Lab Projects

We Did It!? is a speculative fiction magazine that exists in an imagined 2050 where Canada that has achieved its net zero carbon emissions goal. The stories that compose the magazine explore different aspects of how Canada got to net zero, what life in the net zero world looks like, and the work still left to be done to create a just and equitable low carbon society. Rather than scenarios or projected pathways, this magazine explores the pursuit of net zero through stories that imagine how social and political change might look and where it might take us. They are filled with contingencies, surprises (good and bad), unanticipated consequences, and different pathways both to and away from the goal of net zero, just as we assume Canada’s real path to net zero will be.

This SSHRC-funded research project, being undertaken by an international research team headed up by Matt Hoffmann and Steven Bernstein, seeks to analyze both the obstacles to decarbonization and the conditions under which policy pathways to decarbonization are being and can be constructed. The carbon system or carbon lock-in does not arise from a single technology, institution, or cultural tradition. It is an emergent property of multiple, interlinked technologies, institutions, and dynamics happening at multiple scales. Thus, destabilizing carbon lock-in and building new path dependencies will not take place on a single path. Instead, multiple pathways to decarbonization will need to be developed at multiple scales simultaneously. The aim of this project is to explore these pathways both theoretically and empirically and to provide guidance on how they can be developed practically.

Interventions

The project team includes:
Graeme Auld
Michele Betsill
Harriet Bulkeley
Benjamin Cashore
Kelly Levin
Matthew Paterson
Simone Pulver
Johannes Stripple
Janzwood, Amy. 2020. Global Business Leadership in Carbon Pricing: The Case of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC). Working Paper 2020-4. Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Millar, Heather, Eve Bourgeois, Steven Bernstein & Matthew Hoffmann. 2020. Self-reinforcing and self-undermining feedbacks in subnational climate policy implementation, Environmental Politics, DOI: 10.1080/09644016.2020.1825302

Bernstein, Steven and Matthew Hoffmann. 2019. Climate politics, metaphors and the fractal carbon trap. Nature Climate Change.

Janzwood, Amy. 2019. Carbon Disclosure and Decarbonization: The Case of CDP. Working Paper 2019-3. Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Lemphers, Nathan. 2019. Rolling the snowball- Norway’s efforts to electrify transportation. Working Paper 2019-2. Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Yu, Bowen. 2019. Climate Clubs and Global Decarbonization: A Comparison of the APP and the CEM. Working Paper 2019-1. Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Bernstein, Steven and Matthew Hoffmann. 2018. Decarbonisation: The Politics of Transformation. In Governing Climate Change: Polycentricity in Action? Edited by Andrew Jordan, Dave Huitema, Harro van Asselt, and Johanna Forster. Cambridge University Press, pp. 248-265.

Tozer, Laura. 2018. Waterfront Toronto and the Transformation of the Green Building Market. Working Paper 2018-5. Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto.

Bernstein, Steven, Matthew Hoffmann and Nathan Lemphers. 2018. The Global Subsidies Initiative: Catalytic Actors and the Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform. In The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reform, edited by Jakob Skovgaard and Harro van Asselt, 173-189. Cambridge University Press.

Van der Ven, Hamish, Steven Bernstein, and Matthew Hoffmann. 2017. “Valuing the Contributions of Nonstate and Subnational Actors to Climate Governance.” Global Environmental Politics 17 (1): 1-20.

Tozer, Laura. 2016. “Power and Politics in Decarbonization Pathway: The Case of the Climate Group’s Smart 2020 Initiative“. Working Paper 2016-2. Environmental Governance Lab.

Bernstein, Steven and Matthew Hoffmann. 2016. The Politics of Decarbonization: A Framework and Method. Working Paper 2016-1. Environmental Governance Lab.

This SSHRC funded project is led by Matt Hoffmann, Chris Gore, Michele Betsill, and Sara Hughes. This project will examine the emergence, implementation, and wind down of the 100 Resilient Cities initiative in order to better understand and help enhance the potential for transnational initiatives and cities to catalyze transformation towards sustainability and a low-carbon future. Our goal is to provide a fulsome picture of the life cycle and impact of the 100 Resilient Cities initiative and in so doing generate academic insights into the nature of sustainability transformations and practical knowledge for urgently pursuing transformation in a time of climate crisis.

This project is led by Teresa Kramarz, associate professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, and Professor Susan Park (University of Sydney). The system of global environmental governance (GEG) has been characterized by fragmentation and duplication of efforts, dispersed political authority and weak regulatory influence. This project seeks to develop an accountability lens in GEG, and assess the potential for greater accountability in the system.

AGEG TASK FORCE
Our research network on Accountability in Global Environmental Governance was established in 2014, and has been running workshops as well as panels, roundtables and semi plenary sessions at the International Studies Association and the Earth Systems Governance conferences. The research network is one of the main task forces of the Earth Systems Governance project.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the AGEG Task Force. Please contact Teresa or Susan for more information: teresa.kramarz@utoronto.ca; susan.park@sydney.edu.au



What does being a member of the AGEG Task Force mean?
There are no costs involved, being a member means you participate in Task Force activities
Participation can be virtual, the AGEG website (and email updates) will provide you with information and access to other scholars working in this area as well as relevant news on upcoming events, workshops, and roundtables
Participation can be face-to-face: the AGEG task force provides a hub for members who want to engage with each other by developing joint activities and sharing relevant news (eg using AGEG to send out expressions of interest for roundtables, panels and workshops that you want to run, facilitating collaborations, etc.).
The Task Force is also a place to advertise the work you have published in this area. Please do send us any work you have published on accountability and global environmental governance and we will amplify it through our network.
Park, Susan and Teresa Kramarz (2019). “Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Kramarz, Teresa and Susan Park (2019), “Identifying Multiple Accountabilities in Global Environmental Governance,” in Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap, edited by Susan Park and Teresa Kramarz, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Park, Susan and Teresa Kramarz. (2019) “Does Accountability Matter for Global Environmental Governance?”in Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap, edited by Susan Park and Teresa Kramarz, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Kramarz, Teresa and Susan Park (2017). “Accountability and Environmental Politics,” Review of Policy Research 34 (1).

Kramarz, Teresa and Susan Park (2017). “The Politics of Environmental Accountability.” Review of Policy Research, 34 (1).

Kramarz, Teresa and Susan Park (2016). “Accountability in Global Environmental Governance: A Meaningful Tool for Action?” Global Environmental Politics, 16 (2).

Park, Susan and Teresa Kramarz (2016). “Accountability in Global Environmental Governance,” Global Environmental Politics 16 (2).

Aarti Gupta, Bunlong Leng, David Schlosberg, Jessie Connell, John Dryzek, Jonathan Kuyper, Judith van Leeuwen, Karin Bäckstrand, Michelle Scobie, Nick Enfield, Oscar Widerberg, Pichamon (May) Yeophantong, Robert MacNeil, Ruben Zondervan, Sokphea Young, Susan Park, Teresa Kramar. (2015). AGEG Workshop Report #3, University of Sydney, 18-19 December 2015.

This SSHRC-funded project is led by Steven Bernstein and Erin Hannah from King’s University College at Western University. It aims to identify and explain the problem of institutional and policy incoherence in global sustainable development governance, the repeated attempts to build macro-level coherence over the last 30 years, and their consequences for policies and institutional arrangements including among the United Nations and its major sustainable development initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), International Financial Institutions, and the WTO.

Kenneth W. Abbott and Steven Bernstein. 2015. “The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: Orchestration by Default and Design.” Global Policy.

Steven Bernstein. 2013. “Rio + 20: Sustainable Development in a Time of Multilateral Decline.” Global Environmental Politics 13 (4): 12-21.

Steven Bernstein and Erin Hannah. 2012. “The WTO and Institutional (In)Coherence in Global Economic Governance.” Oxford Handbook on the WTO, edited by Amrita Narlikar, Martin Daunton, and Robert M. Stern. Oxford University Press, pp. 766-808.

Steven Bernstein. 2013. “The Role and Place of a High-Level Political Forum in Strengthening the Global Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development.” Commissioned by UN-DESA. Available at: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/2331Bernstein%20study%20on%20HLPF.pdf.

This SSHRC-funded project is headed up by Matthew Paterson at the University of Ottawa. Steven Bernstein and Matt Hoffmann are co-investigators. The project seeks to understand how the idea of carbon markets emerged and came to dominate the global response to climate change. We are exploring the network of individuals that participated in the early carbon markets and how they shaped the diffusion of this idea more broadly. We are also undertaking a comparative analysis of carbon markets in Canada, the US, and Australia to understand how carbon markets developed in different political settings. This project has produced three significant journal articles, a number of conference papers, and has multiple publications in the pipeline.

Matthew Paterson, Matthew Hoffmann, Michele Betsill, Steven Bernstein (Forthcoming 2014), “The Micro foundations of Policy Diffusion towards Complex Global Governance: An Analysis of the Transnational Carbon Emission Trading Network,” Comparative Political Studies.

Michele Betsill and Matthew Hoffmann (2011), “The Contours of Cap and Trade: The Evolution of Emissions Trading Systems for Greenhouse Gases” Review of Policy Research 27 (1): 81-103.

Steven Bernstein, Michele Betsill, Matthew Hoffmann, Matthew Paterson (2010), “A Tale of Two Copenhagens: Carbon Markets and Climate Governance” Millenium: Journal of International Studies 39 (1): 161-173.

This research project, headed by Andrea Olive, examines attitudes about fracking, energy politics, and climate change.

A note from the authors:

In spite of a long history of resource dependence and extractive activities, matched by contentious resource debates, protests, and community mobilization and engagement, there has been little empirical work that has aggregated and mapped non-governmental organization (NGO) activities in British Columbia. In this new project, currently in the pilot phase, we are investigating regional patterns in NGO selection of environmental issues, organizational structure and funding, and strategies of outreach and action. Our work aims to bridge gaps in knowledge on the patterns of environmental organizing in rural and urban regions, and offer insights into the changing nature of social movements and collective action in Canada.

This year, following public opinion surveys conducted with residents of Saskatchewan and North Dakota, this report was produced:

Olive, Andrea, Emily Eaton, and Randy Besco. 2018. Winds of Change: Public Opinion on Energy in Saskatchewan. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

This research project has resulted in two publications. Earlier this year, this article published, outlining the impact of oil development on federally listed species at risk in Saskatchewan:

Olive, Andrea. 2018. “Oil Development in the Grasslands: Saskatchewan’s Bakken Formation and Species at Risk Protection.” Cogent Environmental Science 40(1).

Additionally, this article published this year:

Olive, Andrea and Katie Valentine. 2018. “Is Anyone Out There? Exploring Saskatchewan’s Civil Society Involvement in Hydraulic Fracturing.” Energy Research and Social Science. 39 (May): 192-197.

Finally, from the author:

As part of a suite of projects on the governance of hydraulic fracturing, I worked with a team led by Jennifer Baka (Penn State University) to look at the contested regulatory landscape for fracking in the US.

Jennifer Baka, Kate J. Neville, Erika Weinthal, and Karen Bakker. 2018. Agenda‐Setting at the Energy‐Water Nexus: Constructing and Maintaining a Policy Monopoly in U.S. Hydraulic Fracturing Regulation. Review of Policy Research, https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12287

There is a need for immediate and widespread climate action. That call to action is highlighted in the recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel (IPCC) on Climate Change which warned that there is very limited time to keep global warming below 1.5°C. The IPCC calls for “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” including major shifts in energy systems. Renewable energy is one of the key means of bringing global emissions within the required 1.5 degrees limit. This project between academics, policy makers, industry analysts and civil society investigates in depth what a transition to renewable energy will entail and aims specifically to understand what are the environmental and social challenges and opportunities along the value chains of minerals required to scale our renewable energy production and use.

Workshop Report: Governing Minerals for Renewable Energy (July 2019).