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Linacre Lectures 2008

Climate governance beyond the nation state:
how business, the arts, and cities are responding to climate change

Over the last 5 years there has been a huge increase in the involvement of non-nation state actors making commitments to tackle climate change. These commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions come from a variety of sources: from corporations and carbon offset companies, to cities, households and individuals. Actions by these non-nation state actors do not occur completely independently from the state, but are framed by government and in-turn also influence how government responds to the problem.

The Lecture series will consider questions such as the theoretical rationale for these non-nation state actors making commitments to reduce emissions; what types of commitments they make; and what quantitative impact the reductions are actually making on carbon dioxide levels globally. Early findings suggest attempts to quantify the cumulative contribution of these reductions have been constrained by the quality of data available; that there are difficulties in separating individual commitments from those required by the state under the Kyoto Protocol; and that the commitments may be small compared to the cuts that scientists say are required.

The 2008 Linacre Lectures were organised by Professor Diana Liverman. The Linacre Lectures are a yearly series organised by Linacre College and the SoGE(ECI and the School of Geography and the Environment take turns to organise) and are supported by Tetra Laval.