Climate governance
Climate change is at its core a political problem.
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In my research, I go beyond a dominant concern with the effectiveness of global climate governance arrangements, to focus attention on whether these arrangements are able to secure accountability and responsibility to act ambitiously to address climate change, and ensure a more equitable division of the burdens and benefits of taking climate action.
Only through critically assessing and securing greater accountability, responsibility and equity within global governance, can we hope to effectively address climate change.​​
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A recent focus has been on transparency in climate governance.
Transparency & accountability
Image credit: Emily Liang
Transparency is at the core of a wide range of global environmental governance arrangements, including in climate governance.
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Transparency as reporting and review in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement seeks to shed light on current and intended climate actions of countries.
My research on this topic asks the questions: if transparency is about making visible, where and on whom does the light shine and what is left obscure? And why?
Through researching such questions, my research shows that transparency is not a neutral means to improve (climate) governance. It is yet another arena where multilateral contestations around fair and equitable burden sharing and responsible climate action get negotiated and operationalized.
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As such, transparency can be empowering and disempowering at the same time. Analyzing this paradox is at the heart of the 5-year TRANSGOV research project that I currently lead.