Hybrid Governance in Practice: Public and Private Actors in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism

Emma Lund

Hybrid Governance in Practice: Public and Private Actors in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism

Emma Lund

Forskningsoutput: Avhandling › Doktorsavhandling (sammanläggning)

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Popular Abstract in Swedish
För att vi ska kunna lösa globala problem som miljöförstöring och fattigdom är det många som menar att den privata sektorn måste involveras på ett aktivt sätt. I den här avhandlingen, som består av en introduktion och fem vetenskapliga artiklar som tidigare publicerats i internationella tidskrifter, studeras ett exempel på hur privata aktörer faktiskt redan involverats i den internationella klimatregimen. Genom Kyotoprotokollets ‘mekanism för ren utveckling’ (ofta förkortat CDM från engelskans Clean Development Mechanism) implementeras utsläppsminskande projekt i utvecklingsländer, och sedan kan aktörer från i-länder använda utsläppskrediter från dessa projekt för att nå sina åtaganden om utsläppsminskningar under Kyotoprotokollet. Inom CDM har privata aktörer fått en ovanligt aktiv roll jämfört med vad som varit vanligt inom andra internationella överenskommelser, eftersom både implementeringen och övervakningen av projekten har delegerats till privata företag i olika typer av hybrida styrformer.
Avhandlingens bidrag är både teoretiskt och empiriskt. Det teoretiska bidraget består främst i en vidareutveckling av begreppet ‘hybridstyrning’. Sådan styrning, som involverar både offentliga och privata aktörer, är inget homogent fenomen, utan kan ta sig många olika uttryck. Genom att introducera en teoretisk distinktion mellan hybridstyrning med ‘delegerad’, ‘gemensam’ och ‘entreprenöriell’ auktoritet gör avhandlingen det möjligt att dra slutsatser kring för- och nackdelar med olika typer av hybridstyrning. Avhandlingens empiriska bidrag är en utförlig analys av huruvida involverandet av privata aktörer i olika typer av hybridstyrning i CDM har bidragit till ökad effektivitet.
Ett av de främsta skälen för att delegera uppgifter till privata aktörer är att detta anses öka kostnadseffektiviteten. Därför är det en överraskande slutsats att involverandet av privata aktörer i CDM i praktiken inte verkar ha bidragit till ökad kostnadseffektivitet i något av de fall som studerats. Tvärtom verkar delegerandet av implementeringen och övervakningen av projekt till privata aktörer snarare ha minskat kostnadseffektiviteten i CDM. De privata aktörerna har visserligen aktivt försökt minska kostnaderna för att öka sin lönsamhet, men detta har också lett till stora brister i kvaliteten som inte kan vägas upp av de lägre kostnaderna. Ett stort problem för CDM är att en stor andel av de projekt som implementerats sannolikt skulle ha genomförts även utan att vara registrerade som CDM-projekt, vilket innebär att dessa projekt inte inte minskar nettoutsläppen av växthusgaser till atmosfären. Projekt som inte minskar utsläppen kan per definition inte ge kostnadseffektiva utsläppsminskningar, oavsett hur billiga de än är att implementera.
Är det då en god idé att aktivt involvera privata aktörer i implementeringen av en framtida klimatöverenskommelse, eller något annat internationellt miljöavtal? Det beror på hur det görs. För att kunna lösa klimatkrisen är olika former av samarbete med den privata sektorn helt nödvändigt, men som exemplet CDM visar finns det en risk att effektiviteten minskar snarare än ökar om involverandet av privata aktörer inte utformas på ett bra sätt. Framtida forskning bör därför fortsätta att kritiskt granska för- och nackdelarna med olika typer av hybridstyrning.

Originalspråk	engelska
Kvalifikation	Doktor
Tilldelande institution	Statsvetenskapliga institutionen
Handledare	Bäckstrand, Karin, handledare Stripple, Johannes, handledare
Tilldelningsdatum	2013 mars 15
Förlag	Lund University
ISBN (tryckt)	978-91-7473-455-3
Status	Published - 2013

Bibliografisk information

Defence details
Date: 2013-03-15
Time: 10:15
Place: Hörsal C, Kemicentrum, Getingevägen 60, Lund
External reviewer(s)
Name: Andresen, Steinar
Title: Professor
Affiliation: Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway
---

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title = "Hybrid Governance in Practice: Public and Private Actors in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism",

abstract = "It is commonly argued that the private sector needs to become actively involved for society to stand a chance of solving the most pressing global problems. This thesis, consisting of five articles previously published in refereed journals and an introductory essay, studies one case of private actor participation in global environmental governance: the Kyoto Protocol{\textquoteright}s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Through the CDM, actors from developed countries can use emission reduction credits from projects implemented in developing countries to count against their own binding emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM provides a very active role for private actors compared to most other intergovernmental governance processes, as both the implementation and supervision of projects have been delegated to private actors. The contribution of this thesis is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, the thesis argues that private actor involvement in {\textquoteleft}hybrid{\textquoteright} governance arrangements, involving both public and private actors, is not a homogenous phenomenon but can take many different forms. A distinction is therefore introduced between hybrid governance with {\textquoteleft}delegated{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}joint{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}entrepreneurial{\textquoteright} authority. Empirically, the thesis discusses whether private actor participation in the CDM has contributed to increased effectiveness. One of the main reasons for delegating certain tasks to private actors in global environmental governance is to increase cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, a key conclusion of the thesis is that, in practice, the involvement of private actors in the CDM has not furthered cost-effectiveness in any of the examples studied. As counter-intuitive as it might sound, delegating the tasks of implementing and supervising projects to private actors seems to have reduced cost-effectiveness in the CDM. Even though private actors, following a logic of profit maximization, have actively strived for reducing costs, the concurrent reduction in the quality of both projects being implemented and of project supervision has offset any gains made in this regard. It is likely that a large part of the projects implemented through the CDM would have been realized also without the incentive provided by the mechanism, which means that they do not reduce net emissions. If projects do not reduce net emissions, they cannot be cost-effective no matter how cheap they are to implement. Is it a good idea to involve private actors in a future climate agreement, or any other global environmental governance arrangement, then? In the end, it all comes down to how it is done. Trying to channel the interests of private actors towards public interests such as climate protection might be both tempting and necessary for saving the environment, but as the example of the CDM shows, unless the involvement of private actors is wisely designed, engaging them in global environmental governance may reduce rather than increase effectiveness. Future research should therefore continue to scrutinize the merits of different types of hybrid governance arrangements.",

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N2 - It is commonly argued that the private sector needs to become actively involved for society to stand a chance of solving the most pressing global problems. This thesis, consisting of five articles previously published in refereed journals and an introductory essay, studies one case of private actor participation in global environmental governance: the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Through the CDM, actors from developed countries can use emission reduction credits from projects implemented in developing countries to count against their own binding emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM provides a very active role for private actors compared to most other intergovernmental governance processes, as both the implementation and supervision of projects have been delegated to private actors. The contribution of this thesis is both theoretical and empirical. Theoretically, the thesis argues that private actor involvement in ‘hybrid’ governance arrangements, involving both public and private actors, is not a homogenous phenomenon but can take many different forms. A distinction is therefore introduced between hybrid governance with ‘delegated’, ‘joint’, and ‘entrepreneurial’ authority. Empirically, the thesis discusses whether private actor participation in the CDM has contributed to increased effectiveness. One of the main reasons for delegating certain tasks to private actors in global environmental governance is to increase cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, a key conclusion of the thesis is that, in practice, the involvement of private actors in the CDM has not furthered cost-effectiveness in any of the examples studied. As counter-intuitive as it might sound, delegating the tasks of implementing and supervising projects to private actors seems to have reduced cost-effectiveness in the CDM. Even though private actors, following a logic of profit maximization, have actively strived for reducing costs, the concurrent reduction in the quality of both projects being implemented and of project supervision has offset any gains made in this regard. It is likely that a large part of the projects implemented through the CDM would have been realized also without the incentive provided by the mechanism, which means that they do not reduce net emissions. If projects do not reduce net emissions, they cannot be cost-effective no matter how cheap they are to implement. Is it a good idea to involve private actors in a future climate agreement, or any other global environmental governance arrangement, then? In the end, it all comes down to how it is done. Trying to channel the interests of private actors towards public interests such as climate protection might be both tempting and necessary for saving the environment, but as the example of the CDM shows, unless the involvement of private actors is wisely designed, engaging them in global environmental governance may reduce rather than increase effectiveness. Future research should therefore continue to scrutinize the merits of different types of hybrid governance arrangements.

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T3 - Lund Political Studies

PB - Lund University

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Hybrid Governance in Practice: Public and Private Actors in the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism

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FN:s Globala mål

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