Quick questions on International agreements and stakeholders: HSC Geography 2022 Focus Area

The United Nations (UN), founded in 1945, is the principal forum for international cooperation. Relevant UN bodies for sustainability include:

UN member states negotiate and ratify treaties. The scale of state is the central unit of formal international agreements: only states can sign treaties.

Governments translate international commitments into domestic law, regulation and budget. NDCs are submitted by national governments. National policy choices (carbon pricing, renewable energy targets, aid budgets) shape whether commitments are met.

Sub-national governments increasingly act independently. The C40 Cities climate leadership group coordinates major cities. Australian state governments have varying climate targets and policies.

Greenpeace, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Oxfam, Amnesty International, Climate Action Network and many others conduct research, advocacy, on-ground programs and litigation. NGOs often participate in COPs as observers and provide accountability monitoring.

Companies are both contributors to and potential solvers of sustainability challenges. Corporate commitments include the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), and sector-specific initiatives. Critiques include greenwashing concerns and the gap between long-dated net-zero pledges and short-term capital allocation.

Consumers, voters, investors and litigants. Climate litigation has expanded substantially (Urgenda v Netherlands, Sharma v Minister for the Environment in Australia, Held v Montana in the US). Personal behaviour (diet, transport, energy use) matters in aggregate but is small relative to systemic decisions.

"The UN is ineffective" is too vague. Strong responses name the limit (voluntary NDCs, finance shortfall, consensus slowness) and pair it with a strength.

Identify the parent treaty and the 2015 implementing agreement that form the core of the international climate framework, and name one quantitative target from the implementing agreement. [4 marks]

Analyse the roles of two non-state stakeholders (NGOs, multinational corporations, or individuals) in responding to global sustainability challenges. [6 marks]

Evaluate the effectiveness of the international agreement framework in responding to a named global sustainability challenge. [8 marks]