Journal Issue: Cambridge Journal of Climate Research - Volume 1, Issue 2
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Volume
1
Number
2
Issue Date
2024-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
3050-2020
Journal Volume
Articles
Foreword
(2024-12) Cordonier Segger, Marie-Claire
Presidents' Letter
(2024-12) Patel, Shreya; Radice, Benedetta
Politics and Fracking: A Case Study of Pennsylvania Elections
(2024-12) Fallk, Murray
Over the past four years, hydraulic fracturing—or ‘fracking’, the combining of fracturing rock and horizontal drilling to extract oil and natural gas from shale deposits—has evolved into one of the most high-profile political issues in Pennsylvania, the second-highest producer of natural gas in the country. Although fracking began booming in the state around 2008, increased awareness of climate change and the need for urgent climate policy initiatives have facilitated fracking’s rise in politicians’ campaign agendas in recent years. Meanwhile, narratives highlighting fracking’s economic benefits to struggling rural portions of Pennsylvania—and the need for domestic drilling amid geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East—have gripped recent political discourse. Consequently, fracking has evolved into a wedge issue between voters who view fracking as a boon for Pennsylvania’s economic development and national security and those who view the practice as environmentally destructive and feeding the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. With Pennsylvania’s growing importance in shaping the national political landscape, the goal of this summative piece is to explore fracking’s political and electoral role in Pennsylvania during the 2020 presidential election, 2022 senatorial election, and 2024 presidential election, when fracking served as a key issue during some of the most controversial and consequential elections in recent history.
An Orchestrated Governance Approach: Tracing the International Maritime Organization’s Development and Adoption of the Polar Code
(2024-12) Pham, Khang Minh
The increase in Arctic maritime traffic induced by climate change has prompted the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to develop and adopt the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code). While previous research on the governance of the IMO in the Arctic has addressed topics such as plastic waste management, the normative influence of international bureaucracies, and the implementation of the Polar Code from state and industrial perspectives, no study has specifically applied the concept of orchestration to Arctic maritime shipping and the development and adoption of the Polar Code. This paper seeks to fill this gap by using orchestration as an analytical framework to examine how the IMO orchestrated the development and adoption of the Polar Code, especially in response to climate-induced challenges. The analysis draws on documents from the IMO and Arctic Council (AC), along with previous research on Arctic shipping. Qualitative discourse analysis and process tracing are used to explore the data. Findings suggest that the IMO’s orchestration was facilitated by its recognised leadership in maritime governance, but was constrained by capability deficits in Arctic-specific issues. The organization navigated divergent stakeholder interests and sovereignty concerns by engaging the AC and Arctic states as key intermediaries. Orchestration enabled the creation of a comprehensive regulatory framework balancing safety, environmental protection, and commercial interests. However, the article also reveals limitations in addressing critical issues such as the use of heavy fuel oil. These findings contribute to the array of empirical evidence on transnational environmental governance and the evolving regulatory landscape in polar regions.
The Silencing of the Peaceful Protestor: Is It Legitimate to Criminalise Environmental Defenders?
(2024-12) Ajmera, Tanvi
Environmental defenders remain highly vulnerable and under attack across the globe. This paper seeks to answer the question of whether it is legitimate to criminalise environmental defenders, and focuses predominantly on case studies arising from the Philippines and the United Kingdom. This paper is divided into five parts, and addresses (i) the act of protesting, (ii) debates surrounding the policing of protests, (iii) a consideration of the criminalisation of environmental defenders in the Philippines and (iv) the UK respectively, and (v) an inspection of what environmental protests, and the realities of its participants, might look like in the future. The paper ultimately concludes that criminalising environmental defenders isillegitimate and unacceptable, especially if their actions are deemed to be peaceful.