Canada’s Multiple Voices Diplomacy in Climate Change Negotiations: A Focus on Québec

Abstract

This article sheds light on the complexity of international climate change negotiations in a federal country, like Canada, where there is no clear attribution of full power over international negotiation concerning this issue. Climate change is a multi-level and multi-stakeholder issue, one that can only be tackled successfully if all actors, at all levels of government, are involved in the process. In recent years, Canadian provinces, especially Québec, have become intensely involved in climate change paradiplomacy. That situation has led to a Canadian paradox where the Government of Québec worked to respect the Kyoto Protocol and act accordingly, while Canada opted out of the Protocol in 2011.

The Federated Entities in Environmental Treaties (FEET) Dataset: Questioning Conventional Wisdom on Green Paradiplomacy

“…In this context, we might have expected the literature on global environmental governance to have uncovered the various ways in which federated entities contribute to IEAs' negotiations and to their implementation. However, apart from a few exceptions (Chaloux et al, 2015;Moore, 2017), the literature on IEAs rarely discusses federated entities. Yet the literature on global environmental governance is by no means state-centric.…”

“…Considering these observations, one might expect climate change to have encouraged federated entities to take part in more IEAs. In line with this expectation, most studies that examine federated entities in global environmental governance focus on climate negotiations (Chaloux et al, 2015;Di Gregorio et al, 2019;Bechtel and Urpelainen, 2014;Hale et al, 2021;Chan et al, 2021;Hsu et al, 2019).…”

Fédéralisme et nouveaux instruments d’action : l’exemple de l’Accord Économique et Commercial Global au Canada dans le domaine de la régulation énergétique

“…En se tournant vers la science politique ou le droit, on constate une littérature plus diverse, incluant des travaux récents sur l'AECG. Ces recherches empruntent également au paradigme géopolitique (CHALOUX et al 2015 ;DEBLOCK et al 2015 ;DEBLOCK et RIOUX 2011 ;DEBARDELEBEN et LEBLOND 2010) mais elles apportent des clés de lecture différentes pour penser géographiquement les accords de nouvelle génération, en examinant l'étendue de leurs domaines d'action (GRILLER et al 2017 ;TAPP et al 2017 ;LECHNER 2016 ;HÜBNER 2011), le rôle des provinces (PAQUIN 2021 ;FAFARD et LEBLOND 2013 ;KUKUCHA 2013), des municipalités (LYSENKO et al 2020, la prise en compte d'une dimension environnementale et ses limites (MORIN et al 2018 ;MORIN et ROCHETTE dans MALJEAN-DUBOIS 2017 ;DENT 2018), leur lien à la régulation et au rôle des États (WHITSITT dans FINBOW 2022 ;MESTRAL 2015). Dernièrement, certaines recherches sur les accords de nouvelle génération (PTCI, PTP 2 , AECG) entrent dans l'épaisseur de leurs mécanismes juridiques, et ouvrent des pistes pour travailler sur les modalités de gouvernance des ressources (TIENHAARA, 2010).…”

Subnational Diplomacy in Climate Action Plans of Border States in India

“…Officially the UN negotiations do not allow non-sovereign states to participate in the Conference of the Parties (COP). But Quebec uses intra-channels by sending separate representatives with the official Canadian diplomatic delegation (Chaloux, Paquin and Séguin, 2015). It organizes parallel negotiations by way of bilateral and multi-lateral meetings to ensure non-sovereign states to engage in global climate change regulation.…”

“…It organizes parallel negotiations by way of bilateral and multi-lateral meetings to ensure non-sovereign states to engage in global climate change regulation. It has been considered as been redefining crossborder relations on climate issue by engaging with subnational states entities across the border (Chaloux, Paquin and Séguin, 2015. In Belgium, by way of a constitutional framework the regions are intrinsically involved in preparation of its positions on climate change on the international stage (Gayard, 2013). A creation of a system of coordination in order to ensure that subnational state entities and the central government cooperate and create a coherent Indian position to any climate change issue.…”