Change in Global Environmental Politics
Temporal Focal Points and the Reform of International Institutions

In a period of planetary crisis, this book shows how large-scale change occurs in global environmental politics.

Michael W. Manulak (Author)

9781009165884, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 May 2022

324 pages, 2 b/w illus. 6 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.61 kg

'Manulak's book is an excellent read. It is meticulously researched, and it offers a sophisticated revision of established institutional theories that should appeal to a wider IR audience. A particular strength is its extensive use of primary sources from archives that recently became available and cover the period until nearly the end of the twentieth century. This material will be of particular interest to those who would like to learn more about the role of international summits in the evolution of international environmental policy making. The field of GEP would benefit from more such efforts to combine theoretical innovation with deep historical research.' Robert Falkner, International Relations

As wildfires rage, pollution thickens, and species disappear, the world confronts environmental crisis with a set of global institutions in urgent need of reform. Yet, these institutions have proved frustratingly resistant to change. Introducing the concept of Temporal Focal Points, Manulak shows how change occurs in world politics. By re-envisioning the role of timing and temporality in social relations, his analysis presents a new approach to understanding transformative phases in international cooperation. We may now be entering such a phase, he argues, and global actors must be ready to realize the opportunities presented. Charting the often colorful and intensely political history of change in global environmental politics, this book sheds new light on the actors and institutions that shape humanity's response to planetary decline. It will be of interest to scholars and advanced students of international relations, international organization and environmental politics and history.

1. Introduction: Institutional suboptimality in world politics
2. It's about time: Explaining change in UN environmental institutions
3. The Stockholm conference and institutional change
4. UNEP and the 1982 Nairobi conference
5. The Brundtland commission and the seeds of change
6. The Rio conference and institutional change
7. Post-UNCED UN environment institutions
8. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Environmental economics [KCN], International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB]