DOCSLIB.ORG

© 2016 Julia Ann Flagg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
© 2016 Julia Ann Flagg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2016 Julia Ann Flagg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED AIMING FOR ZERO: WHAT MAKES A NATION ADOPT A CARBON NEUTRAL PLEDGE? By JULIA ANN FLAGG A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Sociology Written under the direction of Thomas K. Rudel And approved by _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey May 2016 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION AIMING FOR ZERO: WHAT MAKES A NATION ADOPT A CARBON NEUTRAL PLEDGE? By JULIA ANN FLAGG Dissertation Director: Thomas K. Rudel This dissertation research examines carbon neutral pledges made by several nation-states. Several countries have pledged to emit zero net carbon emissions in the near future in response to global climate change. First, this research uses newspaper articles to document which countries have made these pledges. These results show that nine nations have made carbon neutral pledges. Second, this research uses national-level statistics in a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the common confluence of factors that is present in pledging nations. The results show that pledging nations, compared to non-pledging nations, have smaller populations, more egalitarian class structures, better governance, and more international environmental NGOs. Then, this project includes a case study on Costa Rica’s carbon neutrality pledge. The case study has three parts. First, it provides a historical account of how Costa Rica came to have the institutional profile of a country that makes a carbon neutral pledge. It uses archival research to explain how Costa Rica came to have the small size, egalitarian agricultural economy, good governance, and strong NGO presence that characterize pledging nations. Second, it provides a narrative account of the events that preceded the country’s carbon neutral commitment in February 2007. Archival research and interviews with people in ii government, industry, science, and civil society are used in this case study. In many ways, Costa Rica’s carbon neutral pledge is latest example of a highly ambitious political action that appeals to people’s values. The carbon neutral pledge reaffirms Costa Rica’s role as country that takes care of its people and takes care of the planet. The third and final section of the case study describes what has happened in Costa Rica since the country made the pledge. While political support for the pledge has in some respects waned since the initial commitment, officials are still committed to the carbon neutral goal and they reaffirmed the commitment in the country’s 2015 Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) ahead of the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties in Paris. iii Acknowledgements I am grateful to many people who have helped to make this project a reality. Faculty and fellow students in the Departments of Human Ecology and Sociology helped me develop my interests and learn how to undertake this research. Financial support from the Department of Human Ecology, the Department of Sociology, and the Graduate School at Rutgers University made the fieldwork for this research possible. An academic year fellowship from the Department of Sociology opened up time for me to write. A fellowship from the Hertog Global Strategy Initiative in Columbia University’s Department of History helped me think through the contours of this project and supported my fieldwork. A scholarship from the New Jersey Society for Women Environmental Professionals also supported my graduate work. I am indebted to my interviewees in Costa Rica who shared their time to talk with me about carbon neutrality. I am especially grateful to Sergio Musmanni Sobrado and Edmundo Castro Jimenez who provided assistance at numerous junctures. Since January 2010, Letty Tristan Chaves and Juan Guillermo Vargas Prado have patiently helped me to communicate better in their language and have nurtured my interest in Costa Rican environmental issues. They have shared many hours with me discussing Costa Rican politics and futbol. I am grateful for their encouragement and friendship. I am also grateful to Charles Ragin who answered many of my questions about fs/QCA and to Timmons Roberts who provided contact information for a reference in Costa Rica. I am grateful to friends and colleagues who listened to my concerns and excitement about this project over several years. In particular, I wish to thank Kelly Kato, Lindsay Stevens, Dilara Demir, Nil Uzun, Irina Nicorici, Tsai-Yen Han, Victoria iv Gonzalez, and Libby Luth. Libby was especially helpful near the very end, when my nerves seemed to be the most frayed. I am deeply indebted to Angie Oberg and Ryan Good who read and provided feedback on various parts of this project and who helped me think critically about writing. I am happy and fortunate to have been able to share my writing process with you. I have been very fortunate to have several excellent mentors. Diane Bates introduced me to the world of environmental sociology and encouraged me to think in exciting ways about the combination of sociology, environmental studies, and Latin America studies. My experience of having you as a mentor fundamentally changed my life. I am also thankful to have had a supportive dissertation committee. Robert Fletcher was immediately supportive of my ideas and has provided many suggestions along the way to continue to improve my work. Thank you for your help. I am so grateful that Steve Brechin arrived during my third year at Rutgers. Steve has provided contagious excitement about my ideas and the project as a whole from day one, and I am grateful for that. I also appreciate his critical inquiries into the theoretical approach I have used in this project. Norah MacKendrick has helped me at every stage of this project. I am so grateful for the care and detail you have invested in every conversation we have had and every draft you have read. Finally, I am very fortunate to have worked with Tom Rudel. I walked in to Tom’s office during the first week of my second year of graduate school and told him I wanted to study carbon neutrality pledges. From that moment on, he has invested a great deal of time and energy with me in bringing this project to life. This project would not exist without you and I can’t thank you enough for your help at every step along the way. v I am grateful for the support I received from my family. I was especially fortunate to be part of a family that maintained a steadfast interest in what I have been doing for these past years. My sister Rachel and my brother Russell in particular have provided encouragement during the highs and the lows of bringing this project to completion. Neither of my parents lived to see the day when this project would be finished, but I believe that during the time we shared together, they laid the foundation for me to undertake this kind of an investment. I will always be in their debt. Finally, Joseph Berenguel listened to more hours of my excitement and worry over this project than any reasonable person would sign-up for. I am grateful for the sacrifices you have made to help me succeed and for the support you have provided at each and every turn. A slightly different version of chapter 3 was published in Environmental Sociology. The citation is: Flagg, Julia A. 2015. “Aiming for zero: What makes nations adopt carbon neutral pledges?” Environmental Sociology. 1(3): 202-212. vi Table of Contents Abstract: ii-iii Acknowledgement: iv-vi List of Tables: viii List of Acronyms: ix- x Chapter 1. Introduction: 1-10 Chapter 2. Theoretical Approaches: 11-61 Chapter 3. Cross-national Comparative Analysis: 62-79 Chapter 4. The Historical Context for Pledge Making: Post-colonial Costa Rica: 80-144 Chapter 5. Narrative Account of Pledge-making Process in Costa Rica: 145-197 Chapter 6. Post-Pledge Making Context in Costa Rica: 198-221 Chapter 7. Conclusion: 222-248 Methodological Appendix: 249-265 References: 266-287 vii List of Tables Table 1: States that have pledged to go carbon neutral 65 Table II: States considering the possibility of going carbon neutral 66 Table III: Randomly selected group of non-pledging states 68 Table IV: Comparison of pledging vs. non-pledging states 74 Table V: List of respondents and their institutional affiliations 81-82 Table VI: AIJ projects in Costa Rica 159 Table VII: Members of Peace with Nature Committee 173 Table VIII: Values on the calibrated fuzzy set variables 252 Table IX: Archival source by date of retrieval with citations 262-265 viii List of Acronyms AIJ: Activities Implemented Jointly ALIDES: Alliance for Sustainable Development (Alianza para el Desarollo Sostenible) BSI: British Standards Institution CDM: Clean Development Mechanism CINPE: Center of Political Economic Investigations for Sustainable Development (El Centro Internacional de Politica Economica para el Desarrollo Sostenible) COP: Conference of the Parties CORBANA: National Banana Corporation (La Corporación Bananera Nacional) CST: Certification for Sustainable Tourism CTO: Certifiable Tradable Offsets DCC: Climate Change Center (Direccion de Cambio Climatico) ECA: Costa Rican Entity of Accreditation (El Ente Costarricense de Acreditación) FONAFIFO: National Forestry Financing Fund (El Fondo de Financiamiento Forestal de Costa Rica) FORESTA: Forest Resources for
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Democratic Arbiter: the Role of the Judiciary in the Democratic Consolidation Process in Nicaragua and Costa Rica
    THE DEMOCRATIC ARBITER: THE ROLE OF THE JUDICIARY IN THE DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION PROCESS IN NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA By LEE D. WALKER A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2003 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The completion of this work is the end of one journey and the beginning of another. In this sense it is a good place to pause and let some very important people know what they have meant to my intellectual and academic development. I am still far from being the scholar that I desire to be, but I have made it this far thanks to the support and encouragement of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. I express my sincere gratitude to my supervisory committee of Leslie Anderson, Terry McCoy, Philip Williams, Michael Martinez, Albert Matheny, and George Casella. First, Dr. Anderson has been a wonderful mentor and advisor. She guided me through my master’s degree in Latin American studies and has always been supportive and encouraging about the direction of my work. I am particularly grateful that she has instilled in me an appreciation of and a desire to use diverse methodological approaches to understand the questions of political science. Second, I thank Terry McCoy. He was my first advisor at the University of Florida, and I have relied on his wisdom my entire stay at the University. Next, I express my sincere gratitude to Philip Williams, for his help on the dissertation and for giving me the opportunity to work with him on my first collaborative writing project.
    [Show full text]
  • Patchwork Democracy Nicaraguan Politics Ten Years After the Fall by David R
    Patchwork Democracy Nicaraguan Politics Ten Years After the Fall by David R. Dye with Jack Spence and George Vickers November 2000 Copyright 2000 Hemisphere Initiatives The report may be quoted at length if attributed. It may not be reproduced in whole or in part without CONTENTS the permission of Hemisphere Initiatives, Inc. David R. Dye, a Managua based research journalist Prologue 1 has resided in and provided political and economic analysis on Central America for eighteen years. He Basic Political Trends: 1990-2000 2 took principal responsibility for research and writing The Pact 7 this report. Who Benefits? 12 Jack Spence is President of Hemisphere Initiatives and is Associate Professor of Political Science at the The Pact’s Impacts 18 University of Massachusetts Boston. Spence coordinat- Conclusions 35 ed the research, made two field trips to Nicaragua, and edited all sections of the report. Endnotes 40 George Vickers is Executive Director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) and Treasurer of Hemisphere Initiatives. He edited all sec- tions of the report, made two field trips to Nicaragua timely and able help in making arrangements for including during the November 5th elections, and, printing and mailing. Carlos Fernando Chamorro along with Spence, wrote the analysis of the results of provided helpful information on printing and graphics the election and the performance of the Supreme and he along with Nobel León helped point toward Electoral Council during the weeks leading up to the election data. Rachel Farley of WOLA ably handled election. logistics for printing and delivery. In Managua Y made We would like to thank all those who granted us time implemented arrangements for printing and delivery.
    [Show full text]
  • “No Text Without Context: Habacuc Guillermo Vargas's Exposition
    “NO TEXT WITHOUT COntEXT: HABACUC GUILLERMO VARGAS’S EXPOSITION #1” KENCY CORNEJO I. Text: eres lo que lees denounced the artist for cruelty to a defenseless dog; for exploiting the animal’s deteriorating state; for inflicting For half a decade, a global public has condemned torture on Natividad by holding him captive; for forbidding the art of the Costa Rican conceptual artist Habacuc the public to intervene; for using the animal’s misery [Guillermo Vargas]; questioned his authenticity as an artist; for shock value under the guise of art; and for creating and denounced his moral and ethical stance as a human a spectacle with the aim of furthering his artistic career. being. He has received countless death threats by the The public also attacked Gallery Codice for supporting public both in and outside international art communities. “animal abuse” in the name of art, even though Juanita Worldwide blogs dedicated to his defamation exist in Bermudez, the gallery owner, explained that Natividad English, Spanish, Turkish, German, French, Italian, Russian, was cared for and fed by the artist, and that the dog had Portuguese, Greek, Bulgarian, Danish, Romanian, and many been restrained only during the hours of the exhibition, other languages.1 In addition to the written word, vitriolic then set free in the gallery yard until it escaped.3 Habacuc, manifestations towards the artist appeared in various however, refused to confirm Bermudez’s defense, and visual forms and performances. Together with the online would only state that Natividad had “died.” His oblique petition composed of four million signatures, protestors statement fueled uncertainty and speculation about the demanded the artist’s removal as a participant in the 2008 dog’s death.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bitter and the Sweet: Feminist Efforts to Reform Nicaraguan Rape and Sodomy Laws, 26 U
    University of Miami Law School Institutional Repository University of Miami Inter-American Law Review 7-1-1995 The ittB er and the Sweet: Feminist Efforts to Reform Nicaraguan Rape and Sodomy Laws Martha I. Morgan Follow this and additional works at: http://repository.law.miami.edu/umialr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Martha I. Morgan, The Bitter and the Sweet: Feminist Efforts to Reform Nicaraguan Rape and Sodomy Laws, 26 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev. 439 (1995) Available at: http://repository.law.miami.edu/umialr/vol26/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Miami Inter- American Law Review by an authorized administrator of Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 439 ARTICLES THE BITTER AND THE SWEET: FEMINIST EFFORTS TO REFORM NICARAGUAN RAPE AND SODOMY LAWS MARTHA I. MORGAN* I. INTRODUCTION ............................................. 440 II. THE ROAD TO REFORM ....................................... 444 III. OF REFORM: CHANGES REGARDING RAPE AND RELATED SEXUAL OFFENSES ................................ 449 * Robert S. Vance Professor of Law, University of Alabama. This article is a continuation of my interest in Latin American women and how they are using the law in their struggles for gender justice, a term I use to refer to the related goals of equality and social justice. See, e.g., Martha I. Morgan, Founding Mothers: Women's Voices and Stories in the 1987 Nicaraguan Constitution, 70 B.U. L. REV. 1 (1990); Martha I. Morgan with M6nica Maria Alzate Buitrago, Constitution-Making in a Time of Cholera: Women and the 1991 Colombian Constitution, 4 YALE J.L.
    [Show full text]
  • Layout 1 Copy
    AIR09_Cover:Cover Draft 01 19/03/2009 13:35 Page 383 THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S HUMAN RIGHTS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2009 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2009 THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S HUMAN RIGHTS 20 09 09 AIR09_insidecovers:A-Z copy 1 19/03/2009 13:11 Page ii 00 prelims09:A-Z copy 1 17/03/2009 18:48 Page i 09 00 prelims09:A-Z copy 1 17/03/2009 18:48 Page ii First published in 2009 by A catalogue record for this Printed on 100% recycled All rights reserved. No part of Amnesty International book is available from the post-consumer waste paper by this publication may be Publications British Library. Pureprint Group reproduced, stored in a retrieval International Secretariat East Sussex system, or transmitted, in any Peter Benenson House Original language: English United Kingdom form or by any means, 1 Easton Street electronic, mechanical, London WC1X ODW Photographs: Pureprint is a CarbonNeutral photocopying, recording and/or United Kingdom All photographs appear with company, and uses only otherwise without the prior full credits and captions vegetable-oil-based inks. permission of the publishers. © Copyright elsewhere in the report. Amnesty International www.amnesty.org Publications 2009 Index: POL 10/001/2009 ISBN: 978-0-86210-444-3 ISSN: 0309-068X 00 prelims09:A-Z copy 1 17/03/2009 18:48 Page iii AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2009 THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S HUMAN RIGHTS This report covers the period09 January to December 2008. 00 prelims09:A-Z copy 1 17/03/2009 18:48 Page iv © Private Overcrowding in the Pamandzi migration detention centre in Mayotte(a French overseas territory), December 2008.
    [Show full text]
  • PDF – JCAS VOLUME 14, ISSUE 1, May 2017
    Volume 14, Issue 1, 2017 Journal for Critical Animal Studies ISSN: 1948-352X Journal for Critical Animal Studies _____________________________________________________________________________ Editor Dr. Amber E. George [email protected] Submission Reviewers Dr. Julie Andrzejewski Nathan T. Rowan St. Cloud State University York University Dr. Cathy B. Glenn Tayler E. Staneff Independent Scholar University of Victoria Melanie Flynn Dr. Gina M. Sully University of Huddersfield University of Las Vegas Dr. Stephen R. Kauffman Dr. Siobhan Thomas Christian Vegetarian Association London South Bank University Dr. Anthony J. Nocella II Dr. Richard White Fort Lewis College Sheffield Hallam University Dr. Emily Patterson-Kane American Veterinary Medical Association Cover Art Photograph from Danny Duo with permission. Volume 14, Issue 1, May 2017 i Journal for Critical Animal Studies ISSN: 1948-352X JCAS Volume 14, Issue 1, May 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Issue Introduction Amber E. George…………………………………………….……………………………...…1-3 ESSAYS Guillermo Vargas’s Exposition #1 in the Context of Global Animal Ethics Claudia Alonso Recarte………………………………………………………………………4-36 JCAS Submission Guidelines ………………………………………………………….......37-40 Volume 14, Issue 1, May 2017 ii Journal for Critical Animal Studies ISSN: 1948-352X Volume 14, Issue 1 May 2017 ______________________________________________________________________________ Issue Introduction Author: Amber E. George Title: Instructor Affiliation: Philosophy Department, Misericordia University Location: Dallas, Pennsylvania, United States of America E-mail: [email protected] Keywords: Art, Activism, Animal Ethics, Aesthetics Art has been used to express sentiments regarding social issues and disrupt the status quo throughout history. Some of the most memorable pieces of politically charged artwork have arisen from an artist’s deep-seated desire to appeal to the public’s sense of justice.
    [Show full text]