What's the problem represented to be in the Paris Agreement?: A policy analysis of the Paris Agreement in the scope of the EU and China
Author
Bruun, Nicklas
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2023
Submitted on
2023-10-15
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan klimaproblemet bliver konstrueret i Parisaftalen, med fokus på EU og Kina, i en situation hvor få lande er på vej til at opfylde deres NDC-mål for 2030. Med Carol Bacchis ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’-tilgang (WPR) og et mixed methods-design, der kombinerer kvalitative og kvantitative data, analyseres selve Parisaftalen og EU’s og Kinas NDC’er gennem en konstruktivistisk optik. Analysen identificerer væsentlige uklarheder i aftalens rammer og påpeger en falsk dikotomi mellem “udviklede” og “udviklingslande”, som opretholdes gennem selvidentifikation. Dette gør det muligt for økonomisk stærke lande, der betegner sig som udviklingslande – som Kina – at få adgang til støtte, hvilket kan fortrænge midler til mere sårbare økonomier. Samtidig skaber forestillingen om, at toppræsterende lande – ofte i EU – er bæredygtige, et misvisende billede, fordi de fortsat deltager i økologisk og miljømæssigt uholdbare praksisser. Disse forhold slører rollefordelingen og besværliggør gennemførelsen af Parisaftalen og de tilhørende NDC’er med konkrete konsekvenser for menneskers levevilkår. Specialet anbefaler at supplere Parisaftalen med tilgange som offentlig deltagelse og klimaklubber for at udfylde aftalens “huller og tavsheder”, styrke indsatsen og understøtte opfyldelsen af NDC-mål samt yderligere afbødning.
This thesis examines how the Paris Agreement constructs the climate problem, focusing on the EU and China at a time when few countries are on track to meet their 2030 NDCs. Using Carol Bacchi’s ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ (WPR) approach and a mixed-methods design that combines qualitative and quantitative data, it analyzes the Agreement and the EU’s and China’s NDCs through a constructivist lens. The analysis identifies significant ambiguities in the Agreement and argues that a false dichotomy between “developed” and “developing” countries—sustained by self-identification—persists. This enables economically strong states that self-classify as developing—such as China—to access support, potentially displacing resources from more vulnerable economies. It also finds that the notion that many top-performing countries—often in the EU—are sustainable can be illusory, as they continue ecologically and environmentally unsustainable practices. These dynamics obscure role allocations and hinder the implementation of the Agreement and associated NDCs, with lived impacts for people. The thesis recommends complementing the Paris framework with approaches such as public participation and climate clubs to address its gaps and silences, support NDC delivery, advance mitigation, and better confront climate risks.
[This summary has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project (PDF)]
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