Thew, H orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-7595, Middlemiss, L orcid.org/0000-0001-5185-2033 and Paavola, J orcid.org/0000-0001-5720-466X (2021) Does youth participation increase the democratic legitimacy of UNFCCC-orchestrated global climate change governance? Environmental Politics. ISSN 0964-4016
Abstract
Youth NGOs have participated in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for over a decade, yet research into their experiences is lacking. Drawing upon an ethnographic case study conducted between 2015 and 2018, we ask: does youth participation increase the democratic legitimacy of a UNFCCC-orchestrated global climate change regime? Applying the concepts of ‘input’ and ‘throughput’ legitimacy, we find that the UNFCCC offers an accessible entry-point for young newcomers into climate governance, but this does not necessarily lead to engagement in orchestrated initiatives. A potential exception to this is Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) which we identify as an overlooked example of UNFCCC orchestration. We thus propose a conceptual distinction between ‘exclusive’ and ‘inclusive’ orchestration, the former merely connecting likeminded intermediaries while the latter broadens inclusion and actively redresses power imbalances, urging more proactive pursuit of democratic legitimacy, including youth engagement from the UNFCCC Secretariat and COP Presidencies.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an author produced version of an article, published in Environmental Politics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Youth participation; democratic legitimacy; UNFCCC; non-state actor participation; orchestration |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 20 Jan 2021 15:18 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2022 00:13 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Routledge |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/09644016.2020.1868838 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:170173 |