Representation and participation in formulating Nepal’s REDD+ approach

ABSTRACT

REDD+ is an international policy aimed at incentivizing forest conservation and management and improving forest governance. In this article, we interrogate how newly articulated REDD+ governance processes established to guide the formulation of Nepal’s REDD+ approach address issues of participation for different social groups. Specifically, we analyse available forums of participation for different social groups, as well as the nature of their representation and degree of participation during the country’s REDD+ preparedness phase. We find that spaces for participation and decision-making in REDD+ have been to date defined and dominated by government actors and influential civil society groups, whereas the influence of other actors, particularly marginalized groups such as Dalits and women’s organizations, have remained limited. REDD+ has also resulted in a reduction of influence for some hitherto powerful actors (e.g. community forestry activists) and constrained their critical voice. These governance weaknesses related to misrepresentation and uneven power relations in Nepal cast doubt on the extent to which procedural justice has been promoted through REDD+ and imply that implementation may, as a consequence, lack the required social legitimacy and support. We discuss possible ways to address these shortcomings, such as granting greater prominence to neglected civil society forums within the REDD+ process, allowing for an increase in their influence on policy design, enhancing capacity and leadership of marginalized groups and institutionalizing participation through continued forest governance reform.

Key policy insights

• Participation is a critical asset in public policy design.

• Ensuring wide and meaningful participation can enhance policy legitimacy and thus its endorsement and potential effective implementation.

• Fostering inclusive processes through dedicated forums such as multi-stakeholder groups can help overcome power dynamics.

• While REDD+ is open to participation by different actors through a variety of formal means, many countries lack a clear framework for participation in national policy processes.

• Nepal’s experience with representation and participation of non-state actors in its REDD+ preparedness programme provides useful insights for similar social and policy contexts.

     

From Bullets to Boreholes: A Disaggregated Analysis of Domestic Water Cooperation in Drought-prone Regions

Does water shortage incentivize cooperation? Case studies suggests that water scarcity can rarely, if at all, explain violence, instead such shortages rather facilitate cooperative actions around water. Another major argument from qualitative research holds that water scarcity and armed conflict often occur side by side. These insights have rarely been tested empirically across cases on a sub-national level. Earlier quantitative work instead focused on basin or state level interactions. This article fills these gaps by using disaggregated data to analyze the effect of water scarcity on incidences of domestic water cooperation. Using event data covering the Mediterranean area and Northern Africa (1997–2009), this article first shows that water-related actions, cooperative or conflictual, in general are more frequent in water scarce areas. Second, the analysis demonstrates that water cooperation occurs in areas with difficult access to groundwater and with a history of violence. Third, the findings suggest that the relationship between water scarcity and water cooperation is conditional on levels of democracy. The presented results also differ depending on whether state or non-state actors collaborate in domestic water initiatives. Taken together, these findings provide crucial insights to our understanding of environmental peacebuilding and water security.     

基于行动者网络的土地利用冲突及其治理机制研究——以广州市海珠区果林保护区为例

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非国家行为体的地缘政治空间影响及实现路径

全球治理背景下,国家仍是国际社会最重要行为体,但非国家行为体作为重要的国际活动参与者也逐渐成为不可忽视的力量。在地理学框架中深入探讨非国家行为体的地缘政治角色,可以更加系统地理解“一带一路”建设中的多元地缘关系。论文依据地理学尺度思想梳理了非国家行为体的概念和分类,并归纳其地缘政治空间影响及实现途径,以期在理论上完善对地缘政治主体的研究,搭建非国家行为体的地缘政治认识框架,实践上指导中国“一带一路”等对外合作的开展。主要结论包括：① 非国家行为体没有动摇国家主权的决定性地位,但在世界政治中仍发挥着不可替代的独特作用,一是作为国家力量的拓展,二是对传统的国家边界、主权有空间上的突破;② 在国际事务上,非国家行为体与国家的互动及相关行为对国际安全、制度、认知和权力空间既产生了积极作用,也造成了一定损害和威胁;③ 非国家行为体通过参与和维护全球治理,塑造地缘政治想象与认同,以及调节和重塑地缘政治空间边界三种方式实现地缘政治影响。因此,为更好地服务“一带一路”建设,需要从不同角度分析非国家行为体的影响,通过与之加强对话、开展合作,合理管理、警惕部分非国家行为体的威胁以及培育鼓励中国的非国家行为体等多种方式应对其潜在影响。     

Institutional analysis of actors involved in the governance of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes

In this study, we used institutional analysis to investigate the design of innovative contracts for agri-environmental and climate schemes. The aim of such contracts is to better incentivize farmers for the provision of environmental public goods in comparison to current ‘mainstream’ contracts. For the analysis, we differentiated four contract types: result-based, collective, land tenure, and value chain contracts. To represent each type in the analysis, we selected 19 case examples from six European countries. Cases were identified through a mix of methods, combining literature review, web search, and expert consultation. After a structured data collection based on Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework, we focused our analysis on the involved actors and their roles in contract governance. Our results highlight the great diversity of public, private, and civil actors involved from the local, regional, national or international governance level, each performing one or several critical roles in contract governance. We found that it is highly context-dependent which actors assume certain roles. We also discuss how provision of environmental public goods through the contracts might potentially be impacted by certain roles and their assignment to specific actors.     

The role of non-nation-state actors and side events in the international climate negotiations

United Nations climate change conferences have attracted an increasing number and range of observer participants, often outnumbering national delegates. The interactions between the formal and informal spaces of climate governance at the Conference of the Parties (COP) are explored by investigating why non-nation state actors (NNSAs) attend them and by measuring to what extent official UN Side Events provide relevant information for the formal negotiations. Based on primary empirical research at recent COPs, it is found that 60–75% of Side Events have related directly to items under negotiation in the post-2012 climate negotiations. In this regard, Side Events that facilitate informal exchange between stakeholders not only provide input into the negotiations but also allow issues beyond the realm of the negotiations to be discussed, reflecting the scope of climate change. Although Side Events are an effective forum to exchange ideas and network, their current format and purpose as being events ‘on the side’ does not offer a sufficient framework for coordination between the work of NNSAs and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.     

政府与村民的行为对古村落保护及景观变迁的影响——基于本土社会学理论视角

为探究中国古村落景观变迁的发生机理及不同行动者在此过程中的行为逻辑,对浙江省永嘉县境内的楠溪江古村落群进行了案例研究。从本土社会学的理论视角,指出:中国的乡土社会是一个情理社会,国家正式权力镶嵌于乡土文化之中,正式权力与非正式权力、政府与村民的互动推动了古村落景观的变迁。借用"国家-社会"二元框架,将变迁中的行动者分为县(市)政府,乡镇政府,有关系村民和无关系村民四类,指出不同的行动者具有各不相同又彼此联系的行为逻辑,为常态下的中国古村落景观变迁提供了一种行动者类型框架和一种理解方式。     

里海地区能源安全及西方对该地区的地缘政治战略

里海地处欧亚大陆的接合处,地理位置极其重要。近年来,随着一批新的里海大型油汽田的探明,里海的石油地位也迅速上升,再次成为世界关注的焦点。苏联解体后,里海地区一方面因其丰富的油气资源储备备受国际社会关注;另一方面,里海面临着激烈的国际竞争局面和不稳定的区域发展前景。本文论述了里海地区油气资源的储备和生产、出口现状以及国际竞争的局面,尤其是西方参与里海地区油气资源竞争的格局,这不仅引起该地区非国家主体的地缘政治的改变,从而也深刻影响着西方国家主体对该地区的战略和政策。     

场域理论视角下商业绅士化对周边老旧住区的影响——以成都大慈寺社区为例

以成都市大慈寺社区商业绅士化为例,基于布迪厄的场域理论,从不同行为主体的视角出发,分别分析了地方政府、开发商、绅士化群体、原住居民、周边商户及周边小区各自的利益诉求与资本获取,探寻商业绅士化空间对周边老旧住区的影响。研究发现：商业绅士化空间及其周边住区共同构成了一个绅士化场域,不同的行为主体在场域中获取和积累各自资本从而确立其社会实践地位。特别地,绅士化核心场域由地方政府、开发商和绅士化群体共同构成的利益联合体推动形成,体现一种至上而下的全球化资本逻辑运作;边缘场域由原住居民、周边商户和周边租户在周边小区构建而成,其受到了核心场域的支配和影响,与核心场域内的三类主体形成了动态互哺关系,从而逐渐产生新一轮绅士化进程,呈现一种至下而上的本土化资本发展逻辑。大慈寺社区商业绅士化中的核心场域与边缘场域之间存在着既相互分异又相互融合的复杂特征,构建了两者之间的循环发展路径,带动了中心城区的整体更新发展。研究填补了中国商业绅士化对于周边住区影响的理论空白,同时也对城市中心商业空间更新的良性改造提供一定参考价值。