“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations

African countries are well recognised as being among the worst affected by the impacts of climate change. However, efforts to secure recognition of these “special circumstances” of African countries within the UN climate negotiations have been unsuccessful, despite this being a continental priority...

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Autor principal:	Nicholas Chan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	SAGE Publishing 2021
Materias:	History of Africa DT1-3415 International relations JZ2-6530 Social Sciences H
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/312ec096879045b5921e4bac4ce03ead
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:312ec096879045b5921e4bac4ce03ead2021-11-12T22:33:56Z“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations0002-03971868-686910.1177/0002039721991151https://doaj.org/article/312ec096879045b5921e4bac4ce03ead2021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1177/0002039721991151https://doaj.org/toc/0002-0397https://doaj.org/toc/1868-6869African countries are well recognised as being among the worst affected by the impacts of climate change. However, efforts to secure recognition of these “special circumstances” of African countries within the UN climate negotiations have been unsuccessful, despite this being a continental priority prior to and following adoption of the Paris Agreement. Such status is linked to global priorities for funding adaptation to climate change. This article explores why some other groups of developing countries have been successful in securing such recognition when African countries have not. It provides a historical institutionalist explanation of the path-dependent politics of such institutional recognition, emphasising the timing of when different groups have advanced vulnerability claims, which shapes the opposition that African countries have encountered in their efforts, as relative late-movers, to exercise agency. It highlights contestation surrounding what “vulnerability” to climate impacts means, and how this contestation has divided Global South solidarity.Nicholas ChanSAGE PublishingarticleHistory of AfricaDT1-3415International relationsJZ2-6530Social SciencesHENAfrica Spectrum, Vol 56 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	History of Africa DT1-3415 International relations JZ2-6530 Social Sciences H
spellingShingle	History of Africa DT1-3415 International relations JZ2-6530 Social Sciences H Nicholas Chan “Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
description	African countries are well recognised as being among the worst affected by the impacts of climate change. However, efforts to secure recognition of these “special circumstances” of African countries within the UN climate negotiations have been unsuccessful, despite this being a continental priority prior to and following adoption of the Paris Agreement. Such status is linked to global priorities for funding adaptation to climate change. This article explores why some other groups of developing countries have been successful in securing such recognition when African countries have not. It provides a historical institutionalist explanation of the path-dependent politics of such institutional recognition, emphasising the timing of when different groups have advanced vulnerability claims, which shapes the opposition that African countries have encountered in their efforts, as relative late-movers, to exercise agency. It highlights contestation surrounding what “vulnerability” to climate impacts means, and how this contestation has divided Global South solidarity.
format	article
author	Nicholas Chan
author_facet	Nicholas Chan
author_sort	Nicholas Chan
title	“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
title_short	“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
title_full	“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
title_fullStr	“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
title_full_unstemmed	“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations
title_sort	“special circumstances” and the politics of climate vulnerability: african agency in the un climate change negotiations
publisher	SAGE Publishing
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/312ec096879045b5921e4bac4ce03ead
work_keys_str_mv	AT nicholaschan specialcircumstancesandthepoliticsofclimatevulnerabilityafricanagencyintheunclimatechangenegotiations
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“Special Circumstances” and the Politics of Climate Vulnerability: African Agency in the UN Climate Change Negotiations

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