"Climate change is increasingly accepted as a global emergency creating irrevocable losses for the planet. Still, different countries experience these losses differently. Reaching even inadequate political agreements is fraught with contestation. Governing the End untangles the complex relationship between deteriorating environmental conditions, high politics and the everyday practices of diplomacy, focusing on the United Nations' agreement to address "loss and damage" and subsequent battles over implementation. Vanhala looks at the different assumptions and strategic framings that poor and rich countries bring to bear and asks why some norms emerge and diffuse while others fail to do so. The book is based on ethnographic observation of five years of UN meetings and negotiations, as well as more than 150 interviews with diplomats, policymakers, UN secretariat staff, experts and activists. It explores explicit political contestation, as well as the more clandestine politics that have stymied implementation and substantially reduced the scope of compensation to poor countries. In doing so, it elucidates the successes and failures of international climate governance. Vanhala shows that it matters materially how ideas are constructed and then institutionallyinstantiated"--
A searing account of how the international community is tryingand failingto address the worst effects of climate change and the differential burdens borne by rich and poor countries.
Climate change is increasingly accepted as a global emergency creating irrevocable losses for the planet. Yet, each country experiences these losses differently, and reaching even inadequate political agreements is fraught with contestation. Governing the End untangles the complex relationship between deteriorating environmental conditions, high politics, and everyday diplomatic practices, focusing on the United Nations agreement to address loss and damage and subsequent battles over implementation.
Lisa Vanhala looks at the differing assumptions and strategic framings that poor and rich countries bring to bear and asks why some norms emerge and diffuse while others fail to do so. Governing the End is based on ethnographic observation of eight years of UN meetings and negotiations and more than one hundred and fifty interviews with diplomats, policymakers, UN secretariat staff, experts, and activists. It explores explicit political contestation, as well as the more clandestine politics that have stymied implementation and substantially reduced the scope of compensation to poor countries. In doing so, Governing the End elucidates the successes and failures of international climate governance, revealing the importance of how ideas are constructed and then institutionally embodied.
