This discussion paper looks at the protracted nature of international climate change governance, arguing that in order to make a more liveable global environment, long-lasting conceptions of power and interest need to be revised.
Climate change has been widely considered a major global issue for approximately 30 years. The fact that all countries are affected by the problem, regardless of their responsibility, has necessitated discussing mechanisms to address the problem on an international basis rather than by nation-states alone. The issue has a considerable historical background including elaborate steps of institution formation and reaching a global scientific consensus that climate change is indeed a human-induced problem. Nevertheless, none of these progressive steps have been easy. The protracted nature of international governance needs to be revised on an extensive and critical ground by rethinking the dominant understandings of the whole system and by challenging the long-lasting conceptions of power and interest in order to increase the leverage of common but differentiated responsibilities in the making of a more liveable global environment.
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