Call for Papers: Ethics, Policy & EnvironmentParis 2015 and beyond: The building blocks of a 2020 climate regime and the conditions for a just and durable global climate effort
Guest editors: Idil Boran and Kenneth Shockley
Deadline: January 25, 2016
Ethics, Policy & Environment (EPE) invites contributions for a special issue on the upcoming Paris meetings of the UNFCCC.
The objective is to identify questions arising from the new round of negotiations, and to provide sustained and informed discussion of their significance for philosophy, public policy, law and politics. The special issue will be a forum for articulating new directions for justice and global cooperation on climate in tandem with the latest developments in multilateral negotiations. The desired impact is to advance research in a way that brings know-how and guidance to policy discussions.
International negotiations are underway toward a new universal climate agreement to be signed in Paris in December 2015. The meeting in Paris is therefore of critical importance as it will set the tone for a 2020 climate regime.
Since the previous Conference of the Parties, held in Lima in December 2014, a way forward has started to take shape. It is also becoming clear that the new climate agreement will be novel in both structure and content.
Structurally, new institutional architecture and governance procedures have begun to appear. Important procedural changes have taken place in the last few years in an effort to create the conditions for greater participation and compliance. For example, the current round of negotiations focuses on global participation, where all parties are to contribute to the climate effort in some capacity. This is a shift away from the idea of negotiated distribution of responsibilities between countries. Instead, flexibility is favored in order to motivate contributions by all to the climate effort. In conjunction with greater flexibility, more demanding procedural measures are put place, placing a premium on accountability, transparency, and impartiality. New multilateral assessment and review processes are being developed specifically to fulfill this role, and to secure strong and durable institutional conditions as a way forward.
Within these changing procedural parameters, new substantive issues of content are being taken up. The current phase of negotiations comprises both mitigation and adaptation pillars. As part of adaptation efforts, the Warsaw Mechanism on Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts, agreed upon in Warsaw in November 2013, is viewed as a milestone and sets an important precedent. Its mandate is to establish new tools for assessing climate risks and developing appropriate policies for risk management. Central to these discussions are considerations of new risk-sharing tools and innovative insurance mechanisms specially tailored to respond to climate uncertainties. These include extending a safety net to communities in developing countries that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change as part of a new international climate agreement. The intent is to develop these policies in a way that complements the global coordination of ambitious mitigation measures.
These shifts in structure and content do not merely set the tone for the future of the climate effort. They raise pivotal questions pertaining to political morality and justice at the international level. What are the challenges and opportunities for establishing equitable terms of cooperation within these new parameters? What are the normative underpinnings of shifting institutional architecture and global governance procedures? Can innovative risk management and risk sharing mechanisms provide new insights into global justice? What are their implications for communities in low-income countries vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate variability and climate change? How can these measures supplement the coordination of mitigation efforts? How can a new climate regime deliver equity and social justice? What is the role of international law and institutions for building solidarity against climate risks and uncertainties? What are their roles for raising ambition and compliance? This new terrain presents a momentous opportunity to update the normative debates on the moral, legal and political bases of the global climate effort, and look for new directions for research and policy.
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EPE invites contributions that explore these and other questions arising from a Paris outcome in 2015. Possible paper topics include, but are by no means limited to:
Analyses of the so called pledge-and-review process in connection with questions about building a fair and effective system of global cooperation. Discussions of the conditions for equity and social justice are welcome and encouraged.
Articulations of the legal dimensions of the issues arising from negotiations, in conjunction with their broader significance for philosophy and public policy.
Explorations of the role of new risk-pooling mechanisms within the Framework Convention, discussing the promise they hold, and the challenges they face, for social justice, as well as sustainable and inclusive development.
Explorations of the new roles for global institutions, including institutions for climate finance, in creating the conditions of cooperation are of special interest and are greatly encouraged.
Instructions for authors:
Full papers prepared for blind review are to be submitted no later than January 25, 2016.
For inquiries and submissions, contact the guest editors:
Idil Boran (York University)
iboran@yorku.ca
Kenneth Shockley (University at Buffalo)
kennethshockley@gmail.com
When preparing submissions, please follow formatting instructions strictly:
Prepare the manuscript for blind review (remove all references to the author(s) as well as acknowledgements).
Papers should follow the Journal’s style for formatting:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/style/layout/style_cepe.pdf
Manuscripts should be prepared using the parenthetical referencing system in standard AAPA reference style. A list of references should be put at the end of the manuscript.
Manuscripts should be double-spaced, including notes and references.
Length requirements are 6,000-8,000 words (notes and references included). Papers exceeding 8,000 words cannot be considered.
For questions about the journal, contact the managing editor:
Robert Thomas, Ethics, Policy & Environment
ethicspolicyenvironment@gmail.com
For more on Ethics, Policy & Environment, visit:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cepe21
