The G20 and Climate Change: The Transnational Contribution of Global Summitry
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
| Author | Steven Slaughter |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12442 |
The G20 and Climate Change: The
Transnational Contribution of Global Summitry
Steven Slaughter
Deakin University
Abstract
This article examines the prospective role of the G20 (Group of Twenty) in contributing to current efforts to address climate
change. This article contends that the G20 has the potential to be a site of policy coordination of economically significant
states and transnational policy actors which could support the implementation of the Paris Agreement reached at the 21st
conference of the parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. While
this article demonstrates that the G20 and its predecessors have considered the topic of climate change without great suc-
cess, it articulates the ways that recent developments within the operation of the G20 offers new prospects for addressing this
crucial policy issue. These prospects rest primarily upon seeing the G20 as a form of global summitry which is not only an
international forum but also a transnational framework of policy makers which offer the possibility that G20 deliberations can
be more open to a wider variety of perspectives and more effectively engage with transnational efforts to address climate
change.
Policy Implications
•In order to address climate change, leaders from G20 states need to further develop the G20 as a form of global summitry
which involves transnational and transgovernmental networks of formal and informal policy making activity.
•Policy makers can act to ensure that the G20 can utilise its international and transnational capacities to help implement
the 21st conference of the parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
•The G20 can be a site to further support and coordinate efforts to scale up green financing.
•The G20 can be a site to orchestrate transnational forms of action to address climate which can support the UNFCCC
processes.
•The G20 can be a site which enhances the transparency and accountability of G20 states with regards to COP21
implementation.
This article examines the prospective role of the G20
(Group of Twenty) in contributing to current efforts to
address climate change. In light of the slow progress in cre-
ating a binding multilateral climate change treaty, there has
been some consideration of the value of forums with smal-
ler numbers of states involved (Eckersley, 2012; Na
ım, 2009).
The G20 is one such forum and it has an unrealised poten-
tial to make a contribution to the problem of climate
change. However, this article contends that this potential is
not just due to the smaller membership. Rather, the G20
uniquely includes economically significant states in a form
of global summitry which involves institutionalised transna-
tional and transgovernmental webs of formal and informal
policy making activity in conjunction with the activity of
G20 leaders (Alexandroff and Brean, 2015; Feinberg, 2013).
This article contends that the G20 has the potential to be a
site of policy coordination of economically significant states
and transnational policy actors which could support the
implementation of the Paris Agreement reached at the 21st
conference of the parties (COP21) of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in
2015. While this article demonstrates that the G20 and its
predecessors have considered the topic of climate change
without great success, it articulates the ways that recent
developments within the operation of the G20 offers new
prospects for addressing this crucial policy issue.
The possibility that the G20 can contribute to efforts to
address climate change stems from the observation that
while the G20 is a forum which has had some success in
reacting to global economic crises, it has also addressed a
wide range of political and social issues. Furthermore, seeing
the G20 as a form of global summitry offers the prospect
that the work of G20 leaders can intersect with the transna-
tional activity of non-state and substate actors to support
lower profile political action with regards to climate change.
This article will consider the prospects of the G20 to address
climate change in three steps. First, the article examines the
ways that earlier iterations of the G20 were ineffective in
addressing climate change. Second, it considers the ways
that the G20 can operate as a form of global summitry in
order to identify the potential of the G20 to contribute to
global environmental efforts. Third, the article outlines some
Global Policy (2017) 8:3 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12442 ©2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Global Policy Volume 8 . Issue 3 . September 2017 285
Research Article
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