This PhD project explores the political influence of four sets of non-governmental actors upon the international politics of global warming. The forms of influence attributable to Working Group 1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the body set up to advise governments on the science of climate change), the mass media's coverage of global warming, and the political involvement of both the fossil fuel lobbies and environmental groups in the policy debate on climate change, are understood via use of literatures on the dimensions of power appropriate to understanding the significance of non-state actors. The project stems from a widely acknowledged absence of a detailed understanding of the role of non-governmental organisations in international environmental politics, which extends to the international politics of global warming. The influence of each group of actors is conceptualised in different ways, so that the forms of power used to describe the various groups are not compared. Rather, the aim of the thesis is to assess what a less state-centred reading of the international politics of global warming, derived from a discussion of the role of the above actors, has to offer existing explanations. The analysis of these groups of actors sheds light on different aspects of the way the issue of climate change has been addressed at the international level. The conclusions drawn about the influence of these actors are used to critique the popular use of Regime accounts in international environmental politics that focus upon the process of institutional bargaining between states, which are argued to provide an inadequate basis for explanation of the global politics of climate change.

Skogen har under lång tid använts som värmekälla. Genom att ta tillvara på grot (GRenar Och Toppar) vid slutavverkningar bidrar skogsägaren med förnybar energi som minskar beroendet av fossila bränslen. Denna studie behandlar attityder gällande uttag av grot vid slutavverkningar. Studien utfördes som en enkätundersökning bland skogsägare och skogsinspektorer anställda inom Södra. Studien visar att det är oron för näringsuttag från skogen och risk för körskador som är de största faktorer som gör att skogsägare har en negativ attityd gällande grotuttag vid slutavverkning. Studien påvisar vikten av att  kunskapsnivån behöver öka hos skogsägarna gällande grotuttag och dess effekter. En attitydförändring gällande grotuttag behövs för att säkra framtida potentiella uttag. De konsekvenser som attityderna kan ge är att det inte blir tillräckliga mängder grotuttag och att de mål Sverige sätter upp i framtiden därmed inte kan nås. / Forests have been used as an energy source for a long time. By taking advantage of logging residues at final harvesting, the forest owners contribute with renewable energy that reduces dependence of fossil fuels. This study concerns the attitudes regarding the collection of logging residues. The study was conducted as a survey which was answered by forest owners and employees that work with counseling regarding forestry. The survey shows that the major obstacles that gives negative attitudes of logging residues is the concern about the nutrient removal from the forest and damage dealt by machinery. The study demonstrates the importance of knowledge, and the needs to increase the forest owners knowledge about logging residues and its effects. A change of attitude concerning logging residues is needed to secure the future collection of logging residues. The impact that attitudes can give is that there will be insufficient quantities of logging residues in the future.

In December 2015, the world leaders gathered in Paris trying to address the urging challenges with climate change. The product of this meeting is called the Paris Agreement. Beforehand, many argued that another failure could not be accepted and the policymakers must let science influence the policy process. The aim of this study was to explore, through the epistemic community approach, in what way IPCC where able to influence the Paris Agreement. The results shows that the Paris Agreement was highly influenced under the topic sustainable development, while IPCCs assessments for mitigation and adaption was partly implemented.

This thesis examines the EU´s framing of its climate policies before and during the Covid-19 crisis. Based on previous research concerning economic crises and climate policy in the EU, it is expected that environmental policy will be downgraded in importance or set aside during a severe crisis. The research question is analyzed through a frame analysis of official EU documents concerning climate and economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The thesis finds that the European Union mostly frames its climate policies in terms of a ‘green transition’, by means of a ‘just transition’ and by principles of a ‘circular economy’, before and during the Covid-19 crisis. The results suggests that the Covid-19 crisis has not weakened, or substantially changed the framing of climate policies in the EU, at the time of writing. In contrast, the crisis is often framed as an opportunity to accelerate the transition towards a sustainable society. The comprehensive set of policies; the European Green Deal, the role of the Commission as a policy entrepreneur, and the increased public support for climate action are discussed as explanatory factors to why the Covid-19 crisis has not caused climate policy to be downgraded or side-lined on the political agenda.

Being the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and second largest economy, China’s role in international climate negotiations has been the topic of much heated debate over the past 10 years. However, few studies have sought to understand China ́s role in the Global Environmental Governance and Chinese leadership therefore remains a lacuna in need of further investigation. This generates one central question: How does leadership theory bring insight into China ́s role in the international climate change negotiations? The research is designed as a qualitative case study, applying an analytical framework by Young (1991). A content analysis in conjunction with the analytical framework is applied to policy documents, speeches and official reports produced by the Chinese Government, UNFCCC and IISD as a way to understand China ́s negotiation strategies and climate change goals. The findings suggest that China has shown weak leadership during the climate summit in 2009, since there was a huge lack of leadership capabilities applied in their negotiation strategies. However, in 2015 China met all leadership indicators to a certain degree and can therefore be seen to have exercised strong leadership capabilities. It can therefore be argued, that China has become a leading actor in the climate change regime due to their shift in negotiation approach from 2009 to 2015, through their influence and position in shaping the global climate change agenda.

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This essay is to be filed as a sub-category under the greater question of what sets the odds for international cooperation. It takes a closer look at domestic politics’ influence over the issue area: utilizing a liberal rational actor theoretical approach with an interest focus. The subject of this single case study is climate politics in the United States during the Obama Administration and its meaning for the Copenhagen Accord commitments.It concludes that domestic politics matter for the odds of international cooperation in the case of U.S. climate action and that ratification of the U.S. commitments to Copenhagen rest in the hands of strong interest groups. This conclusion relies on the fact that in the U.S., the decision-making horizon for the ‘collective’ of government branches is short due to overlapping election cycles, a slow legislative process and a weak party structure. What this essay underlines is that ignoring domestic politics and viewing states as unitary actors under conditions of divergent policy preferences between branches of government will produce incomplete and incorrect conclusions about the reasons and odds for international cooperation.

Climate capitalism has emerged over the last two decades as the response of a section of the global elite to the crisis of global warming. Greater consciousness of threats to the stability of the global carbon cycle, and thus to the general conditions for capital accumulation, has led certain members of the global elite to design a project of climate capitalism, that holds the promise of a smooth transition out of the crisis and into a new era of accumulation on renewed, ecologically modernized foundations. However, climate capitalism has been contested from the start. For one, many still do not accept that there exists any problem that needs addressing in the first place. At the other end of the spectrum, climate capitalism is challenged on the grounds of its incapacity to reduce GHG emissions and its complicity with neoliberalism in entrenching existing inequality. Debates abound around the latter critique. Should climate capitalism be opposed by all means, or should it be cautiously supported, for want of an alternative that can be realized rapidly enough? The response to this question crucially depends on whether support exists among the corporate and other global elites for a climate capitalism that stands a chance of actually reducing climate impacts in a timely manner. This dissertation directly addresses the issue of the existence and extent of corporate elite support for climate capitalism. It asks specifically, what forces support climate capitalism, how and to what degree they are organized, and how powerful they are relative to the forces of the status quo. This study answers the question of the potential of the climate capitalist project to become entrenched at the core of the neoliberal hegemonic bloc with a qualified yes: although broad support has not yet emerged, it seems poised to develop in the future as the global ecological crisis deepens – perhaps as an outcome of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. As to the question of the content of climate capitalism, and thereupon the issue of whether climate capitalism can actually provide a reduction in GHG emissions, the study finds that the dominant view of climate capitalism is that of a weak ecological modernization, taking place over the long term. In view of the scientific consensus on the urgency of massive GHG emissions reductions in the near term, this confirms the argument put forth by critics that a realistic response to climate change cannot be founded on climate capitalist principles. / Graduate / 0626 / 0700 / 0616

I spåren av de senaste årens debatt om antropogen klimatpåverkan har en ny litterär genre vuxit fram: ”klimatböcker”. Dessa böcker fyller den viktiga funktionen att kommunicera problemet till allmänheten. I denna uppsats undersöker jag tre svenskspråkiga klimatböcker och analyserar hur författarna, med olika utgångspunkt, tilldelar ansvaret att minska koldioxidutsläppen. Gemensamt för böckerna är synen på klimatfrågan som ett politiskt problem som kräver politiska lösningar. Författarna placerar både det individuella och det kollektiva ansvaret inom den demokratiska ordningen. Jag problematiserar detta genom att relatera till teorier om den offentliga debattens brister. / Following the last few years of public debate on anthropogenic climate change, a new literary genre has emerged: ”climate books”. These books have the important role of communicating the problem to the general public. In this paper I analyze three Swedish climate books with regards to how they assign responsibility for mitigating climate change. The books regard the climate issue as a political problem requiring political solutions. The authors place the individual and collective responsibility within the democratic order. I problematize this by relating to limitations in public sphere theory.