Structure and Agent in the Scientific Diplomacy of Climate Change : An Empirical Case Study of Science-Policy Interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Research input constitutes a key component in the development of international environmental regime formation. Science-policy interaction is, however, complex and difficult, particularly because it is an encounter between two distinct systems of behaviour: the scientific ideal of impartiality and disinterestedness and the political reality of interest realisation and strategic behaviour. This study analyses the extent to which and how the __institutional____framework__ within which the science-policy dialogue takes place - through conscious design - can be utilised as an instrument to handle obstacles and barriers immanent of science-policy interaction and thereby serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue. Also, the impact of actor behaviour, particularly behaviour taking the form of __leadership performance__, is investigated. This book provides a detailed and in-depth empirical study of science-policy interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from its establishment in 1988, to the provision of the Second IPCC Assessment Report in 1995. The main focus of the empirical investigation is on Working Group I of the IPCC.

Research input constitutes a key component in the development of international environmental regime formation. Science-policy interaction is, however, complex and difficult, particularly because it is an encounter between two distinct systems of behaviour: the scientific ideal of impartiality and disinterestedness and the political reality of interest realisation and strategic behaviour. This study analyses the extent to which and how the institutional framework within which the science-policy dialogue takes place - through conscious design - can be utilised as an instrument to handle obstacles and barriers immanent of science-policy interaction and thereby serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue. Also, the impact of actor behaviour, particularly behaviour taking the form of leadership performance, is investigated. This book provides a detailed and in-depth empirical study of science-policy interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from its establishment in 1988, to the provision of the Second IPCC Assessment Report in 1995. The main focus of the empirical investigation is on Working Group I of the IPCC.

Introduction....Pages 1-11 Effectiveness in Processes of Science-Policy Interaction....Pages 13-25 The Science-Policy Nexus....Pages 27-64 Designing Institutions for Science-Policy Interaction....Pages 65-91 The Development of an International Regime on a Human-Induced Climate Change....Pages 93-103 Structure: The Institutional Design of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change....Pages 105-150 Agent: Leadership Performance in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change....Pages 151-192 Causal Relationship: Real or Spurious?....Pages 193-223 Structure and Agent in the Scientific Diplomacy of Climate Change....Pages 225-233