Abstract

The term ‘climate leadership’ became popular in the 1990s, in relation to international negotiations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental mitigations. Since that time, international attention – borne out by scientific study and a rapidly changing planetary climate - has shifted from global warming, the ozone layer and greenhouse gas emissions, to energy production, scientific innovation, and, by the 2020s, a strong focus on decarbonisation and securing net zero carbon output by the middle of the century. One important strand of negotiation has been the annual Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which have witnessed different states playing lead roles at different times. By interrogating the main academic debates about climate leadership, this article examines Japan’s participation in the COP process along a structural-normative axis. In so doing, it charts the path from Japan’s apparent success at Kyoto in 1997 and its growing green reputation, to its subsequent ‘fall from green’ in later years and in the wake of COP26 in 2021.

摘要

“气候领导力”一词在 20 世纪 90 年代开始流行，涉及旨在减少温室气体排放和其他环境缓解措施的国际谈判。从那时起，国际注意力 — — 由科学研究和快速变化的地球气候所证明 — — 已从全球变暖、臭氧层和温室气体排放转向能源生产、科学创新，并且到 2020 年代，重点关注到本世纪中叶脱碳并确保净零碳输出。谈判的一个重要环节是《联合国气候变化框架公约》（UNFCCC）的年度缔约方大会（COP），不同国家在不同时期发挥了主导作用。通过质疑有关气候领导力的主要学术辩论，本文沿着结构规范轴审视日本对缔约方会议进程的参与。在此过程中，它描绘了从 1997 年日本在京都会议上取得的明显成功及其日益增长的绿色声誉，到随后几年以及 2021 年 COP26 后“从绿色堕落”的道路。