ABSTRACT

Agriculture and Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) sectors account for almost 25 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions through livestock farming, land clearing, and land use activities such as cropping, changing grassland into settlement or deforestation. The LULUCF is a key sector for carbon sink capacity. Despite desperate need for stronger climate change mitigation efforts, there has been little attention paid to the institutional instruments that govern the mitigation potential of the agriculture and LULUCF sectors in Australia. Using Australia's Lockyer Valley catchment in Queensland as an example, this study investigates the dominant discourses about climate change that are conveyed in the institutional instruments (legislation, policies, strategies, and plans) that apply to catchment scale governance. We employ Bacchi's approach to policy analysis, to understand the dominant discourses, silences, and underlying power dynamics that shape institutional instruments in a catchment setting. The key findings reveal (1) a discourse that is alert to the impacts of climate change while largely ignoring its link to greenhouse gas emissions; (2) a pronounced silence about emissions from agriculture and LULUCF in institutional instruments; and (3) a general development paradigm that couples economic growth with carbon emissions.

摘要

农业和土地利用、土地利用变化和林业 (LULUCF) 部门通过畜牧业、土地清理和土地利用活动（如种植、将草地变成定居点或砍伐森林）排放的温室气体占全球的近 25%。LULUCF 是碳汇能力的关键部门。尽管迫切需要更强有力的气候变化减缓努力，但很少有人关注管理澳大利亚农业和 LULUCF 部门减缓潜力的制度工具。本研究以昆士兰州的洛克耶河谷流域为例，调查适用于流域规模治理的制度工具（立法、政策、战略和计划）中传达的有关气候变化的主要论述。我们采用 Bacchi 的政策分析方法，以了解在流域环境中塑造制度工具的主导话语、沉默和潜在的权力动态。主要发现揭示了（1）一种对气候变化的影响保持警惕的话语，而在很大程度上忽略了它与温室气体排放的联系；(2) 机构文书中对农业和 LULUCF 的排放保持沉默；(3) 将经济增长与碳排放相结合的一般发展模式。(2) 机构文书中对农业和 LULUCF 的排放保持沉默；(3) 将经济增长与碳排放相结合的一般发展模式。(2) 机构文书中对农业和 LULUCF 的排放保持沉默；(3) 将经济增长与碳排放相结合的一般发展模式。