2016 Julia Ann Flagg ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

298 Pages·2016·1.21 MB·English

© 2016

Julia Ann Flagg

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
AIMING FOR ZERO: WHAT MAKES A NATION ADOPT A CARBON NEUTRAL
PLEDGE?

By

JULIA ANN FLAGG

A dissertation submitted to the

Graduate School-New Brunswick

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

In partial fulfillment of the requirements

For the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Graduate Program in Sociology

Written under the direction of

Thomas K. Rudel

And approved by

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

New Brunswick, New Jersey

May 2016
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

AIMING FOR ZERO: WHAT MAKES A NATION ADOPT A CARBON NEUTRAL
PLEDGE?

By

JULIA ANN FLAGG

Dissertation Director:
Thomas K. Rudel

This dissertation research examines carbon neutral pledges made by several nation-states.
Several countries have pledged to emit zero net carbon emissions in the near future in
response to global climate change. First, this research uses newspaper articles to
document which countries have made these pledges. These results show that nine nations
have made carbon neutral pledges. Second, this research uses national-level statistics in a
fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify the common confluence of factors
that is present in pledging nations. The results show that pledging nations, compared to
non-pledging nations, have smaller populations, more egalitarian class structures, better
governance, and more international environmental NGOs. Then, this project includes a
case study on Costa Rica’s carbon neutrality pledge. The case study has three parts. First,
it provides a historical account of how Costa Rica came to have the institutional profile of
a country that makes a carbon neutral pledge. It uses archival research to explain how
Costa Rica came to have the small size, egalitarian agricultural economy, good
governance, and strong NGO presence that characterize pledging nations. Second, it
provides a narrative account of the events that preceded the country’s carbon neutral
commitment in February 2007. Archival research and interviews with people in
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government, industry, science, and civil society are used in this case study. In many
ways, Costa Rica’s carbon neutral pledge is latest example of a highly ambitious political
action that appeals to people’s values. The carbon neutral pledge reaffirms Costa Rica’s
role as country that takes care of its people and takes care of the planet. The third and
final section of the case study describes what has happened in Costa Rica since the
country made the pledge. While political support for the pledge has in some respects
waned since the initial commitment, officials are still committed to the carbon neutral
goal and they reaffirmed the commitment in the country’s 2015 Intended Nationally
Determined Contribution (INDC) ahead of the 21st meeting of the Conference of the
Parties in Paris.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to many people who have helped to make this project a reality.
Faculty and fellow students in the Departments of Human Ecology and Sociology helped
me develop my interests and learn how to undertake this research. Financial support from
the Department of Human Ecology, the Department of Sociology, and the Graduate
School at Rutgers University made the fieldwork for this research possible. An academic
year fellowship from the Department of Sociology opened up time for me to write. A
fellowship from the Hertog Global Strategy Initiative in Columbia University’s
Department of History helped me think through the contours of this project and supported
my fieldwork. A scholarship from the New Jersey Society for Women Environmental
Professionals also supported my graduate work.
I am indebted to my interviewees in Costa Rica who shared their time to talk with
me about carbon neutrality. I am especially grateful to Sergio Musmanni Sobrado and
Edmundo Castro Jimenez who provided assistance at numerous junctures. Since January
2010, Letty Tristan Chaves and Juan Guillermo Vargas Prado have patiently helped me to
communicate better in their language and have nurtured my interest in Costa Rican
environmental issues. They have shared many hours with me discussing Costa Rican
politics and futbol. I am grateful for their encouragement and friendship. I am also
grateful to Charles Ragin who answered many of my questions about fs/QCA and to
Timmons Roberts who provided contact information for a reference in Costa Rica.
I am grateful to friends and colleagues who listened to my concerns and
excitement about this project over several years. In particular, I wish to thank Kelly Kato,
Lindsay Stevens, Dilara Demir, Nil Uzun, Irina Nicorici, Tsai-Yen Han, Victoria
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Gonzalez, and Libby Luth. Libby was especially helpful near the very end, when my
nerves seemed to be the most frayed. I am deeply indebted to Angie Oberg and Ryan
Good who read and provided feedback on various parts of this project and who helped
me think critically about writing. I am happy and fortunate to have been able to share my
writing process with you.
I have been very fortunate to have several excellent mentors. Diane Bates
introduced me to the world of environmental sociology and encouraged me to think in
exciting ways about the combination of sociology, environmental studies, and Latin
America studies. My experience of having you as a mentor fundamentally changed my
life. I am also thankful to have had a supportive dissertation committee. Robert Fletcher
was immediately supportive of my ideas and has provided many suggestions along the
way to continue to improve my work. Thank you for your help. I am so grateful that
Steve Brechin arrived during my third year at Rutgers. Steve has provided contagious
excitement about my ideas and the project as a whole from day one, and I am grateful for
that. I also appreciate his critical inquiries into the theoretical approach I have used in this
project. Norah MacKendrick has helped me at every stage of this project. I am so grateful
for the care and detail you have invested in every conversation we have had and every
draft you have read. Finally, I am very fortunate to have worked with Tom Rudel. I
walked in to Tom’s office during the first week of my second year of graduate school and
told him I wanted to study carbon neutrality pledges. From that moment on, he has
invested a great deal of time and energy with me in bringing this project to life. This
project would not exist without you and I can’t thank you enough for your help at every
step along the way.
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I am grateful for the support I received from my family. I was especially fortunate
to be part of a family that maintained a steadfast interest in what I have been doing for
these past years. My sister Rachel and my brother Russell in particular have provided
encouragement during the highs and the lows of bringing this project to completion.
Neither of my parents lived to see the day when this project would be finished, but I
believe that during the time we shared together, they laid the foundation for me to
undertake this kind of an investment. I will always be in their debt. Finally, Joseph
Berenguel listened to more hours of my excitement and worry over this project than any
reasonable person would sign-up for. I am grateful for the sacrifices you have made to
help me succeed and for the support you have provided at each and every turn.

A slightly different version of chapter 3 was published in Environmental
Sociology. The citation is: Flagg, Julia A. 2015. “Aiming for zero: What makes nations
adopt carbon neutral pledges?” Environmental Sociology. 1(3): 202-212.

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Table of Contents

Abstract: ii-iii

Acknowledgement: iv-vi

List of Tables: viii

List of Acronyms: ix- x

Chapter 1. Introduction: 1-10

Chapter 2. Theoretical Approaches: 11-61

Chapter 3. Cross-national Comparative Analysis: 62-79

Chapter 4. The Historical Context for Pledge Making: Post-colonial Costa Rica: 80-144

Chapter 5. Narrative Account of Pledge-making Process in Costa Rica: 145-197

Chapter 6. Post-Pledge Making Context in Costa Rica: 198-221

Chapter 7. Conclusion: 222-248

Methodological Appendix: 249-265

References: 266-287

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List of Tables

Table 1: States that have pledged to go carbon neutral 65

Table II: States considering the possibility of going carbon neutral 66

Table III: Randomly selected group of non-pledging states 68

Table IV: Comparison of pledging vs. non-pledging states 74

Table V: List of respondents and their institutional affiliations 81-82

Table VI: AIJ projects in Costa Rica 159

Table VII: Members of Peace with Nature Committee 173

Table VIII: Values on the calibrated fuzzy set variables 252

Table IX: Archival source by date of retrieval with citations 262-265

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List of Acronyms

AIJ: Activities Implemented Jointly
ALIDES: Alliance for Sustainable Development (Alianza para el Desarollo Sostenible)
BSI: British Standards Institution
CDM: Clean Development Mechanism
CINPE: Center of Political Economic Investigations for Sustainable Development (El
Centro Internacional de Politica Economica para el Desarrollo Sostenible)
COP: Conference of the Parties
CORBANA: National Banana Corporation (La Corporación Bananera Nacional)
CST: Certification for Sustainable Tourism
CTO: Certifiable Tradable Offsets
DCC: Climate Change Center (Direccion de Cambio Climatico)
ECA: Costa Rican Entity of Accreditation (El Ente Costarricense de Acreditación)
FONAFIFO: National Forestry Financing Fund (El Fondo de Financiamiento Forestal de
Costa Rica)
FORESTA: Forest Resources for a Stable Environment
fsQCA: Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis
FUNDECOR: Fundacion para el Desarrollo de la Cordillera Volcanica Central (The
Central Volcanic Mountains Development Foundation)
ICE: Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad)
ICT: Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo)
INDC: Intended Nationally Determined Contribution
INTECO: Costa Rican Institute of Technical Norms (Instituto de Normas Técnicas
de Costa Rica)
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
JI: Joint Implementation
MICITT: Costa Rican Ministry of Science, Technology, and Telecommunications
(Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Telecomunicaciones)
MINAE(T)1: Ministry of Environment and Energy (and Telecommunications)
(Ministerio del Ambiente y Energia [y Telecomunicaciones])
MINEREM: Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy, and Mines
MRV: Measuring, Reporting, and Verification
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OTS: The Organization for Tropical Studies
PAS: Publically available specification
PLN: National Liberation Party (Partido Liberacion Nacional) – central, social democrat
PES (PSA): Payments for environmental services program (Pago por servicios
ambientales)
PUSC: United Social Christian Party (Partido Unidad Social Cristiana) – more
conservative
QCA: Qualitative comparative analysis

1 Telecommunications left MINAET in 2013.
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