Governance encompasses the processes that shape how social priorities are made, how conflicts are acknowledged and possibly resolved, and how human coordination is facilitated. Governance is not the same as government. It includes the actions of the state and, in addition encompasses actors such as communities, businesses and NGO's.
The GOVCLIM research cluster addresses issues concerning the broader field of environmental governance, but will in particular focus on policy responses to human induced climate change.
• Development Research in Pakistan: Updated report on the CIIT flood intervention and information on the Flood Relief and Rehabilitation group efforts. Documents can be found at Noragric Internet.
• Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (CCIAM) programme in Tanzania has received 103 concept notes. In two of the concept notes developed Noragric researchers are involved.
--------------------------------- FOCUS OF THE CLUSTER --------------------------------- The cluster will focus on the following aspects of environmental governance and climate change:
Environmental governance - general issues:
Linking the local and global level -> multilevel governance
Coordination of interdependent human action
The dynamics of national and local governance structures; implications for and access to livelihoods, conflicts and human motivation
Legitimacy – participation, access to decision making, accountability
Resilience and robustness of different environmental governance strategies
Climate change is the core application area for the above more general issues. Research here will cover policies for both mitigation and adaptation. It is an area with potential for high conflicts (at all levels), high demands for cooperative and quick action is needed. Combating climate change may require substantial changes in economic policies. It also involves some very difficult distributional issues. Consequences are expected to be especially difficult for developing countries – especially the poorer segments. Moreover we face challenging issues concerning the distribution of the costs of mitigation.
GOVCLIM will undertake both critical and constructive research on the above topics.
--------------------------------------------------- RESEARCH PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES ---------------------------------------------------- ------ Ongoing Activities--------
Poverty and sustainable development impacts of REDD architecture: options for equity, growth and the environment (2009 - ) Partners: IIED Contact: Professor Arild vatn
Learning from REDD: A Global Comparative Analysis (2009 - 2012) Partners: CIFOR Contact: Professor Arild Vatn Policiy responses for prevention of human induced climate change Contact: Professor Clive Spash
Environmental policy and human action (2009 - 2012) Partners: Contact: Professor Arild Vatn PhD student: Marit Heller Can a combination of policy instruments increase the effectiveness and public acceptability of environmental policies? (2008 - 2012) PhD student: Marianne Aasen Carbon Sequestration Schemes: Effects on Management of Tree Resources and Rural Poverty in Uganda. (2004 - 2010) PhD student: Charlotte Nakakaawa
------ Planned Activities---------
Potential projects under Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation (CCIAM) programme in Tanzania
Projects on the effect of climate change projects on land use – including mapping of land tenure
Payment systems for forest carbon
Extending the IIED project in Tanzania
The Political Economy of Deforestation and Carbon Emissions in Mato Grosso, Brazil
Global governance/new water institutions in South Africa
Conflicts linked to climate change (Mali and Kenya)
Climate change, adaptation and vulnerability – two proposals in India
Development of forestry project in Pakistan
----- Completed activities-------
The REDD Direction - the potential for reduced forest carbon emissions, biodiversity protection and enhanced development
The REDD workshop in Tanzania (September 2009)
-------------------------------------------------------- EXAMPLE OF MULTI LEVEL GOVERNANCE ANALYSES --------------------------------------------------------
In the climate negotiations for a post-Kyoto regime, policies for reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a core topic. As deforestation presently is mainly an issue in the tropics, action will primarily take place in developing countries. It seems to be accepted that industrial countries will have to compensate for these loss of livelihoods following these actions.
A core question then is how money from the North should be transferred to the South and further channeled to the local level. The format of these multilevel governance structures – or architectures – is presently an important research area where we build on experiences from different existing systems of money transfers like the ‘Clean Development Mechanism’ under the Kyoto protocol, various types of environmental funds in, payments for environmental services and budgetary support schemes mainly within the ODA framework.
We especially focus on issues concerning legitimacy, efficiency, equity and potential co-benefits.The aim of this research is to make inputs into the ongoing formulation of REDD architectures and payment schemes.
-------------------------- PUBLICATIONS -------------------------- Spash, C.L. 2010 The brave new world of carbon trading.New Political Economy 15(2): forthcoming.
Vatn, A., P. Vedeld, J.G. Petursson and E. Stenslie, 2009. The REDD direction. The potential for reduced carbon emissions, biodiversity protection and increased development. A desk study with special focus on the situation in Uganda and Tanzania. Noragric Report no 51, 127 pp.
Vatn, A., 2009. Governing the environment: the institutional approach. Economia delle Fonti di Energia e dell’Ambiente (Economics and Policy of Energy and Environment: Special Issue on Heterodox Environmental Economics), 52 (1):61-86.
Vatn, A. and A. Angelsen, 2009. Options for a national REDD+ architecture. In Angelsen A. et al. (eds): Realising REDD+: National Strategy and Policy options. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR, pp. 57-74.
