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Nature and Society

Justice and Boundary Setting in Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Policy: A Case Study of the Western Climate Initiative

Pages 105-122
Received 01 Jan 2013
Accepted 01 Mar 2014
Published online: 04 Nov 2014
 

Cap and trade systems have been pursued as a primary strategy for addressing climate change but have received surprisingly little analysis from a justice perspective. Using a multivalent justice framework that includes the dimensions of distribution, recognition, and representation, this article examines the development of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), the largest multijurisdictional North American attempt to create a greenhouse gas (GHG) cap and trade system. Decisions involving five components of creating the system are interrogated: participation metrics, stakeholder consultations, methods of policy analysis, market boundaries, and policy guidelines. This analysis yields two sets of observations. First, the article documents how market-oriented regulation contracted understandings of climate change policy. Decisions taken to facilitate the commodification and marketization of GHGs narrowed the understanding of justice with the WCI to the concept of “fair play” among market participants. Second, the article argues that using a multivalent approach to justice facilitates the observation of how a relatively shallow understanding of justice was shaped in this particular context. It also concludes, however, by considering the limitations of this approach to justice, in particular the dimension of representation, when faced with multiscalar and ambiguous policy contexts such as those inherent to climate policy.

限额和交易系统,被追捧为应付气候变迁的主要策略,但出人意料的是,该系统却鲜少从公正的视角进行分析。本文运用包含分配、承认与再现的多重意义公正框架,检视西方气候方案(WCI)的发展——此为北美最大规模的多重管辖权建立温室气体 (GHG) 配额与交易系统之尝试。 本文将探讨涉及创建该系统的五项构成要素之决议:参与度量、利害关係人谘询、政策分析方法、市场边界,以及政策指导方针。本分析做出两组观察:首先,本文纪录了市场导向的规范,如何缩小气候变迁政策的理解。促成GHG商品化与市场化的决策, 限缩了对于公正概念的理解, WCI被认为仅是市场参与者之间“公平竞赛”的概念。再者, 本文主张, 运用多重意义的方法探问公正之概念,促进了对相对狭义的公正概念之理解如何在此一特定脉络中形塑而成之观察。但本文同时于结论中,考量面对诸如气候政策内含的多重尺度及模煳的政策脉络时,此一探问公正的方法限制,特别是有关再现方面。

Los sistemas de fijación de límites máximos e intercambio de los derechos de emisión [sistemas cap and trade, o CTS] han sido adoptados como una estrategia primaria para abocar el cambio climático, aunque sorprendentemente, desde una perspectiva de la justicia, hayan sido objeto de mínimo análisis. Mediante el uso de un marco de justicia polivalente que incluya las dimensiones de distribución, reconocimiento y representación, este artículo examina el desarrollo de la Iniciativa Climática Occidental (WCI), el intento multijurisdiccional norteamericano más grande para crear un CTS de gases de invernadero (GHG). En el artículo se cuestionan las decisiones que involucran cinco componentes relacionados con la creación de un sistema: las medidas de participación, consultas con los accionistas, métodos de análisis de políticas, límites de mercado, y guías de política. Este análisis produce dos conjuntos de observaciones. Primero, el artículo documenta la manera como las regulaciones orientadas por el mercado contrajeron los entendimientos de la política sobre cambio climático. Las decisiones que se adoptaron para facilitar la conmodificación y la libre comercialización de los GHG contrajeron la comprensión de la justicia con el WCI al concepto de “juego limpio” entre los participantes del mercado. Segundo, el artículo sostiene que al usar un enfoque polivalente sobre justicia se facilita la observación de cómo un entendimiento relativamente superficial de la justicia fue configurado en este particular contexto. Sin embargo, el artículo también concluye tomando en consideración las limitaciones de esta visión de la justicia, en particular la dimensión de representación, cuando se enfrenta con contextos de políticas multiescalares y ambiguas, como aquellas inherentes a la política climática.

Notes

1 RGGI included Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Vermont. New Jersey withdrew in 2011.

2 WCI partners were Arizona, California, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

3 Empirical analysis suggests that a very small number of industries face risks due to carbon pricing alone (Grubb and Neuhoff 2006 Grubb, M., and K. Neuhoff. 2006. Allocation and competitiveness in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme: Policy overview. Climate Policy 6 (1): 730.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]).

4 2010 and 2011 was the time period in which most large design elements were determined.

5 This is 49 percent of emission reductions, not total emissions. Installations could use offsets for up to 8 percent of their actual emissions.

6 New Zealand directly includes agricultural emissions, however. The EU ETS accepts CDM credits (which by definition include some aspects of development) but does not accept land-use credits. The EU ETS is likely to accept REDD+ credits as these mechanisms become functional.

7 The possible exception to this is the small levy on CDM that is diverted to the Adaptation Fund. Within the international scene, key stakeholders with direct representation have championed development and adaptation.

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