The Diffusion of Climate Change Norms across Sectors and Scales

• In Event: Time Horizons and Geography in Environmental Policy

Abstract

Adaptation has long been regarded as a local and technical issue, but is increasingly politicized across policy sectors and scales. This paper develops a new theoretical framework to understand why climate norms diffuse through international institutions across policy sectors, such as health, development, disaster risks, food, migration, and water, and across local, national, and international scales. We understand climate norms as social norms suggesting that climate change ought to be addressed across specific sectors and scales. Empirically, we trace and explain the patterns of climate norms diffusion through international institutions over the past fifteen years across sectors and scales. Using modern web- and social media-scraping techniques, we gather and analyze textual data that contains the official communication of a number of institutions, such as the African Union, United Nations agencies or the World Bank, from 2006 to 2019. In all, the paper advances theories of norms diffusion and adds knowledge on the normative dynamics of environmentalism.

Authors

• Lisa Maria Dellmuth, Stockholm University

• Karina Shyrokykh, Stockholm University