Seminar on “Climate Change and Global Governance”

The Institute of European Studies (IES) of CASS held a seminar on “Climate Change and Global Governance” on 16th November 2010. It focused on the coming UNFCCC's annual meeting in Cancun and the relations between climate change and national security, economy and politics from the perspectives of China and the European Union (EU).  

Prof. Zhang Haibin from the School of International Studies of Peking University spoke on “Climate Change and National Security”. By reviewing the extensive literatures, he elaborated a theoretical framework of how to understand national security and climate change. He argued that national security will be negatively affected by the factors concerning climate changes. These elements will result in instable political situation, social riots, declining government authority and a squeezed apace of choosing defense strategies.  

Chen Ying, an associate researcher from the Institution for Urban and Environmental Studies of CASS, talked about “China’s Policy and UNFCCC”. She argued that several key issues will prevent the member nations to reach an agreement in Cancun. These obstacles include the current double-track system, mid-term problems of the developed countries, financial issues, mitigation and MRV problems (measurable, reportable, and verifiable) in the developing countries. Regarding the “carbon border adjusted tax”(CBAT), she argued that if EU and other developed countries should charge tax on importing goods for carbon leakage, it will be a loss-loss outcome for all nations. Besides, CBAT also has to face the problem of legitimacy and rationality from the international institutions, such as the WTO and the UNFCCC.

Cao Hui, assistant researcher from IES/CASS, discussed “The EU’s Climate Change Policy and Its International Negotiation Strategies”. Based on the policy-cycle analysis as a starting point, she reviewed the EU’s climate policy from the 1980s to 2009. She said that the leadership of EU in the international negotiation was built on the ground of its internal legislative consolidation, an agenda-setting ability in the international negotiations, maturing EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) and consistent financial program at the European level. She used the rationalism approach to examine the necessity and problems of cooperation over the climate change issues of the international institutions. She argued that the EU would seek the help from the international organizations such as WTO to pursue its goal.