Rethinking environment and development in an era of global norms: Exploring international politics of justice on carbon forestry and hydro power in Nepal, Uganda and Sudan 2018

This collection of data intends to provide other researchers the data collected for the ‘REDEGN 2’ project. The project explored how norms are used in confrontations over environment and development projects, thereby answering the question ‘whose norms matter?’ Based on legal and environmental justice analyses of dams and REDD+ forestry projects and policy in Nepal, Uganda, and Sudan, the focus of the bulk of research was on the pivotal role of the intermediaries between those most and least directly affected.
With a focus on data collected in Uganda and Nepal, this collection includes a comprehensive note that provides background information relevant to interpret the bulk data provided.<p>The research responds to the unprecedented emergence of global environmental norms intended to reconcile natural resource management with poverty alleviation. Prominent examples of such norms are the social safeguards included in global conventions and the human rights-based rulings of international courts. The norms possess the potential to transform development practice in the future, so long as they effectively support poor people's claims on natural resources and rights to sustainable livelihoods.
The increasing significance of global environmental norms challenges research to develop new theory on the dynamics of environment and development that attends to cross-scale relationships between local environmental struggles, environmental mobilizations and global norms. This research employs an environmental justice lens to examine the effects of global environmental norms on poverty alleviation in the Global South through explorations of forests and water.
The proposed research expands the political ecology approach through attention to notions of environmental justice and cross-scale environmental politics. Notions of justice are at the core of many environmental struggles, as they inform people's claims and practices in relation to natural resources. Justice conceptions are also an integral component of international environmental politics and global environmental norms. Thus ideas about justice are an integral element of environmental politics across scales, connecting local struggles to mobilizations at national and international levels as well as the conceptions informing global norms - or causing dissonances between them.
Research in stage 1 proceeded by way of four case studies from Nepal, Sudan and Uganda on how marginalized people's struggles in reaction to carbon forestry and hydropower projects are, or are not taken up in environmental mobilizations, and how this uptake does, or does not contribute to increases in wellbeing.
The particular objectives guiding the research in stage 2 are to:
(1) Generate empirical insights on the resonance of global norms and international mobilisations with environmental struggles by examining international politics of justice on carbon forestry and hydropower.
(2) Combine the empirical insights from stage 1 and 2 to develop new theory on cross-scale dynamics of environment and development.
(3) Support practitioners involved in environmental mobilisations in generating impact in low-income countries through novel forms of engagement.
Research in stage 2 will trace references to the struggles examined in our stage 1 research in negotiations over the so-called Safeguards on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and international court cases dealing with hydropower projects in the South. The research team will synthesize their findings in a theoretical and two case-based journal articles. In addition, the insights from stage 1 and stage 2 will inform the development of a theoretical paper on cross-scale dynamics of environment and development.
The project team will also expand the cooperation with environmental activists on the basis of the insights gained in stage 1 research, using think tanks and workshops to create new forums for engaging activists, professionals and government officials. Such forums facilitate involved actors to develop shared ideas about justice and apply them to the REDD+ Safeguards and international water law.</p>

本数据集旨在为其他研究人员提供“REDEGN 2”项目所采集的研究数据。该项目聚焦于规范在环境与发展项目对抗中的运用方式，以此解答“何种规范具有影响力？”这一核心问题。研究基于对尼泊尔、乌干达以及苏丹的水坝、减少毁林和森林退化所致排放量（REDD+）林业项目与政策开展的法律及环境正义（environmental justice）分析，核心研究重点聚焦于在受影响最直接与最间接群体之间发挥关键作用的中介者。

本数据集以在乌干达与尼泊尔采集的数据为核心，配套包含一份详尽背景说明文档，可辅助解读本次提供的大部分原始数据。

本研究响应了旨在协调自然资源管理与减贫工作的全球环境规范的空前兴起。此类规范的典型案例包括全球公约中纳入的社会保障条款，以及国际法院基于人权作出的裁决。这些规范具备重塑未来发展实践的潜力，前提是它们能够切实支持贫困人口对自然资源的主张，以及其可持续生计的权利。

全球环境规范的重要性与日俱增，这对学界提出了新的研究挑战：需要构建环境与发展领域的全新理论，以剖析地方环境抗争、环境动员与全球规范之间的跨尺度关联。本研究采用环境正义视角，通过对森林与水资源的探索，考察全球环境规范对全球南方（Global South）地区减贫工作的影响。

本研究通过关注环境正义与跨尺度环境政治的相关理念，拓展了政治生态学（political ecology）的研究范畴。正义理念是诸多环境抗争的核心，它为民众针对自然资源的主张与实践提供了指引。正义观念同时也是国际环境政治与全球环境规范的核心组成部分。因此，正义理念是跨尺度环境政治的核心要素，它将地方抗争与国家及国际层面的动员相连接，同时也为全球规范的理念提供了支撑，或是引发二者之间的冲突与分歧。

第一阶段的研究共开展了四项案例研究，涵盖尼泊尔、苏丹与乌干达，旨在考察边缘化群体针对碳林业与水电项目发起的抗争是否被纳入环境动员，以及该纳入与否是否会对福祉提升产生影响。

指导第二阶段研究的具体目标如下：
(1) 透过碳林业与水电领域的国际正义政治视角，考察全球规范与国际动员与环境抗争的契合度，以此获取实证洞察。
(2) 整合第一阶段与第二阶段的实证研究成果，构建环境与发展领域跨尺度动态性的全新理论。
(3) 依托新型参与形式，为参与环境动员、致力于在低收入国家产生实际影响的从业者提供支持。

第二阶段的研究将追踪第一阶段研究中考察的抗争活动，在《联合国气候变化框架公约》（UN Framework Convention on Climate Change）框架下针对所谓“减少毁林和森林退化所致排放量（REDD+）保障措施”的谈判，以及针对南方国家水电项目的国际法院案件中的相关引用情况。研究团队将把研究成果整合为一篇理论性论文与两篇基于案例的期刊论文。此外，第一、第二阶段的研究成果将为一篇探讨环境与发展跨尺度动态性的理论论文提供支撑。

项目团队还将基于第一阶段研究获得的洞察，与环保活动人士拓展合作，通过智库与工作坊搭建全新论坛，邀请活动人士、专业人士与政府官员参与其中。此类论坛将助力相关参与主体就正义理念形成共识，并将其应用于REDD+保障措施与国际水法实践中。