Knowledge sharing in multi-sector, multi-actor and multi-scale governance : the case of PRICA-ADO Mexico

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Knowledge sharing in multi-‐sector,

multi-‐actor and multi-‐scale

governance:

The case of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico

María José Gómez Serna 10701125

mapepegom@hotmail.com

Master of Science Thesis

International Development Studies November 28th, 2014

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Knowledge sharing in multi-‐sector, multi-‐actor and

multi-‐scale governance:

The case of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico

Master of Science Thesis International Development Studies

November 28th, 2014 María José Gómez Serna

10701125

Supervisor: Dr. Courtney Vegelin

Second Reader: Dr. Enrique Gómez-‐Llata Graduate School of Social Science

University of Amsterdam

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Dedication

Quiero dedicarle mi tesis a mi familia, que como siempre han estado apoyándome. Ma gracias por oírme lloriquear todo este año y darme ánimos para continuar con esta pesadilla. Belen, Santi, Gelen, Sobe, Santiaguin, Chicharin y Diegolin, gracias por hacerme sentir que la distancia no era tan terrible. Los quiero infinito y gracias por siempre ser pieza clave en mis logros!!! A mis amigos que igual siempre estuvieron dispuestos a escuchare y a darme ánimos, especialmente a Fer, Mariana, Jorge, Alison, Dom y Lucer que siempre escucharon mis mil quejas y preocupaciones. Y a mis nuevos amigos, que hicieron que la maestría valiera la pena. Thank IDS classmates, especialmente Catalina, Stephanie, Leticia, Jack y Julien, por hacerme reír tanto y siempre tener palabras positivas a pesar de mi ingles estilo hombre de las cavernas. Oana, gracias por querer seguir siendo mi amiga a pesar de ser una pesadilla y haberme conocido en mis peores momentos de estrés; amiga fue increíble descubrirte. Also thanks to old and new Plantage B flat mates, especially Maartje, Nils, Marco, Arne, Esteban and Pauline thank guys it was nice to meet you and share with you. Gracias a mi jefe Rafael y Martha Lucia por apoyarme antes y durante este proceso y a Bosque y Ena por hacerme reir a distancia.

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Acknowledgments

I have a lot of thanks. First to my supervisor, Dr. Courtney Vegelin for all her support and patience, as well as for all her feedback during the writing process. I would like also thank my local supervisors Rafael Echeverri and Martha Lucia Alviar, as well as their expert group Bosque Iglesias and Ena Resendiz. Thanks for all your guidance, help and assistance through fieldwork. Additionally I am very grateful for my grammar proofing staff Jack, Oana and Esteban, which encouraged me a lot and provided incredible amount of assistance. Finally, I would like to thank all the participants related to this research for sharing their time and experience with me.

Thanks again to all of you because I could not have done this thesis without you.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the importance of considering the inclusion of national knowledge in climate change intergovernmental programs and the implications of that inclusion in the governance of the program itself. Given the often-‐external nature of assessments, the inclusion of national knowledge is particularly significant when it comes to the optimization of the regime’s capacity to tackle global risk from a more national perspective. The case of the PRICA-‐ADO Program and its application in Mexico will be utilized to illustrate the complexities of including national knowledge in intergovernmental strategies. Accordingly, this thesis looks at three inter-‐related concepts that address the challenge of governability but are usually under-‐considered in relation to climate change adaptation: governance, the importance of national knowledge inclusion, and the context considerations for this inclusion. This issue is addressed by asking four sub questions: i) What are the established mechanisms for including knowledge generated at the national level and how do the different actors involved perceive it? ii) What are the interactions that arise from the inclusion of knowledge generated at the national level and how do they influence PRICA-‐ADO Mexico? iii) Based on these interactions, what are the implications of the different actors’ roles on how PRICA-‐ADO Mexico is achieving governance iv) How effective is the incorporation of knowledge generated at the national level in producing meaningful participation and productive deliberation?

Through an in-‐depth analysis of PRICA-‐ADO, its functioning and interactions among the different actors that participate in Mexico, the research design consists in focus groups and individual interviews, to gather representatives from each group that form the PRICA-‐ ADO Mexico structure. Moreover, document analysis was used to triangulate the information. In PRICA-‐ADO the interactions and implications of this inclusion are immense, but this thesis will focus on four major points that impact directly the governability of the Program and in its functioning in Mexico: applicability of the methodology, structure complexity, leadership and accountability. Findings reveal that the inclusion of national knowledge presents a big challenge and in some cases can endanger the governability of this type of system. The research suggests that adaptation to climate change programs and agreements surrounding the programs will repeatedly struggle to achieve effective outcomes if the complexity of the inclusion of national actors is not considered and if measures in order to minimize its casualties are not taken.

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List of acronyms and abbreviations

BUAP Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla

CAC Central American Agricultural Council – Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano

CATIE Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza CCA-‐UNAM Center for Atmospheric Sciences -‐ UNAM

CCAD Central American Commission on Environment and Development

CIAT Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical

CICC Inter-‐ Ministerial Commission for Climate Change -‐ Comisión Intersecretarial de

Cambio Climático.

COLPOS Colegio de Postgraduados

CONABIO National Commission on Biodiversity – Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y

Uso de la Biodiversidad

CONAGUA National Water Commission – Comisión Nacional del Agua

COP Convention of the Parties

DGACC General Directorate to Climate Change Agricultural Attention

ECLAC Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

ENCC National Strategy on Climate Change -‐ Estrategia Nacional de Cambio Climático.

GHG Greenhouse Gasses

GIZ Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit

IICA Inter-‐American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture

INAPESCA National Fisheries Institute – Instituto Nacional de Pesca

INECC Climate Change and Ecology Institute – Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio

Climático

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

LGCC Climate Change General Law -‐ Ley General de Cambio Climático.

OECD Organization for Economic Co-‐operation and Development

PECC Climate Change Especial Program -‐ Programa Especial de Cambio Climático

PICC-‐UNAM Climate Change Research Program -‐ UNAM

PND National Development Plan – Plan Nacional de Desarrollo

PNUMA United Nations Environment Programme -‐ Programa de Naciones Unidas para el

Medio Ambiente

PRICA-‐ADO Inter-‐governmental Cooperation on Climate Change Program: Opportunities and Challenges for the Agriculture -‐ Programa Intergubernamental de Cooperación para

el Cambio Climatico: Oportunidades y Desafios en la Agricultura PROTERRITORIOS Programa Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Gestion Territorial PS Sectorial Plan – Plan Sectorial

SAGARPA Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Food and Fisheries –

Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganaderia, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación

SCT Ministry for Communications and Transport – Secretaría de Comunicaciones y

Trasporte

SE Ministry of Economy – Secretaría de Economía

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SEMARNAT Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources – Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y

Recursos Naturales

SENER Ministry for Energy – Secretaría de Energía

SRE Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores

TPSKN’s Transnational Public Sector Knowledge Networks

TTSRN Transnational Technical and Scientific Research Network – Red

UACh Chapingo Autonomous University -‐ Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo

UNAM National Autonomous University of Mexico -‐ Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

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List of Figures

Box 1. National Strategy on Climate Change ... 8

Figure 1. GHG Emissions and CO2 ... 6

Figure 2. Mexican National Strategy on Climate Change ... 9

Figure 3. Conceptual scheme ... 34

Figure 4. PRICA-‐ADO Network Structure ... 45

Figure 5. PRICA-‐ADO Chronology ... 47

Table 1. Context: Factors influencing knowledge and information sharing ... 27

Table 2. Program Description ... 41

Table 3. Mexican node structure* ... 48

Table 4. PRICA-‐ADO Budget Planning ... 66

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1 Introduction

“In the first half of the next century a rise of global mean temperature could occur which is greater than any in man's history”. -‐Villach Conference, Austria, 1985

Almost 30 years have passed since the International Conference on the assessment of the

‘Role of Carbon Dioxide and of Other Greenhouse Gases in Climate Variations and Associated Impacts’1_{.
Scientists
made
this
statement
to
highlight
the
urgency
of
global}

climate change issues and the need to find effective solutions. Nowadays the situation is not different. There is scientific evidence that shows that human interference with the climate system is occurring and that the climate change derivative from this presents risks for nature and humans alike (IPCC, 2013). Therefore, climate change 2_{is
presented
now
as}

a complex two-‐sided problem that combines a global social phenomenon, the anthropological generation of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG); and a natural issue, the effects of atmospheric changes on temperature, soil, water and biodiversity, permeating virtually all areas related to economic, political and social domestic development (Biermann et al., 2012, p. 1).

The approach of International Development is clear on this matter: there needs to be holistic objectives and strategies focused on providing solutions not just from quantitative increases, but regarding qualitative improvements also.

In this sense, the role of established international institutions and their effectiveness to tackle global climate change has come under increasing scrutiny of late. For instance, the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has set the scientific framework for global climate debates. Yet despite its institutional foundations originating from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention of the Parties (COP) and lately the Kyoto Protocol,

1_{For
further
information
about
the
Villach
Conference
visit}

http://www.wmo.int/pages/themes/climate/international_background.php

2_{Climatic
change
refers
to
a
persistent
change
–
for
a
decade
or
a
longer
period
of
time-‐
in
the
state
of} climate and its conditions -‐ temperature, wind, precipitation, radiation, etc. This concept considers any modification of the climate over the time owed either to natural viability or as a consequence of human actions, (IPCC, 2007b, p.30).

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among others, results thus far have remained inconclusive.3 Despite the full commitment and willingness to implement recommended climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, international efforts appear to struggle in promoting real compromises and tangible results that truly address viable solutions of national-‐level needs (Burton, 1997; Peake, 2010; Diringer, 2011; Cadman, 2013).

Moreover, as a greater amount of scientific information is gathered and civil society appears to be more active, some developed and developing countries appear to be following the “green” path, and as a result current environmental practices and climate change adaptation programs seem to be heading in the right direction (Cadman, 2013; Peake, 2010, Mustelin et al., 2013). However, in practice international climate change governance appears to struggle with aligning the ever-‐increasing number of new findings, scientific postures, approaches and solutions concerning climate change hazards with including the plethora of new institutions and actors that continue to emerge (Burton, 1997; Peake, 2010; Diringer, 2011; Cadman, 2013).

As climate change rules, instruments, mechanisms and programs constitute one of the most substantial and legally embedded structures that shape the complex climate

3_{For
the
purpose
of
this
paper,
and
according
to
Krasner
(in
Hasenclever,
1997,
p.1)
a
regime
is
the} "principles, norms, rules and decision-‐making procedures around which actors' expectations converge in a given area of international relations." Presently there are many international organizations, multilateral, bilateral, transnational and regional cooperation instruments that have been signed and published accords, protocols, programs and projects that have been shaping climate change notions. Outlining all of them is not the intention of this research, but a good base for this discussion would be to mention some of the instruments that have mostly shaped the international climate change regime framework. The IPCC is the international scientific entity established in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide measures and scientific knowledge of climate change and possible impacts in environment. For further information consult www.ipcc.ch and www.wmo.int. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an intergovernmental framework that establishes a set of efforts to tackle climate change challenges. This Convention was open for signature in 1992 at Rio de Janeiro (UN, 1992). The Convention of the Parties (COP)“is the supreme decision-‐making body of the Convention.” The COP meets every year and it promotes the UNFCCC Convention. The Kyoto Protocol is the argumentation of this Convention, and it is an agreement that look for precise reduction of greenhouse-‐gas emissions, “…shall, individually or jointly, insure that their aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of the greenhouse gases … do not exceed their assigned amounts, … and in accordance with provisions of this article with a view to reducing their overall emissions of such gases by at least five percent below 1990 levels in the commitment period 2008-‐ 2012” (United Nations, 1997). The 2009 Copenhagen climate conference COP15 resulted in a document called the Copenhagen Accord. Many countries were against the resolutions, so it was not signed, and the

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change governance system, uncertainty regarding the direction of climate policy and its actors is emerging. Moreover, bilateral and multilateral environmental agreements and the states that support them are no longer the only, nor the central mechanism that interacts with global climate change governance (Rosenau, 2007). In contemporary society, they convene alongside a range of other arrangements, both public and private, and function alongside a multitude of actors, making it more complex to implement climate change policies (Barrett, 2003).

As it was previously mentioned, another challenge faced by the climate change global framework and its operational mechanisms is the ability of this regime to induce sufficient participation and include local knowledge at the national and global level (Rosenau, 2007; Barrett, 2003). Since current environmental practices and climate change adaptation programs tend to think too big, they subsequently tend to become too diffuse during the design process and implementation stages. Therefore, the major challenge for these programs is to try to put together these two-‐pieces of the puzzle: the necessity to include global solutions for a global risk, but with local perspectives that take in to account nationally specific needs, knowledges and vulnerabilities.

1.1 Background

As it was mentioned, some scientific assessments conducted by the IPCC, UNFCCC and other environmentally focused global institutions tend to be predominantly based on universal assumptions about climate change, and less on vulnerabilities faced at national level (Ayers, 2010; Andonova et al., 2009, p.52). These institutions have tended to disaggregate scientific and natural estimates from societal problems4_{on
the
ground}

(Bavinck, 2013, p. 11). As observed by Pelling (in Ayers, 2010, p. 18), some of the climate change regimes and mechanisms appear to mainly highlight technological approaches for tackling global warming hazards. These focus on international scientists’ conclusions instead of including more diverse expertise from national actors. It is not surprising that

4_{According
to
Bavinck
and
Kooiman
(in
Bavinck,
2013,
p.
11)
‘societal’
refers
to
everything
that
has
a} common or public dimension; it stands opposed to ‘private’ activities. This definition includes the institutions and principles that are considered as something essential for any governance interaction.

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these mechanisms tend to also exclude national objectives and national level expertise regarding climate change practices and compromise the viability to implement them at that level. The difficulties in applying climate change international regimes at the national-‐ scale makes the debate more difficult: how are the target beneficiaries of these initiatives – in this case the environmentally-‐related national stakeholders-‐ taken into account in the decision-‐making process? What are the real implications of including national objectives, concerns, and shared knowledge in the discussion that sets the agenda?

This thesis therefore suggests that the inclusion of these key national actors that produced this knowledge raises a key challenge for international climate change programmatic governability. Due to the plethora of actors and instruments, the multilevel relations between the institutions, the complexity of the topic and time restrictions, this thesis focuses on one climate change instrument focused on adapting agriculture to climate change. Specifically, the Programa Intergubernamental de Cooperación para el

Cambio Climatico: Oportunidades y Desafios en la Agricultura (PRICA-‐ADO), 5 was formed as a regional intergovernmental program by 10 Mesoamerican countries, including Mexico. Whilst a deeper explanation of the structure and actors involved in this program will be presented later, it can be noted that it offers a great opportunity to analyze climate change global governance interactions and opportunities to incorporate national participation and knowledge generated at the state level.

Moreover, since Mexico is the only developing country that has submitted five national communications to the UNFCCC (2014), the Mexican government has demonstrated its commitment to address climate change strategies through a multi-‐scalar approach. Additionally according to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT)6_{,
if
there
is
an
increase
between
3°C
and
5°C
in
the
average
global}

temperature, Mexico will be severely impacted (Martinez, 2011; SEMARNAT, 2009). In this sense, Mexico’s institutions and their participation in PRICA-‐ADO Mexico offer an important opportunity to study the governance interactions as well as a pertinent

5_{Inter-‐governmental
Cooperation
on
Climate
Change
Program:
Opportunities
and
Challenges
for
the} Agriculture.

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example in which to analyze the structure and the process of these institutional actors’ multi-‐scalar interactions.

Therefore, the next section is going to present a brief explanation of Mexico’s situation regarding climate change as well as the objectives and strategies created to tackle this problem. Through horizontal cooperation mechanisms between the governments involved and their national institutions, the PRICA-‐ADO Program aims to create regional and national agendas that incorporate national agriculture adaptation strategies and knowledge (PRICA-‐ADO, 2012, pp. 69-‐73). Despite this, the Program is relatively new and now forms part of a low-‐profile international organization, Programa

Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Gestion Territorial (PROTERRIRORIOS)7_{yet
provides}

great accessibility of information for its authorities. México, as an active and cooperative actor in the international climate change arena, provides a good case study for examining the interactions between the global climate change regime and the role of national institutions (such as the PRICA-‐ADO Program) in addressing knowledge that is generated at state level.

1.1.1 Mexican climate change situation

According to some scientists, Mexico’s geographical features and location place it as one of the most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change. Since it is located between two oceans and given its latitude and topography, Mexico is particularly exposed to various extreme weather phenomena (CICC, 2012, p.185-‐187).

Some experts from the Ministry of Environment, SEMARNAT have addressed that if there is an increase between 3°C and 5°C in the average temperature, the predicted consequences for Mexico will be sea level rises, sea surface temperature increases, more intense storms, extreme periods of drought and a greater possibility of wildfires (Martinez, 2011).

Between 2000 and 2012 the intensity of carbon use in Mexican economy has increased (Figure 1). According to the Organization for Economic Co-‐operation and

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Development (OECD), the CO2 emissions grew faster than the disposable income during

the year 2000-‐2005 (OECD, 2013, p.26).

Figure 1. GHG Emissions and CO2

Source: OECD, 2011. OECD Economic Outlook No. 90; OECD-‐IEA (2012), CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion; OECD-‐IEA (2012), Energy Balances of OECD Countries. (in OECD, 2013, p.26).

Furthermore, over the past two decades several vulnerability assessments in various sectors under climate change scenarios have been developed and refined. Therefore, there is evidence that the effects of climate change in combination with other stress factors have very negative ecological, economic and social consequences, which are already visible (Sarukhán et al., 2012).

The Mexican government has also argued that economic development can and must be achieved in collaboration with environmental protection, because this is a public good, which the whole country depends on. In this context, it is not surprising that mitigation and adaptation have become important components of governmental strategy to tackle climate change effects (Gobierno de la República, 2013, pp. 10-‐14).

1.1.2 Mexico’s climate change strategy and national knowledge institutions:

Mexico is the only developing country that has submitted five national communications to the UNFCCC. This shows the commitment that Mexican government has had in addressing

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 Trends, 2000-‐10 CO₂a 2000 = 100 GDPb

Primary energy supply

GHGc 0 100 200 300 400 500 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

CO2 emissions by sector, 2000-‐10

Residen|al

Transport

Other energy industries own use Manufacturing and construc|on Other

million tonnes

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climate change strategies using a multi-‐scalar approach.8 In 2005 the government created the Inter-‐ Ministerial Commission for Climate Change (CICC),9_{with
the
objective
being
to}

coordinate between ministries and governmental institutions and their policies aimed to prevent and mitigate GHG emissions. The CICC established the National Strategy on

Climate Change (ENACC), which is the climate change National Strategy presented by the

President Felipe Calderon in 2007 (SEMARNAT, 2009). The aims of both tools is to adapt to the effects of climate change in general and also to promote development strategies for climate action in order to this national strategy be aligned with the UNFCCC. This CICC has a Climate Change Council (CCC) that advises this Commission (Ibid).

The President commanded the Commission, based on this strategy, were to create a Climate Change Special Program (PECC) and for the first time the climate change issue was included in the National Development Plan 2007-‐2012 (PND).10_{The
fact
that
the}

President had presented the initiative expressed clearly the Mexican government’s recognition of the possible impacts of this global problem directly for Mexico and its citizens (Gobierno de la República, 2007). Moreover, the newly elected government has followed this trend and in the PND 2012-‐ 2018 has placed great emphasis on climate change and is effects as an important component of future national policy (See Box 1.) (Gobierno de la República, 2014).

Institutionally, SEMARNAT is in charge of conducting climate change and environmental national policy and is also the president of the CICC. The Climate Change

and Ecology Institute (INECC),11_{has
Coordination
for
the
Climate
Change
Especial
Program}

(PECC) and is in charge to guide and highlights the Mexican climate change research

8_{The
Mexican
government
has
been
emphatic
in
showing
an
integrated
policy
that
tries
to
include
all
scales} in a transversal way. The members of the conventions have to present national reports that shown the progress and the implementation of the COP. For further information visit:

http://unfccc.int/national_reports/items/1408.php

9_{It
is
formed
by
seven
Ministries:
Energy
(SENER),
Economy
(SE),
Agriculture,
Livestock,
Rural
Development,} Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), Communications and Transportation (SCT), Social Development (SEDESOL), Foreing Affais (SRE) and SEMARNAT. For former information visit www.semarnat.gob.mx

10_{The
climate
change
issue
was
included
in
in
the
4
Rector
Axis
dedicated
to
Environmental
Sustainability,} which is evidence that the Government of Mexico recognizes that the impact GHG emissions is increasingly evident. (Gobierno de la República, 2007).

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agenda and contributes significantly to the national environmental policy of PND, ENACC and PECC (SEMARNAT, 2009). It is important to mention also, that SAGARPA as well as SEMARNAT and each Ministry, have their own Sectorial Program (PS), which must be totally aligned with the PND and must follow also the objectives and strategies established in the PECC.12

President Enrique Peña Nieto appears to show that his administration continues to focus on climate change in their policies. In the prologue of the ENCC 10-‐20-‐40,13 President Nieto recognized the importance of local government in taking action against climate change and reaffirms the Mexican commitment towards this human threat (Gobierno de la República, 2013, p.9). The objective of this strategy is to be the overarching national medium to long-‐term policy-‐guiding instrument to address climate change effects and to aid the transition to a more competitive, sustainable and low-‐ carbon economy. In summary, the ENCC highlight the national priorities and desirable achievements, based on the present and expected available environmental information. Therefore this strategy aims to guide the policies of the three levels of government (federal, municipal and local) over the next 40 years (Gobierno de la República, 2013, pp. 9 -‐25).

Box 1. National Strategy on Climate Change

12_{This
PS
has
five
objectives
and
is
the
result
of
long
consultation
process
with
the
principal
rural
actors} (DOF, 2013).

13_{The
10-‐20-‐40
is
just
the
distinctive
name
given
by
the
new
government
to
the
ENCC
launched
during
this} The ENCC 10-‐20-‐40 is integrated through three main themes:

1. Adapting to the climate change impacts (A): This pillar includes climate scenarios,1 and an assessment and diagnosis of vulnerability and adaptability in the country.

2. Low emissions-‐based development/Mitigation (M): This component incorporates a country's emissions overview, mitigation opportunities, scenario, baseline and the trajectory of emissions targets.

3. National climate change policy pillars (P): This part contains a brief analysis of country’s CC policies.

Subsequently, each of these themes is included in the climate change national policy through action “axes” and “lines”. Then these pillars and axes define the desirable objectives and the actors, actions and needed perspective to achieve them. Following this, the ENCC defines six national climate change policy pillars (P), three adaptation strategic axes (A) – in which the desirable objective is to be a resilient country-‐ and five mitigation strategic areas (M) – in which the desirable objective is to achieve low emission development (Ibid). (See Figure 2).

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Figure 2. Mexican National Strategy on Climate Change

Source: Image took from SEMARNAT, 2014.

As previously mentioned, the PECC is one of the planning instruments of the

Climate Change General Law (LGCC) and is aligned to PND’s transversal programs as well

as the ENCC and sectorial programs from the 14 State Secretariats. The Program aims are to reduce the vulnerability of the population and productive sectors, as well as presenting

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an alternative about how to conserve and protect environmental ecosystems services to “increase the resistance of strategic infrastructure to the adverse impacts of climate change” (Gobierno de la República, 2014, p. 10). It also represents the strategies and efforts of the Federal Government during the period from 2014-‐2018 to meet the target to reduce GHG emissions by 30% by 2020, compared to a baseline scenario. This Climate

Change Program highlights the necessity to include the contributions of states,

municipalities, the private sector and society in general in order to achieve this mitigation and other adaptation goals that Mexico has set (Ibid).

The PECC contains a diagnosis that presents Mexico`s climate change contemporary and future situation. It has five objectives, 26 strategies and 199 action lines, of which 77 correspond to adapting to climate change, 81 to mitigation and 41 for the construction of a state policy in this field. It also contains an appendix with 31 additional lines of proposed action and 10 indicators to be tracked over the period from 2014-‐2018, along with a methodology for how to calculate this indicator (Gobierno de la República, 2014).

In this sense, with great governmental infrastructure has been disposed to tackle climate change hazards and as a member of PRICA-‐ADO Program, Mexico offers an important opportunity to study the governance interactions. It also offers a good example to analyze the structure and the process of these institutional interactions at local, municipal, federal and international scales in the knowledge development and sharing process.

1.2 Objective and Relevance

While there is a global general consensus regarding the existence of anthropogenically induced climate change and the severe impacts that it will have around the world, attention is beginning to shift towards mitigation and adaptation, and how these will be governed (IPCC, 2013). Given the complexity of the mitigation and adaptation debate, it is not intended in this thesis to go deeper in the debate, however it is important to mention it not just because the objective of this thesis but because the overall international debate surround it. After Kyoto Protocol, which brought a framework to reduce GHG mitigation

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was the pursued strategy followed at global level. However, given the economic implication some of great economic powers were not committed to follow the needed actions to reduce these emissions (UN, 1997). For instance, the negative impact of this situation and that some scientist from IPCC started to focus also in other urgent issues, climate change adaptation began to strengthen (IPCC, 2007a; 2007b). However, the political halo that had surrounded the reasons of this change of vision has never been put aside. Moreover, countries and actors appear to continue discussing the validity of one in relation to the other or some just trying to understand the differences between them (Antal, 2012, pp. 9-‐15; Diringer, 2011).

Furthermore, some instruments have been put over inquiry because of climate change instruments ambiguity in delivering tangible results along with their policy responses and the effectiveness of their institutions to implement them (Barrett, 2003, p. 351; Cadman, 2013, p.7; Wittenben et al., 2012, pp. 1432-‐1434). Over the development approach, the concern about the effectiveness of the institutions framing the climate change regime has called for reformation and for the establishment of more accurate evaluation methods. In addition, it has also been proposed that there is a need to assess the effectiveness of the outcomes and as a result, the effectiveness of the institution’s governance related to climate change affairs. There is also an agreement about the importance of more thorough research regarding the effectiveness of climate change governance. It is also essential to assess the efficiency of these institutions that address adequate structures and promote the inclusion of local and state-‐level generated knowledge in the decision-‐making process in order to produce more useful outcomes for stakeholders and the global system in general (Cadman, 2013).

Therefore, the purpose of this research is to address the inclusion of state level generated knowledge in climate change mechanisms, by seeking to answer the following question: How does the PRICA-‐ADO incorporate knowledge generated at the national level

and based on the Mexican case, what are the implications for its inclusion on the outcomes and governability of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico?

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1.3 Outline of the Chapters

This thesis is divided into eight chapters, the first of which introduces the objective and relevance for studying the governance of PRICA-‐ADO and the Mexican case, as well as a brief outline of the context of Mexico’s climate change strategy. The second chapter presents the theoretical framework. The first section of this addresses global governance and the global interactive governance approach by Bavinck and Kooiman (Kooiman, 2013; Bavinck, 2013). The following section presents the concept of knowledge generated at the national level and the importance of considering and including it. The third section of this chapter refers to the components of the governance system discussed in this thesis and the importance of considering this context.

The third chapter addresses the methodology used to conduct this research. It contains the research question, the sub-‐questions, methods utilized, the conceptual scheme, the operationalization and a brief explanation of the research location. This chapter also contains the ethical considerations, limitations and an overview about the data analysis involved during this process.

The fourth and fifth chapters present the findings collected from fieldwork and document analysis. The fourth contains a detailed picture of the PRICA-‐ADO’s Program history, its components and methodology. It also describes PRICA-‐ADO Mexico, its main actors and current status. The fifth one presents the empirical findings divided into four main concepts that tie together to answer one sub question. The first concept,

methodology applicability, tries to address the PRICA-‐ADO established mechanisms

synthesized to include national knowledge. The interactions given this national knowledge inclusion are intended to be pictured through the second concept structure complexity. The third concept addressed, leadership, pretends to show the implications of this national knowledge inclusion in the governance of this Program in Mexico. Finally the effectiveness of this knowledge incorporation is presented thought an analysis of the

accountability.

The sixth chapter presents the discussion of these findings in relation to the governance of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico and the implications of this in relation to the four

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concepts utilized in the previous chapter and also based on the concepts utilized in the theoretical framework.

The seventh chapter concludes this research by summarizing the findings and connecting them to wider development and climate change debates. This chapter also provides some recommendations for further studies.

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2 Theoretical framework

Climate change is often framed as a global hazard by academics and specialists, whom have traditionally considered national governments as the main actor and main mechanism of international negotiations in global environmental governance. Nowadays however, scholars view climate change as a multi-‐faceted, multi-‐actor and multi-‐level governance instrument that requires a variety of arrangements and interactions (Andonova et al., 2009, pp. 52–56; Selin and VanDeveer, 2005, p. 354). In this sense and as is highlighted by Andonova (2009, p. 52) “national governments develop and implement

climate policies within a context of national politics and institutions, sometimes under the umbrella of the international climate change regime, but not always.” The complexity of

interaction suggests that authority and decision-‐making becomes more diffuse throughout the layers of national, regional, supranational and international environmental and climate change cooperation. It is clear then that even though states are usually the predominant actors that assume an authoritative role at the national level, climate change governance simultaneously includes state and non-‐sate actors, global and local action and scientific and societal areas through which policy outcomes and international commitments are shaped (Betsill, 2006, pp. 141-‐142).

Since global climate change is one of the most multifaceted political, social and scientific challenges of the present time, a more knowledgeable understanding of climate change global governance in terms of multi-‐actor, multi-‐level and multi-‐spatial systems helps us to better understand environmental conflict. It also can helps us to determine how the negotiations of national government institutions, academics, civil society, international agencies and other stakeholders can more effectively address how knowledge produced at state level can contribute to achieve better results at all scales (Frerks, 2014, p.18.; Betsill, 2006, p.141).

2.1 Global governance:

In the 1980s, international authority and governance concepts started to be questioned in the field of international relations. Under a realist approach, global governance is impossible since no state has legitimate power over another because they exist in an

Knowledge sharing in multi-sector, multi-actor and multi-scale governance : the case of PRICA-ADO Mexico

Knowledge sharing in multi-­‐sector,

multi-­‐actor and multi-­‐scale

governance:

The case of PRICA-­‐ADO Mexico

Knowledge sharing in multi-­‐sector, multi-­‐actor and

multi-­‐scale governance:

The case of PRICA-­‐ADO Mexico

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Abstract

Table of contents

List of acronyms and abbreviations

List of Figures

1 Introduction

2 Theoretical framework

Knowledge sharing in multi-‐sector,

multi-‐actor and multi-‐scale

The case of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico

Knowledge sharing in multi-‐sector, multi-‐actor and

multi-‐scale governance:

The case of PRICA-‐ADO Mexico