1,566 research outputs found
The Shadow of History in Inter-Organizational Cooperation for the Environment
No full text Why do international organizations (IOs) adopt different arrangements for cooperation? Drawing on the theory of institutional context and the rational theory of international design, I argue that a prior thick institution between IOs, which involves the adjustment of organizational mandates and/or activities, facilitates a decentralized arrangement for their current cooperation by fostering mutual expectations and reducing uncertainty. If the prior institution merely assumes direct combinations of resources and expertise, a centralized arrangement is needed to reduce uncertainty regarding the counterpart IO’s cooperative motive. With archival analysis and extensive interviews with IO staff members, this argument is tested against two empirical cases of inter-organizational cooperation undertaken by the United Nations Environment Program under the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The in-depth analysis reveals how IOs cope with demands and obstacles for inter-organizational cooperation on the ground, which has been largely unexplored in the literature. </jats:p
Institutional diffusion for the Minamata Convention on Mercury
No full textA trinity composed of legally binding regulations, an independent financial mechanism, and a compliance mechanism characterizes the institutional design of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. Meanwhile, few existing environmental treaties feature an independent financial mechanism as well as a compliance mechanism. Why did the Minamata Convention acquire two mechanisms? There are two rival hypotheses on uncertainty about institutional consequences and international agreements. The rational design school posits that countries can predict institutional consequences by acquiring all pieces of relevant information and views the trinity as a rational design to enhance developing countries’ regulatory capabilities under strict compliance. In contrast, the institutional diffusion school assumes that countries have limited information-processing abilities and use cognitive heuristics in designing institutions and argues that countries designed the trinity by learning from existing cases. In this paper, I compare the negotiations process of the Minamata Convention with that of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). To test the hypotheses, I examine how countries resolved informational uncertainty in both negotiations by utilizing negotiations records and personal interviews with key officials as data. The analytical results support the institutional diffusion hypothesis by indicating that the trinity within the Minamata Convention is a product of countries’ heuristic and incremental learning from existing treaties
Navigating environmental cooperation on air pollution amid political competition in East Asia
No full textEast Asian countries have recently upgraded their regional cooperation for clean air through the Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia, with elaborate arrangements for monitoring and capacity-building assistance for multiple pollutants. This represents a departure from the earlier informal regimes with vague arrangements on acid deposition. However, despite this notable shift, this formalization in the regional governance for clean air remains largely unexplored in the existing literature. This study fills this gap by analysing the dynamics of formalization through aid from theories of regime complexity and legalization. It focuses on the decade from 2012 to 2021, employing documentary analysis and interviews. The results reveal that governments actively pursue their state interests by adjusting institutional arrangements through regime competition and selection that drive formalization. Sharing cognition of the hazardousness of multiple pollutants achieved through interactions between regional and global institutions serves as a catalyst for reaching an agreement on the arrangements
A Nexus of Policy Diffusion and Multilateral Aid
No full textDiffusion holds the key to both the mechanism of carbon emission and a
solution to the problem of emission excesses. In essence, diffusion represents
spatial dependence through connectivity between states and affects their
policies or even regulations entailed in the framework of global governance.
Even though it is of critical importance to climate governance in influencing
trust and incentives for cooperation, diffusion has received limited attention
from international relations analysts of climate change. Using spatial
modeling and systemic international relations theories, we uncover that, on
average, diffusion adversely affects other states’ emission efficiency and
that emission by states with competitive trading activity is a major source of
the adverse diffusion. This result holds even if international and domestic
countervailing factors are taken into account. An in-sample simulation
analysis confirms that, for better climate governance, the adverse diffusion
can be neutralized by a coalition of numerous trading states, rather than by a
limited number of large states (e.g., G20)
水銀に関する水俣条約における三位一体制度の実現
No full text京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(法学)甲第20862号法博第219号新制||法||163(附属図書館)京都大学大学院法学研究科法政理論専攻(主査)教授 鈴木 基史, 教授 中西 寛, 教授 濵本 正太郎学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of LawsKyoto UniversityDGA
Development of an expression system using the heat shock protein 70 promoter in the red macroalga, Porphyra tenera
No full textPorphyra is a commercially valuable source of food and drugs, and represents an important model organism for algal research. However, genetic research on P. tenera has been limited due to lack of a heterologous gene expression system. In the present study, we isolated a native promoter, the PtHSP70 promoter, for efficient expression of foreign genes in this organism. This promoter lies approximately 1 kb upstream of the coding sequence for Heat Shock Protein 70 (HSP70) and was isolated using adapter-mediated genomic PCR. Promoter activity was evaluated using the synthetic GUS gene (PyGUS) with optimized codons for Porphyra yezoensis. Interestingly, the PtHSP70 promoter allowed equivalent expression of PyGUS in both P. tenera and P. yezoensis, whereas the GAPDH promoter from P. yezoensis was not fully functional in P. tenera. These data suggest that the PtHSP70 promoter has a more conserved regulatory mechanism than the PyGAPDH promoter between these species. We also established an efficient transient transformation system for P. tenera by evaluating various transformation parameters such as quantity of gold particles, pressure of helium and vacuum, developmental stages of leafy gametophytes, and target distance. Under the optimal conditions of transient transformation, the frequency of GUS expression was determined by histochemical staining to be 30-50 cells per bombardment. Therefore, the new transient transformation system using the PtHSP70 promoter can be used for foreign gene expression in P. tenera, which may advance the development of P. tenera as a model organism
Pursuing decarbonization along with national security: Assessing public support for the Thacker Pass lithium mine
No full textDecarbonization policies are being stymied by political conflict. Local communities might oppose decarbonization infrastructure such as solar farms, mines, or transmission lines if they view these projects as imposing high costs on them in relation to their benefits. To decarbonize, the automobile industry seeks to shift from the internal combustion engine to electric vehicles, which require lithium-based rechargeable batteries. In the United States, to meet the increasing lithium demand through domestic sources, there is a proposal for a lithium mine in Thacker Pass, Nevada, which faces strong opposition from native nations and environmental groups. Using a representative sample of Nevada residents (n = 1,368), we explore if proximity to the Thacker Pass mine and to any Nevada mine influence public support for the proposed lithium mine. In addition, we test three frames that emphasize different benefits of the proposed mine: climate policy, national security, and local economic development. We find that respondents living closer to the Thacker Pass mine tend to be more supportive of the proposed lithium mine but exposure to existing Nevada mines does not affect public support. Among the treatment frames, only the national security frame increases public support. This suggests that to navigate local public opposition, the national security—domestic sourcing of key inputs required for decarbonization, aspect of decarbonization projects should be highlighted
From plastic to peace: Overcoming public antipathy through environmental cooperation
No full textCitizen distrust towards the rival country is a defining feature of protracted international rivalries, undermining meaningful cooperation that can lead to mutual benefits. How might governments establish a public opinion base that is more supportive of cooperation with the rival country? We argue that information about ongoing environmental cooperation with the rival country makes citizens more supportive of non-environmental cooperation by changing their beliefs about the rival’s trustworthiness and facilitating extrinsic reciprocity. We investigate this potential micro-level cooperation spillover in the context of the longstanding rivalry between Japan and South Korea. Our survey-based experiment finds that information about cooperation on marine plastic pollution shapes the public’s willingness to cooperate in terms of the economy and security. Importantly, however, we find asymmetric results in Japan and Korea. While Koreans are more receptive to our positive cooperation treatment, which increases their willingness to cooperate in other domains, Japanese respondents react more strongly to the negative non-cooperation treatment, which reduces their willingness to cooperate in other domains. We offer explanations for these divergent reactions based on prior interactions between the two countries. Our findings have important policy implications for conflict-ridden areas of the world beyond East Asia that increasingly face common environmental challenges
Why Local Communities May Support Nuclear Energy
No full textClimate change is now dominating the policy agenda. Countries are racing to announce net-zero emission pledges. Achieving this goal in the United States requires decarbonizing the electricity sector, which accounts for 25 percent of U.S. carbon emissions. This endeavor will be a challenge because electricity demand is rapidly increasing as electric vehicles (EVs) replace internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, the source of about 29 percent of carbon emissions. Moreover, many city codes now require residential and commercial buildings––which account for another 13 percent of carbon emissions––to switch over from natural gas to electricity for their heating needs. Experts must find a way to generate more electricity and, at the same time, make sure that it is free of emissions. Nuclear energy will need to play a role because renewable sources such as solar and wind alone cannot meet electricity demand. But nuclear energy poses a political problem: the exaggerated fears of radiation leaks prompt local communities to oppose nuclear facilities in their neighborhoods. Yet, our research suggests that public support for nuclear energy may increase if communities recognize its local economic and environmental benefits. With rapidly falling costs, solar and wind are now competitive with coal and gas for electricity generation. But solar and wind create other challenges. These sources need backups—typically natural gas—because solar and wind facilities only produce electricity when the wind is blowing and the sun shines. Also, these sources do not have a switchable, on-and-off feature to meet surges in electricity demand. Moreover, solar panels, wind turbines, and EV batteries rely on critical minerals, such as cobalt and lithium, which are short in supply. To achieve net-zero emission by 2050 by relying on solar and wind energy alone, countries will need to quickly commission new mines, many of which will be dug in developing countries with lenient regulations. New mines will probably lead to more pollution and health problems for local communities. As an added barrier, solar and wind projects face opposition in rural areas. In the United States, some counties have even enacted local ordinances to prohibit solar and wind projects. One alternative to wind and solar energy is nuclear energy. Despite its controversial history, nuclear energy is a safe source of renewable energy, which makes modest demands on critical minerals and generates electricity continuously. Compared to utility-level solar power plants, nuclear reactors make modest demands on land resources. And, as the recent Texas ice storms revealed, nuclear generation is more resilient than coal, wind, or solar energy. The adoption of nuclear energy faces social and political challenges. In the United States, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident dealt a severe blow to nuclear energy in 1979. No new U.S. nuclear plants have been commissioned since then and California, a leader in climate change, is set to close down its last nuclear reactor, Diablo Canyon. Internationally, the 2011 Fukushima accident in Japan triggered public anxiety over the risk of a nuclear accident. Since then, several European countries have started to phase out nuclear power. Constructing new plants is difficult due to the “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) sentiment, which describes residents’ opposition to necessary but unwelcome development on or near their land. Communities oppose nuclear power plants because they incorrectly fear radiation risks. The same problem arises for storing nuclear waste. Although several studies recommend creating nuclear waste storage sites such as the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository, the U.S. government has not licensed it. Yet, our research suggests that NIMBY concerns could be addressed by appropriately framing the benefits of nuclear plants. We studied public opinion in Japan because it experienced a major nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011. In the aftermath of Fukushima, the Japanese government shut down all nuclear plants to reevaluate their safety. Since then, Japan has become increasingly dependent on carbon-intensive sources of energy, including coal-fired power. We found that nuclear plants receive local support—what we refer to as “reverse NIMBY”—when the benefits of nuclear plants, such as economic stimulation and low rates of air pollution, are highlighted. Our findings support other studies, which suggest that communities—including white communities—might welcome “undesirable” projects when these projects provide local jobs. To overcome community opposition, policymakers should emphasize nuclear’s local benefits instead of just its role in helping solve the global warming problem. If a net-zero emission climate target requires nuclear energy, then countries need to tackle the political impediments to nuclear energy. Our research suggests how this effort might be accomplished: talk about the local economic and environmental benefits of nuclear energy instead of the climate benefits
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