On Thursday 17 October our collaborating scholar, Harro Van Asselt will defend his PhD thesis at 13:45 in the Auditorium of the VU University, Amsterdam. His dissertation explores the fragmented state of global climate change governance by addressing the interactions between the United Nations (UN) climate regime and other international climate-related regimes such as Minilateral Clean Technology Agreements, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the World Trade Organization. Furthermore, based on his study of the consequences of such interactions in global climate governance, he proposes possible management options that would address conflicts and enhance synergies between these climate-related regimes.

Besides clear academic relevance of exploring the consequences and the management of regime interactions, his theses draws attention to those aspects that are highly relevant from the policy makers’ perspective as well. Accordingly he proposes possible policy recommendations based upon each individual regime interaction and the changing role of the UN climate regime in a fragmented governance landscape.

As part of the monthly EPA Speaker Series organized at the Institute of Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam, our collaborating scholar Jakub Skovgaard will give a presentation of his research on the role of intergovernmental processes in regime fragmentation and more specifically on the role of the G20 in the climate change regime complex.

Abstract:
Climate change is increasingly addressed by actors and regimes which do not usually deal with environmental issues. One example is the Group of 20 (G20), which has addressed climate change issues since 2009. In order to understand the interaction between the G20 and other regimes on climate change, it is necessary to analyze the dynamics which take place on the intra-governmental level between the finance ministries – the domestic constituency of the G20 – and the environment ministries – the domestic constituency of the environmental regimes.

Date: 18th Nov 2013
Time: 12:00-13:00
Location: Room C543
VU Campus, W&N building, IVM
(entrance via De Boelaan 1085)

The Institute for Environmental Studies and the Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) workshop on Fragmentation in Global Environmental Law and Governance went great. It took place from 16 to 18 May 2013 in the luscious surroundings of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and the Social Sciences (NIAS). The workshop brought experts from the legal and political science communities in the Netherlands and abroad together to explore the fragmentation of international law and governance. The workshop gathered about 30 people and led to very interesting and interactive presentations including:

• Philipp Pattberg (VU University Amsterdam) and Harro van Asselt (SEI) – Conveners and introduction
• Kenneth Abbott (Arizona State University) – Keynote Address: Institutional Fragmentation and Regime Complexity
• Frank Biermann (VU University Amsterdam) – The Fragmentation of Global Governance Architectures
• Fariborz Zelli (Lund University) – Explaining Institutional Fragmentation in Global Environmental Governance: Bringing Regime Theory Back In (presentation)
• Oscar Widerberg and Marija Isailovic (VU University Amsterdam) – Mapping Fragmentation: the Need for Integrated Perspectives and Methods (presentation)
• Joyeeta Gupta (University of Amsterdam) – Fragmentation is Inevitable, but Constitutionalization is necessary
• Aarti Gupta (Wageningen University) – REDD+ and Regime Complexity: Conceptualizing Legitimacy and Effectiveness
• Harro van Asselt (Stockholm Environment Institute/University of Oxford) – Managing Regime Interactions in Global Climate Governance (presentation)
• René Lefeber (University of Amsterdam) – Addressing breaches of multilateral environmental agreements

The workshop team is very grateful for the financial and logistical support from NIAS and the KNAW.