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Legitimacy in an Era of Fragmentation: The Case of Global Climate Governance

Author

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  • Sylvia I. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen

    (Sylvia I. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen is assistant professor with the Public Administration and Policy Group at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and academy fellow at Turku University, Finland.)

  • Jeffrey McGee

    (Jeffrey McGee is senior lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Newcastle, Australia.)

Abstract

Studies grounded in regime theory have examined the effectiveness of “minilateral” climate change forums that have emerged outside of the UN climate process. However, there are no detailed studies of the legitimacy of these forums or of the impacts of their legitimacy on effectiveness and governance potential. Adopting the lens of legitimacy, we analyze the reasons for the formation of minilateral climate change forums and their recent role in global climate governance. We use Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen and Vihma's analytical framework for international institutions to examine three minilateral climate forums: the Asia-Pacific Partnership, the Major Economies Meetings, and the G8 climate process. These forums have significant deficits in their source-based, process-based, and outcome-based legitimacy, particularly when compared to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. If assessed purely on grounds of effectiveness, the minilateral forums might be easily dismissed as peripheral to the UN climate process. However, they play important roles by providing sites for powerful countries to shape the assumptions and expectations of global climate governance. Thus, the observed institutional fragmentation allows key states to use minilateral forums to shape the architecture of global climate governance. © 2013 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Sylvia I. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen & Jeffrey McGee, 2013. "Legitimacy in an Era of Fragmentation: The Case of Global Climate Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 56-78, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:13:y:2013:i:3:p:56-78
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Pickering & Frank Jotzo & Peter J. Wood, 2015. "Splitting the Difference: Can Limited Coordination Achieve a Fair Distribution of the Global Climate Financing Effort?," CCEP Working Papers 1504, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    2. Melanie van Driel & Frank Biermann & Rakhyun E. Kim & Marjanneke J. Vijge, 2022. "International organisations as ‘custodians’ of the sustainable development goals? Fragmentation and coordination in sustainability governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(5), pages 669-682, November.
    3. Robert Gampfer, 2016. "Minilateralism or the UNFCCC? The Political Feasibility of Climate Clubs," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 62-88, August.
    4. Achim Hagen & Leonhard Kaehler & Klaus Eisenack, 2016. "Transnational Environmental Agreements with Heterogeneous Actors," Working Papers V-387-16, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jan 2016.
    5. James Ford & Michelle Maillet & Vincent Pouliot & Thomas Meredith & Alicia Cavanaugh, 2016. "Adaptation and Indigenous peoples in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 429-443, December.
    6. Haas, Peter M., 2018. "Preserving the epistemic authority of science in world politics," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2018-105, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Suvi Sojamo, 2015. "Unlocking the “Prisoner’s Dilemma” of Corporate Water Stewardship in South Africa—Exploring Corporate Power and Legitimacy of Engagement in Water Management and Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-26, May.
    8. Peter Dauvergne & Jennifer Clapp, 2016. "Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, February.
    9. Danielle Robinson, 2021. "Rural Food and Wine Tourism in Canada’s South Okanagan Valley: Transformations for Food Sovereignty?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    10. Robert Falkner, 2015. "A minilateral solution for global climate change? On bargaining efficiency, club benefits and international legitimacy," GRI Working Papers 197, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    global climate governance; climate change;

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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