Transcript States as Problem-Solvers

GO131:
International Relations
Professor Walter Hatch
Colby College
Environment, Population, Health
Global Interdependence
An obvious benefit: growing trade
An obvious cost: negative spillovers
Example: Acid rain
Example: Water pollution
Tragedy of the Commons
Public good (example:
open pasture)
How to maintain the
public good?
The Global Commons:
Oceans, Space
Approaches to the Problem
Liberal: establishing regimes via interstate
bargaining
Revolutionary: challenging capitalism by
restricting growth
Background
1972: first UN conference on international
environmental problems and policies. Stockholm,
Sweden.
1982: second UN conference. Nairobi, Kenya.
1992: third UN conference (and first “Earth
Summit”). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2002: fourth UN Conference (second “Earth
Summit”). Johannesburg, South Africa.
Case One: Global Warming
Global temperatures on rise
Cause: emissions from burning of fossil fuels
Result: carbon dioxide, methane gas,
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and nitrous oxide.
“Greenhouse gases” act like glass in a greenhouse
Greenhouse Gases
Climate Change
Real-Life Effects
Human health
Water supplies
Ecosystem
One visible example
States as Problem-Makers
USA
21%
1,890MtC
China
15%
1,349MtC
Rest of the World
35%
1,286MtC
524MtC
EU
14%
364MtC
501MtC
Japan
4%
India
5%
Russia
6%
CO2 emissions, 1995
Obstacles to a Solution
Domestically, political costs are high:
reduced profits, fewer jobs
Internationally, political costs are high
States as Problem-Solvers
UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (Rio 1992)
Kyoto Protocol (1997)
Binding Target: To reduce emissions in
industrialized countries
• 5% below 1992 levels by 2012
Set national ceilings
Complicated market mechanism
Give break to developing countries (for now)
Kyoto without the U.S.
Treaty needed support from states totaling
55% of global emissions
With U.S. opting out (36%), progress stalled
But protocol took effect anyway in 2005
Thanks to Russia
Case Two: Ozone Depletion
Ozone layer in the atmosphere shields earth
from harmful ultra-violet rays
Chemicals (primarily CFCs used in
refrigeration and aerosol spray) float into
the stratosphere
The Ozone Hole
1988
2000
Real-life Effects
Higher rates of skin cancer
Threat to vegetation, and thus crop yields
Eco-system
Obstacles to a Solution
Another collective action problem involving
a public good
Short-term costs for long-term benefit
Free-riders gain by allowing the use of CFCs
States as Problem-Solvers
US (1978) unilaterally banned the use of
CFC propellants in spray cans
Canada, Norway, Sweden followed
From Unilateral to Multilateral
The Vienna Convention on the Protection of
the Ozone Layer (1985)
The Montreal Protocol (1987)
Reduce production of CFCs by 50% by 1998
London Amendments (1990)
Eliminate CFCs by 2000 (later: by 1995)
A Relative Success
Case Three: Biodiversity
When species become extinct, they stay extinct
More than 15,000 species of animal and plant
species are now threatened
Costs
Ecosystem (loss of microorganisms -> loss of arable
land)
Hurts pharmaceutical industry
Jeopardizes food supply
Global Efforts
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species (1973)
Treaty on Biodiversity (1992)
Signatories agree to protect habitat
Wealthy states pay poor states for rights to use
products extracted from rare species in
protected habitats
U.S. opted out (along with nine other small
countries)
Marine Mammals
International
Whaling Commission
Established in 1946 to regulate whaling
Became conservation agency, setting quotas
for hunting certain whales
Voluntary participation
Norway and Japan continue whaling
Inter-American
Tropical Tuna Commission
Established in 1950 to regulate tuna fishing
industry
Became an agency to help conserve
dolphins
Agreement on international dolphin
conservation (1999)
Rain Forests
The earth’s lungs
Concentrated in global south (Brazil,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar)
ODA to encourage preservation
“debt for nature” swaps
Oceans
Global commons
70 percent of earth’s surface
Problem of free-riding
Drift nets
Enclosure
UNCLOS
UNCLOS
A decade of treaty negotiations (1973-1982)
Rules on territorial waters
US refused to sign until 1994
Antarctica
A common resource
Antarctic Treaty (1959)
Global Population
Out of Control?
From 6.2 billion today to as much as 8
billion in 2025
75 million new people each year
Global south will contribute 97 percent of
this population growth
Can economic growth be
sustained?
Exhausting Mother Earth’s “carrying
capacity”
Agenda 21 (1992)
Commission on Sustainable Development
(1992)
HIV/AIDS
Global South
Southern Africa
Swaziland: 38.8 percent of the adult population
Life Expectancy:
“Demographic fatigue?”
Botswana: from 61 years in 1990 to 44 in
1999 to 39.7 in 2004
Zambia: 32.4 years
Turning it Around
Other diseases
Tuberculosis: 1.5 million die each year
Malaria: Up to 1.5 million die each year
Water Shortages
1.1 billion people now lack daily access to clean
drinking water
WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for All)