Governing the Climate-Energy Nexus: Institutional Complexity and Its Challenges to Effectiveness and Legitimacy

Description

Combating climate change and transitioning to fossil-free energy are two central and interdependent challenges facing humanity today. Governing the nexus of these challenges is complex, and includes multiple intergovernmental and transnational institutions. This book analyses the governance interactions between such institutions, and explores their consequences for legitimacy and effectiveness. Using a novel analytical framework, the contributors examine three policy fields: renewable energy, fossil fuel subsidy reform, and carbon pricing. These fields are compared in terms of their institutional memberships, governance functions and overarching norms. Bringing together prominent researchers from political science and international relations, the book offers an essential resource for future research and provides policy recommendations for effective and legitimate governance of the climate-energy nexus. Rooted in the most recent research, it is an invaluable reference for researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders in climate change and energy politics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Fariborz Zelli is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Lund University. He is also a Principal investigator and board member at BECC (Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate). His research focuses on international institutions, global environmental governance, and political theory and philosophy. He has edited four volumes: Environmental Politics and Governance in the Anthropocene (2016, Routledge); Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics (2015, Elgar); a special issue with Global Environmental Politics (2013); and Global Climate Governance Beyond 2012 (2010, Cambridge University Press). Karin Backstrand is Professor in Environmental Social Science at the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, where she co-directs the Environmental Policy, Politics and Learning (EPPLE) research group. Her primary research revolves around global environmental politics, the role of science in environmental decision-making, the politics of climate change, and the democratic legitimacy of global governance. Her papers have been published in Global Environmental Politics, European Journal of International Relations, and Global Environmental Change. Her recent books are The Research Handbook on Climate Governance (2015, Elgar) and Rethinking the Green State (2015, Routledge). Naghmeh Nasiritousi is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stockholm University. Her research focuses on international climate change politics, energy governance, and issues of legitimacy and effectiveness. Her research has been published in journals such as Nature Climate Change, European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Quarterly, Global Environmental Politics, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, and Annual Review of Political Science. Jakob Skovgaard is an Associate Professor at Lund University and a Principal investigator at BECC - (Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate). His research focuses on national, EU and international climate politics - including the interactions between these levels and between economic and environmental objectives. He is co-editor of The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reform (2018, Cambridge University Press) and of a special issue with International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (2017). Oscar Widerberg is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His teaching and research focusses on international and transnational governance for climate change, biodiversity, and sustainability. He holds a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Before joining academia, he worked in international public policy consulting.

'Far too little work looks at climate change or energy studies from an interdisciplinary social science perspective, and far less than that does so effectively. This book is a notable exception, expertly tracing the governance dynamics and dilemmas of climate change as well as its twin partner in crime, the global energy system. In doing so, it covers a range of exciting topics, from subsidy reform to institutional complexity, from renewable energy to policy coherence, through a compelling milieu of different perspectives. The book is truly important reading for anyone who professes to take the study of climate governance seriously.' Benjamin K. Sovacool, University of Sussex, and author of Global Energy Justice (Cambridge) 'If we are to prevent catastrophic global warming, the world needs to establish more effective global governance of energy. This carefully planned book brings together contributions by leading experts and provides an insightful macro perspective on the current climate-energy nexus - its institutional complexity and fragmentation, as well as the potential for change. The volume stands out for its rich empirical analysis, coherence and rigour. A must read!' Robert Falkner, London School of Economics and Political Science 'Governing the Climate-Energy Nexus offers a novel approach to understanding the vexing challenge of decarbonizing the global energy system and moving towards a more sustainable future. Drawing on diverse theoretical debates in political science and international relations, the authors present rich empirical analyses that help academics and practitioners navigate the complex institutional landscape of global climate and energy governance and evaluate the trade-offs and synergies between different policy options. Moreover, this book advances the growing field of 'nexus' research by breaking new theoretical and methodological ground that will facilitate more effective and legitimate governance systems in an increasingly interconnected global system.' Michele M. Betsill, Colorado State University