Suchergebnisse

Through more than two decades of multilateral climate change negotiations, China has steadfastly opposed emission limits for developing countries. Scholars have traditionally explained the rigidity of Chinese diplomacy with reference to economic interests and power, and in the process understated the importance of equity norms. In international negotiations, China has served as one of the key architects and promoters of the common but differentiated responsibility principle, which holds that global environmental justice requires that developed countries bear the primary obligation for combating climate change. China has used this principle strategically in order to legitimize its opposition to emission limits. However, China's negotiating stance cannot be defined simply as the instrumental use of norms, as Beijing is genuinely sensitive to issues of equity. These equity concerns have occasionally led China to act in a manner that, from a strict cost-benefit analysis, runs counter to its own economic interests. In sum, notions of environmental justice are simultaneously a tool China uses to pursue its interests and a force that structures China's interest.

Through more than two decades of multilateral climate change negotiations, China has steadfastly opposed emission limits for developing countries. Scholars have traditionally explained the rigidity of Chinese diplomacy with reference to economic interests and power, and in the process understated the importance of equity norms. In international negotiations, China has served as one of the key architects and promoters of the common but differentiated responsibility principle, which holds that global environmental justice requires that developed countries bear the primary obligation for combating climate change. China has used this principle strategically in order to legitimize its opposition to emission limits. However, China's negotiating stance cannot be defined simply as the instrumental use of norms, as Beijing is genuinely sensitive to issues of equity. These equity concerns have occasionally led China to act in a manner that, from a strict cost-benefit analysis, runs counter to its own economic interests. In sum, notions of environmental justice are simultaneously a tool China uses to pursue its interests and a force that structures China's interest. Adapted from the source document.

How does participation in the global economy influence the pollution management practices of firms in a developing country? Research on trade and the environment leads one to anticipate that integration into the international economy should enhance domestic firm environmental behavior. Integration facilitates access to cleaner technology, exposes domestic firms to global norms of corporate environmentalism, and compels developing country firms to meet trading partners' environmental standards or risk losing market access. This article tests these propositions by exploring the environmental compliance of internationally oriented firms in China - a country whose rapid economic expansion and increasingly prominent role as a foreign investor have considerable implications for protection of the global environment. It finds that there is only modest market-induced enhancement of environmental performance among Chinese companies. In terms of their compliance with environmental law, Chinese firms with connections to the global economy are either no better than domestically oriented companies or, in the case of firms that export heavily, are worse. (J Contemp China/GIGA)