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(PDF) How Is Australia Adapting to Climate Change

   

Added on  2021-04-21

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Running head: AUSTRALIA’S INITIATIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGEWhat are the driving forces of Australia’s approach to international action on climate change?IntroductionNowadays, there has been debate regarding climate change. It is said that,almost everyregion of the world is affected or will be affectedby the issue of climate whichdisturbs theeconomies of nations, and the lives of the people internationally (Barry, Osborne and Rose 2013:14).scientists have claims that people has already started to experience the impact of changes inthe climate. which includes: changes in the weather pattern, disturbance in the levels of the seaand more such extreme conditions are present in the environment as well(Shienfeld and Pandis2016: 26). The greenhouse gases, which are emitted due to the activities of the humans, are saidto be the most crucial factor for rapid changes occurring in the atmosphere. Presently, the globalcommunities agreed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and theKyoto Protocol acknowledging the climate change is the global problem (Colins et al. 2013:34).After the agreement, the nations desired to reduce the emissions on a global basis within astipulated time period as well as to avoid the interference of the climate changes with thehumans. The emergency to reduce emissions within a very short span of time was a greatchallenge for many countries including Australia(Jabareen 2013: 220).Therefore, this essayfocuses on the approach of Australia towards climate change proposed by the United Nations andthe Kyoto Protocol. This essay is divided into four parts. The first part discusses the globalactions and the Kyoto protocol. The second part highlight of key theories (Realism, Liberalismand Constructivism) of foreign policies in dealing with issues out their perimeter. The last partdiscusses Australia approach toward climate change following by a conclusion.Global ActionsThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is aninternational treaty on the preservation and conservation of the environment that was adopted on9th of May in 1992. The UNFCCC was opened for signature at United Nations Conference onEnvironment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, popularly known as theEarth Summit(Brunnée and Streck 2013: 589). The convention states that the nations should takeserious actions to protect the climate and the first ones to take the measures would be the first

1AUSTRALIA’S INITIATIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGEworld or the developed counties of the world. The Frame Work Convention also specifies theaim of the developed countries and states that the countries should be able to stabilize theemissions of the greenhouse gases by the year 2000 to the level that was recorded in the year1990(Morgan and Waskow 2014: 17). Therefore, the first ambition step toward this vision wasKyoto Protocol summit held in Japan.The Kyoto ProtocolThe Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement which is linked to the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change which executes and announces to reduce theemissions. This approach was adopted in the Kyoto summit on 11th of December, 1997 andentered into force on 16th February, 2005 (Bartel, McFarland and Hearfield 2014:45). Thedetailed reports on the rules and regulations for the implementation of the Protocol were adoptedin year 2001 at COP7 in Marrakesh, Morocco and are referred as the “MarrakeshAccords”(Iwata and Okada 2014: 325). The first commitment period of the Protocol resultedfrom 2008 to 2012. The protocol recognized that the first world or the developed nations areresponsible for the high amount of emissions of the greenhouse gasesthat are recorded. Thepresence of such high amount of emissions in the atmosphere is due to the result that thesecountries are having more than 150 years of continuous industrial activity. The Protocol hasplaced a higher burden and ordered for the reduction of the emissions of the developed nationsand have placed them under the principle of “common but differentiated theirresponsibilities”(Neilsen et al. 2015: 44). However, there has been controversial paradigmregarding countries approach in climate change initiatives. Thus, theories of foreign policy helpperhaps make us understand this phenomenon.Theories and Foreign PolicyTheories of foreign policy help explain the interests of states and why states approachglobal issues differently on the international level. Realism as a theoryof International Relationsput emphasis on the role of the state, the national interests and the military power of the politicsin the world.Realism claim to offer the most accurate explanation of the behaviour of the stateand the set of the policies to mitigate the constitutional elements of the international affairs. Therealist assume that the states are unitary in nature, act within a geographical boundary and the

2AUSTRALIA’S INITIATIVES ON CLIMATE CHANGErule of the states without any kind of authority and the sovereign states are not internationalinstitutions but are the main actors of the international affairs. Most critics criticize this theory on the ground of significance prospects of the nation.According to them, the nation acts as the starting point of the analysis and struggles with thechange. This theory ignores the logical factors and does not consider the real roles for the non-state actors(Popper 2013: 54). While another theory of International, Liberalism is of the view that deals with theprotection, value, quality of lives and freedom of individuals.The liberals are generally of thebelief that a government is the most necessary part of any state that has the capability to protectthe individuals from being harmed by the others. They also recognize that the government itselfis capable enough to pose a threat to the liberty. Liberal authors are of the view that society can be based only upon the market values andindividualism, which many critics are state it as an illusion. The theory has very contribution tothe foreign policy and overstates the policy for cooperation (Barry et al. 2013, 66).The theory of Constructivism states that how the different core aspects of theinternational relations is socially constructed and are not determined by the structure or objectiveanalysis. According to this theory, international relations is a social realm which incorporates theuse of interaction and the agents and structures are mutually constituted. The problem with this theory is that,it lacks the consideration of ethics which is the backbone ofany decision-making process that bring about changes and improvement in the nation(Brunnéeand Streck 2013: 600).Australia’s Approach Toward Climate change.Australia is enlisted as one of the countries with highest emission, most of which comesfrom coal. According to the reports, forest and agriculture sector accounts for 23% of the totalemission (Wong et al. 2013: 52). Here, mention can be made of Kyoto Protocol, which wassigned by the Australia in the era of 1998. One of the striking features is the highest emission ofgreenhouse gases in 1990, which divided the country into three nations. The major drive behindthis was land clearing. This alarmed the government, which resulted in issuing warnings towardsmaintaining the emission levels of 108% (Tan, Ficklin and Yusop 2014: 676). From thenonwards, the government improsed restrictions on land clearing for mitigating the emissionlevels.

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