Applying a leverage points framework to the United Nations climate negotiations: The (dis)empowerment of youth participants

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

Marc D. Dixon¹  Richard B. Howarth²  Anne R. Kapuscinski³  Leehi Yona⁴  Ross A. Virginia⁵ 

[1] Dartmouth College Environmental Studies Program, Hanover, New Hampshire;Dartmouth College Department of Sociology, Hanover, New Hampshire;Dartmouth College Environmental Studies Program, Hanover, New Hampshire;Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, Stanford, California;University of California at Santa Cruz, Environmental Studies Department and Coastal Science and Policy Program, Santa Cruz, California;

关键词: climate change;    climate justice;    social movements;    united nations framework convention on climate change;    participatory action research;    youth organizing;   

DOI  :  10.1525/elementa.433

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Young people are both among the generations to be most affected by climate change and critical advocates for climate action. In the face of growing urgency surrounding the climate crisis, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has become an important institutional framework for political progress. We developed a community-based participatory action research project centered on youth involved in the COP climate negotiations. A “leverage points” approach guided our research; this paper is the first time the framework has been applied in an international negotiations context. Our findings point to the structural power, networks, and paradigms that youth might engage with for international climate justice work. We identify actionable leverage points through which youth organizers might increase their social power in the COP process to bring about climate action. Many of these leverage points are rooted in dynamics of power, which we expand upon and connect to broader literature. Moving forward, these findings can benefit and inform the strategies of youth as they participate in the COP process.

【 授权许可】

Unknown