Following years of incredible economic development in China, the country today is facing severe, environmental problems. This has been widely acknowledged by Chinese leaders as well as by international scholars. This work presents a detailed analysis of the foreign environmental policy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the period from 1972 to the present day.
In recent decades, the country’s behaviour changed from having an initial policy of refusal to having a more cooperative position within international negotiations, combined with voluntary agreements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While the central government undertook its first steps towards a green, foreign environmental policy, scholars mainly analysed this changing behaviour from a political or economic standpoint.
This work, however, no longer uses ‘traditional’ viewpoints to explain the changing behaviour, but focuses on social structures that act as drivers for China’s cooperative behaviour within global environmental governance structures.
Therefore, three hypotheses are developed from a constructivist framework. According to these hypotheses, China’s foreign environmental policy is driven by three incentives: its new identity as a ‘green’ developing country; the emergence and cascade of the norm that environmental protection is a severe and urgent task; and China’s increasing engagement in international institutions which act as a forum for social learning.
Finally, the dissertation delivers a completely new approach to the environmental policy of the PRC. It contributes to the academic field as it shows that China’s environmental diplomacy – beside rational incentives that were explored by other scholars – is particularly driven by incentives such as identity, norms and institutions. Social structures therefore do matter in a nation’s foreign environmental policy.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- China's "environmental crisis": An introduction
- Theoretical framework: Constructivism
- Deep Roots – A Brief Introduction to the Historical Background of Constructivism
- Key assumptions of constructivism
- The three “I”s: Identities, Interests and Ideas
- What is good, what is bad: Norms and Rules
- Shaping states' interests: International institutions
- Critical evaluation of the theoretical background
- Development of hypothesis
- After the "miracle" – An introduction to China's politics
- From refusal to “hard tasks”: China's foreign environmental policy since 1972
- The 1970s: "We must not refrain from building our economy"
- The 1980s: "If you want us to play, you have to pay"
- The 1990s – A double-edged sword
- Facing environmental issues "with hard tasks": Promises of the new millennium
- China's development towards a 'green' power (1972-2012): A summary
- Soft forces as driver for foreign environmental policy? – The case of China
- Green China as leader for the Third World: The country's new identity
- Environmental protection as 'urgent task': The norm behind the policy
- Where states are taught: International Institutions
- Findings: Constructivist categories as a drive for foreign environmental policy
- Social structures do matter: A conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This dissertation aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the foreign environmental policy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 1972 to the present day, focusing on the role of social structures in driving China's cooperative behavior within global environmental governance structures. The analysis utilizes a constructivist framework to understand China's changing environmental policy, moving beyond traditional political and economic explanations.
- The emergence of China's new identity as a 'green' developing country
- The influence of the international norm that environmental protection is an urgent task
- The role of international institutions in shaping China's environmental policy through social learning
- The impact of social structures on a nation's foreign environmental policy
- The evolution of China's foreign environmental policy from refusal to cooperation
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The first chapter introduces China's "environmental crisis" and sets the stage for the dissertation's analysis. Chapter two delves into the theoretical framework of constructivism, outlining its key assumptions and exploring its application to the study of foreign environmental policy. Chapter three provides an overview of China's political landscape in the wake of its economic development. Chapter four traces the evolution of China's foreign environmental policy from the 1970s to the present day, highlighting key turning points and policy shifts. Chapter five explores the role of social structures, including China's new identity, the evolving norm of environmental protection, and the influence of international institutions, as drivers of China's cooperative environmental policy.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The dissertation focuses on the foreign environmental policy of the PRC, utilizing a constructivist framework to understand China's changing behavior within global environmental governance. Key terms and concepts include: identity, norms, international institutions, social structures, environmental protection, green development, international negotiations, greenhouse gas emissions, and the evolution of China's foreign environmental policy from refusal to cooperation.
- Quote paper
- Jana Kötter (Author), 2012, Social structures as incentives for a foreign environmental policy?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/299712
