Human rights and the Clean Development Mechanism

The 2010 UN climate conference in Cancún emphasized that ‘Parties should, in all climate change related actions, fully respect human rights’. However, so far there is no further guidance. This article discusses the relevant legal human rights norms and two case studies from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first case (Bajo Aguán, Honduras) shows that the current absence of any international safeguards can lead to registration of highly problematic projects. The second case (Olkaria, Kenya) suggests that safeguards, introduced here as a side effect of World Bank involvement, can have a positive impact, but that it is necessary to have them based on human rights. It therefore seems recommendable that the UN climate regime develop mandatory human rights safeguards. In addition or alternatively, individual buyer countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, could introduce their own additional requirements for CDM projects.     

External sources of clean technology: Evidence from the Clean Development Mechanism

New technology is fundamental to sustainable development. However, inventors from industrialized countries often refuse technology transfer because they worry about reverse-engineering. When can clean technology transfer succeed? We develop a formal model of the political economy of North–South technology transfer. According to the model, technology transfer is possible if (1) the technology in focus has limited global commercial potential or (2) the host developing country does not have the capacity to absorb new technologies for commercial use. If both conditions fail, inventors from industrialized countries worry about the adverse competitiveness effects of reverse-engineering, so technology transfer fails. Data analysis of technology transfer in 4,894 projects implemented under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism during the 2004–2010 period provides evidence in support of the model.     

印度应对气候变化战略和清洁发展机制项目的实践

本文介绍了印度应对气候变化战略和在开发清洁发展机制项目中的实践,包括印度国家气候变化行动计划的主要内容、气候变化的主要协调部门和有关机构。印度开发清洁发展机制（CDM）项目的进程,CDM项目的协调机构,CDM项目的背景、开发潜力预测,分析了已经注册的印度CDM项目的类型和地区分布,最后给出了印度应对气候变化战略和开发CDM项目实践对中国的几点启示。     

The Making of an Accidental Crisis: The United States and the NATO Dual-Track Decision of 1979

This analysis re-examines the Carter Administration’s formulation of policy on the theatre nuclear force issue following the neutron bomb affair. It demonstrates that European leaders did not foist the arms control component of the NATO dual-track decision on Jimmy Carter. Rather, the Carter Administration understood the merits of an arms control component following the August 1978 PRM-38 review and thought that Soviet–American arms control negotiations would play a crucial role in resolving the conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact over theatre nuclear forces. This analysis also considers the previously unexamined interactions between the United States and the Soviet Union in the months leading to the dual-track decision. It reveals that American officials underestimated the degree of Soviet anger over the dual-track decision, believing that arms control negotiations with the Soviets on theatre nuclear forces would be possible and productive. The Carter Administration did not foresee the Euromissiles crisis.     

机制化：APEC发展的必然选择

13年来 ,APEC用自己独特的方式在推动亚太地区的经济合作与发展特别是在推动地区贸易投资自由化方面取得明显的进展。随着时间的推移和经济全球化的进一步发展 ,APEC自身固有的缺陷和矛盾在实践中逐渐显露出来 ,日益面临着来自内部和外部的压力和挑战。要想顶住压力和挑战 ,成为进一步推动亚太地区贸易自由化和经济技术合作的核心力量 ,APEC必须加强自身的组织建设 ,机制化成了APEC进一步发展的必然选择     

The Making of BRICS:South Africa Invigorates the New Cooperation Mechanism

South Africa’s accession to BRIC caused quite a stir in the world at the end of 2010.According to the news release dated December 24,2010 on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry,China-the current     

The Role of the Practitioner-Scholar: Johan Kaufmann's Contributions to Scholarship on Decision Making in the United Nations System

The significant role that practitioner-scholars can play in research on the UN system is illuminated through analysis of the contributions of Johan Kaufmann who represented The Netherlands as Permanent Representative to UN agencies in New York and Geneva and to OECD in Paris. He combined scholarship with practice throughout his thirty-eight years in the Foreign Service and until his death in 1999. He was a keen observer of the impact on UN decisions of different negotiating styles, psychological and cultural characteristics, and professional backgrounds, as well as the significance of the diversity of roles played by representatives of states, elected officers of UN bodies, UN Secretariats, regional organizations, and NGOs. He had a penetrating awareness of the importance of the physical surroundings of conference diplomacy. He was a systemic thinker, continually placing activities near at hand in the larger context of the UN system and beyond. His scholarship most certainly reveals that practitioner-scholars can make vital contributions to international studies.     

Regional involvement in peace operations: an analysis of the debate within the UN Security Council

The paper analyses the debates within the UN Security Council on the role of regional organisations in peace operations and examines associated pro and con arguments. The systemisation of the findings is facilitated through the application of SWOT analysis that requires an insight into the unit and system levels of analysis. The first one looks at regional organisations and studies the strengths and the weaknesses that could promote or obscure their greater involvement in peace operations. The second level studies the international political environment that could provide opportunities for greater regional involvement or pose threats (obstacles) to it. The study indicates that there is a clearly established numerical predominance of supporters of greater regional involvement in peace operations over the regio-sceptics. However, the conclusion is that while the permanent members of the UN Security Council continue to endorse such involvement in the field, they will keep avoiding the formalisation and institutionalisation of the role of regional organisations on a political level.     

The United Nations as an early casualty of the East‐West conflict over the nuclear disarmament issue: A view from within

This paper assesses the role of the United Nations in nuclear disarmament in the early postwar period and provides an explanation as to why its contribution was limited. It presents a framework of analysis concentrating particularly on the political organs of the UN. It is a view from within the World Organisation. It emphasises the difficulties the UN encountered in establishing its credentials in dealing with the requirements of the nuclear age. Finally, the paper examines the reasons of the failure of the negotiations which took place between 1945 and 1950.     

Involuntary Resettlement as an Opportunity for Development: The Case of Urban Resettlers of the Three Gorges Project, China

The restoration of livelihoods in the event of involuntary resettlementis commonly based on providing compensation to those who aredisplaced. This policy has led to a series of horror stories.For this reason, it is proposed that by conducting resettlementas a development project in its own right, the performance ofresettlements can be improved and the benefits will accrue tothe local population. The Three Gorges Project on the YangtzeRiver is the first project in China in which the policy of resettlementwith development was translated into practice. This paper usesthe results of a survey of urban resettlers in two countiesto demonstrate that development policies have been unevenlyapplied across the Three Gorges Region and that in some countiesthe policies have had some success in maintaining and raisingthe incomes of resettlers.