Cool Cities

Cool Cities PDF Author: Benjamin R. Barber
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300228112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
A pointed argument that cities—not nation-states—can and must take the lead in fighting climate change Climate change is the most urgent challenge we face in an interdependent world where independent nations have grown increasingly unable to cooperate effectively on sustainability. In this book, renowned political theorist Benjamin R. Barber describes how cities, by assuming important aspects of sovereignty, can take the lead from faltering nation states in fighting climate change. Barber argues that with more than half the world's population now in urban areas, where 80 percent of both GDP and greenhouse gas emissions are generated, cities are the key to the future of democracy and sustainability. In this compelling sequel to If Mayors Ruled the World, Barber assesses both broad principles of urban rights and specific strategies of sustainability such as fracking bans, walkable cities, above-ground mining of precious resources, energy and heating drawn from garbage incineration, downtown wind turbines, and skyscrapers built from wood. He shows how cities working together on climate change, despite their differences in wealth, development, and culture, can find common measures by which to evaluate the radically different policies they pursue. This is a book for a world in which bold cities are collaborating to combat climate change and inspire hope for democracy even as reactionary populists take over national governments in the United States and Europe. It calls for a new social contract among citizens and municipalities to secure not only their sustainability but their survival.

Cool Cities

Cool Cities PDF Author: Benjamin R. Barber
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300228112
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book Here

Book Description
A pointed argument that cities—not nation-states—can and must take the lead in fighting climate change Climate change is the most urgent challenge we face in an interdependent world where independent nations have grown increasingly unable to cooperate effectively on sustainability. In this book, renowned political theorist Benjamin R. Barber describes how cities, by assuming important aspects of sovereignty, can take the lead from faltering nation states in fighting climate change. Barber argues that with more than half the world's population now in urban areas, where 80 percent of both GDP and greenhouse gas emissions are generated, cities are the key to the future of democracy and sustainability. In this compelling sequel to If Mayors Ruled the World, Barber assesses both broad principles of urban rights and specific strategies of sustainability such as fracking bans, walkable cities, above-ground mining of precious resources, energy and heating drawn from garbage incineration, downtown wind turbines, and skyscrapers built from wood. He shows how cities working together on climate change, despite their differences in wealth, development, and culture, can find common measures by which to evaluate the radically different policies they pursue. This is a book for a world in which bold cities are collaborating to combat climate change and inspire hope for democracy even as reactionary populists take over national governments in the United States and Europe. It calls for a new social contract among citizens and municipalities to secure not only their sustainability but their survival.

Climate Leviathan

Climate Leviathan PDF Author: Joel Wainwright
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1786634317
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
**Winner of the 2019 Sussex International Theory Prize** -- How climate change will affect our political theory - for better and worse Despite the science and the summits, leading capitalist states have not achieved anything close to an adequate level of carbon mitigation. There is now simply no way to prevent the planet breaching the threshold of two degrees Celsius set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. What are the likely political and economic outcomes of this? Where is the overheating world heading? To further the struggle for climate justice, we need to have some idea how the existing global order is likely to adjust to a rapidly changing environment. Climate Leviathan provides a radical way of thinking about the intensifying challenges to the global order. Drawing on a wide range of political thought, Joel Wainwright and Geoff Mann argue that rapid climate change will transform the world's political economy and the fundamental political arrangements most people take for granted. The result will be a capitalist planetary sovereignty, a terrifying eventuality that makes the construction of viable, radical alternatives truly imperative.

Atoll Island States and International Law

Atoll Island States and International Law PDF Author: Lilian Yamamoto
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642381863
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Atoll Island States exist on top of what is perceived to be one of the planet's most vulnerable ecosystems: atolls. It has been predicted that an increase in the pace of sea level rise brought about by increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will cause them to disappear, forcing their inhabitants to migrate. The present book represents a multidisciplinary legal and engineering perspective on this problem, challenging some common misconceptions regarding atolls and their vulnerability to sea-level rise. Coral islands have survived past changes in sea levels, and it is the survival of coral reefs what will be crucial for their continued existence. These islands are important for their inhabitants as they represent not only their ancestral agricultural lands and heritage, but also a source of revenue through the exploitation of the maritime areas associated with them. However, even if faced with extreme climate change, it could theoretically be possible for the richer Atoll Island States to engineer ways to prevent their main islands from disappearing, though sadly not all will have the required financial resources to do so. As islands become progressively uninhabitable their residents will be forced to settle in foreign lands, and could become stateless if the Atoll Island State ceases to be recognized as a sovereign country. However, rather than tackling this problem by entering into lengthy negotiations over new treaties, more practical solutions, encompassing bilateral negotiations or the possibility of acquiring small new territories, should be explored. This would make it possible for Atoll Island States in the future to keep some sort of international sovereign personality, which could benefit the descendents of its present day inhabitants.

The Sovereignty Wars

The Sovereignty Wars PDF Author: Stewart Patrick
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815737823
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
Now in paperback—with a new preface by the author Americans have long been protective of the country's sovereignty—all the way back to George Washington who, when retiring as president, admonished his successors to avoid “permanent” alliances with foreign powers. Ever since, the nation has faced periodic, often heated, debates about how to maintain that sovereignty, and whether and when it is appropriate to cede some of it in the form of treaties and the alliances about which Washington warned. As the 2016 election made clear, sovereignty is also one of the most frequently invoked, polemical, and misunderstood concepts in politics—particularly American politics. The concept wields symbolic power, implying something sacred and inalienable: the right of the people to control their fate without subordination to outside authorities. Given its emotional pull, however, the concept is easily high-jacked by political opportunists. By playing the sovereignty card, they can curtail more reasoned debates over the merits of proposed international commitments by portraying supporters of global treaties or organizations as enemies of motherhood and apple pie. Such polemics distract Americans from what is really at stake in the sovereignty debate: the ability of the United States to shape its destiny in a global age. The United States cannot successfully manage globalization, much less insulate itself from cross-border threats, on its own. As global integration deepens and cross-border challenges grow, the nation's fate is increasingly tied to that of other countries, whose cooperation will be needed to exploit the shared opportunities and mitigate the common risks of interdependence. The Sovereignty Wars is intended to help today's policymakers think more clearly about what is actually at stake in the sovereignty debate and to provide some criteria for determining when it is appropriate to make bargains over sovereignty—and how to make them.

The New Sovereignty

The New Sovereignty PDF Author: Abram Chayes
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674617834
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
In an increasingly complex and interdependent world, states resort to a bewildering array of regulatory agreements to deal with problems as disparate as climate change, nuclear proliferation, international trade, satellite communications, species destruction, and intellectual property. In such a system, there must be some means of ensuring reasonably reliable performance of treaty obligations. The standard approach to this problem, by academics and politicians alike, is a search for treaties with "teeth"--military or economic sanctions to deter and punish violation. The New Sovereignty argues that this approach is misconceived. Cases of coercive enforcement are rare, and sanctions are too costly and difficult to mobilize to be a reliable enforcement tool. As an alternative to this "enforcement" model, the authors propose a "managerial" model of treaty compliance. It relies on the elaboration and application of treaty norms in a continuing dialogue between the parties--international officials and nongovernmental organizations--that generates pressure to resolve problems of noncompliance. In the process, the norms and practices of the regime themselves evolve and develop. The authors take a broad look at treaties in many different areas: arms control, human rights, labor, the environment, monetary policy, and trade. The extraordinary wealth of examples includes the Iran airbus shootdown, Libya's suit against Great Britain and the United States in the Lockerbie case, the war in Bosnia, and Iraq after the Gulf War. The authors conclude that sovereignty--the status of a recognized actor in the international system--requires membership in good standing in the organizations and regimes through which the world manages its common affairs. This requirement turns out to be the major pressure for compliance with treaty obligations. This book will be an invaluable resource and casebook for scholars, policymakers, international public servants, lawyers, and corporate executives.

Climate Change and Sovereignty

Climate Change and Sovereignty PDF Author: Joshua J. Kassner
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030735788
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This book offers a meditation on global justice and international political and legal theory. The author assesses positions in the current debate over the moral nature and limits of sovereignty. He also evaluates the normative role sovereignty ought to play in the practical deliberations of states. The discussion moves from theory to practice. Coverage starts with a conceptual analysis and moral critique. It then goes on to consider specific issues. These include global climate change, secession and self-determination, human rights, global distributive justice, and immigration. Readers will learn how states ought to deliberate about and respond to these important topics. They will also discover potential institutional structures better suited to resolving these issues while also respecting state sovereignty. In working through each specific challenge, the author provides insight into how we ought to think about challenges facing the international community and the potential for properly constructed institutions to function as solutions. These analyses also provide a valuable critical lens to assess the actions (and omissions) of our leaders. In the end, the book argues that domestic governments and regional bodies should be responsible for implementing the chosen course of action. This would provide a basis for holding political leaders more accountable.

Environmental Law and Justice in Context

Environmental Law and Justice in Context PDF Author: Jonas Ebbesson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052187968X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 497

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Book Description
political science and international relations." --Book Jacket.

Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States

Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States PDF Author: Julie Koppel Maldonado
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319052667
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.

Altered States

Altered States PDF Author: Gordon Smith
Publisher: IDRC
ISBN: 0889369178
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
Altered States: Globalisation, Sovereignty, and Governance

Sovereignty Over Natural Resources

Sovereignty Over Natural Resources PDF Author: Nico Schrijver
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521047449
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
In modern international law, permanent sovereignty over natural resources has come to entail duties as well as rights. This study analyses the evolution of permanent sovereignty from a political claim to a principle of international law, and examines its significance for a number of controversial issues such as peoples' rights, nationalization and environmental conservation. Although political discussion has long focused on the rights arising from permanent sovereignty, Dr. Schrijver argues that this has been at the expense of the consideration of the corollary obligations in also entails. His book thus identifies new directions sovereignty over natural resources has taken in an increasingly interdependednt world and demonstrates its relevance to current debate on foriegn-investment regulation, the environment, and sustainable development -- Back cover.