increasing, their legal protection remains fragmented. Examining the idea of expanding the 1951 UN Refugee Convention to include climate...Show moreWhile the number of cross-border climate migrants is increasing, their legal protection remains fragmented. Examining the idea of expanding the 1951 UN Refugee Convention to include climate migrants, I conclude that their situation is different from those of political refugees in a morally relevant sense, which entitles them to a new kind of protection. Based on that conclusion, I develop a just protection framework for climate migrants, which sets out migrants’ rights and the duties of states that are associated with granting these rights. The proposed framework particularly focuses on migrants’ agency and procedural justice since both highly contribute to the relocation’s success. To mitigate possible feasibility constraints, because of states’ lack of willingness to implement such a framework, I introduce a market system which allows states to trade the responsibility to host climate migrants in the form of “migrant quotas”, thereby giving them more flexibility. However, since such a market approach would undermine migrants’ agency, I propose a matching system, which matches migrants’ preferences about where to move, with states’ non-discriminatory preferences about what migrants they are willing to accommodate.Show less
This study examines the impact of African Youth Activists (AYAs) at last year's Conference of the Parties (COP27). Despite being disproportionately affected by climate change, marginalized groups,...Show moreThis study examines the impact of African Youth Activists (AYAs) at last year's Conference of the Parties (COP27). Despite being disproportionately affected by climate change, marginalized groups, such as AYAs, often face challenges in having their voices adequately heard due to underlying structures that favor countries and non-governmental organizations from the Global North. The Political Opportunity Structure can be used to examine whether AYAs have opportunities to make a difference in a system. This involves evaluating whether there are entry points for new actors to enter the political process and whether the existing mechanisms within the system effectively accommodate and integrate new perspectives. To explore this, the study conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with AYAs to investigate how the existing power relations at COP impact their participation. The perception of AYAs on power relations and their opportunities for intervention provide insights into their reality and how they navigate the structural aspects of the political process. The findings of this research can be used to find places to intervene in the UNFCCC- system and improve activists' work at COPs in the future.Show less
International climate finance (ICF) is part of a broader climate justice movement, which is concerned with the tension that while the developed states in the Global North pollute the most, the...Show moreInternational climate finance (ICF) is part of a broader climate justice movement, which is concerned with the tension that while the developed states in the Global North pollute the most, the developing states in the Global South have to bear the consequences. ICF not only aims at reducing emissions, but mostly focuses on reducing the vulnerability of populations in developing states, through financial transfers from the Global North to the Global South. Climate justice movements insist on bottom-up policymaking, whereby power is handed back to non-state actors (NSAs) from the Global South. While the role of NSAs in international climate policies has been researched, their role in the specific finance programmes has been largely overlooked up until now. This paper therefore tries to contribute to the field through researching what role NSAs play in the design, implementation and evaluation of ICF programmes. This is done on the basis of content analysis of four of the United Nation’s climate financing programmes as part of its Green Climate Fund (GCF). This research concludes that the role of communities is only limited in the design and implementation stage, but much more present in the evaluation stage. The projects still have a very top-down focus and the involvement of the communities is hampered because of cultural and practical reasons. Strict objectives help to formalise the involvement of communities. While models of democratic pluralism and functionalism are already in place, a neocorporatist model could help the GCF to overcome difficulties in involving NSAs and to make their policies more effective and legitimate.Show less
As consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly obvious, more and more risky practices are being considered to moderate its repercussions, such as geo-engineering. Climate engineering,...Show moreAs consequences of climate change are becoming increasingly obvious, more and more risky practices are being considered to moderate its repercussions, such as geo-engineering. Climate engineering, however, carries many ethical questions to be considered before it can be deemed an acceptable measure. In this thesis, ethical considerations in regards to the rights of nature will be examined in order to assess its permissibility. The rights of nature seek to question the widely held instrumental view of nature, aiming at conceptualizing the natural world as an interconnected reality, rather than an available and exploitable resource. This is especially important when evaluating geo-engineering since it involves artificially altering natural processes, which may jeopardize nature's integrity. An ecocentric approach will thus shed light on the anthropocentric essence of geo-engineering and its harmful effects towards nature. In all, I will argue how these elements can be turned into a more considerate approach to the practice, should a shift in our conception of nature occur. This in turn will favor a modification of the aim of geo-engineering, whose scope will be expanded to include nature’s rights.Show less
