Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Book chapters
Title (Primary) Science
Title (Secondary) Research Handbook on Climate Governance
Author Beck, S.
Publisher Bäckstrand, K.; Lövbrand, E.
Year 2015
Department UPOL
Page From 286
Page To 296
Language englisch
UFZ wide themes RU6;
Abstract The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has become established as a pioneer in science-based global policy: it has conducted the most comprehensive synthesis of scientific knowledge on climate change to date and has managed to include experts from around the world in policy advice activities. Experts have come to play a significant role in global environmental governance. The growing demand for policy-relevant knowledge has led to the emergence of a novel set of expert organizations to fulfill this role.
These organizations are entrusted with the task of assessing available scientific information on environmental change and presenting it in a form that is useful to policymakers. This process (and its outcome) is referred to as an ‘assessment’ (Mitchell et al. 2006, p. 3). Due to its achievements, the IPCC has also become a role model for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) and the newly established Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).1 The growing demand for expertise reflects the extent to which policy has become science-based in fields such as global warming, biodiversity, stratospheric ozone depletion, air pollution, forest conservation and indeed sustainability policy as a whole, all of which are increasingly linked to issues such as international security, development and economic growth (for an overview, see Gupta et al. 2012).
The first part of this chapter asks what constructivist approaches can contribute to explaining the role of experts in climate governance. It then goes on to discuss existing empirical findings on the IPCC’s role in policy in the light of these different constructivist approaches. Finally, the chapter asks what lessons can be learnt from these empirical findings to inform the debates about the future role of the IPCC. It also suggests a number of questions arising from the analysis that need to be addressed by future research.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=16822
Beck, S. (2015):
Science
In: Bäckstrand, K., Lövbrand, E. (eds.)
Research Handbook on Climate Governance
Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, p. 286 - 296