Description
A wealth of literature has demonstrated that despite nation-states in the Global South being disproportionately exposed to the adverse effects of climate change, there are a range of barriers to their equal participation in climate negotiations (Falzon 2023; Dryzek and Stevenson 2015; Schroeder 2010; Gupta 2005). This paper contributes to this literature by examining how such inequalities manifest in negotiations relating to the regulation of GHG emissions in international shipping – specifically, in the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC). It argues that in this setting, oft-described inequalities relating to deficits of resources and expertise intersect with the distinctive power structures and public-private relations of maritime commerce and the IMO. This illustrates the mutability of the enaction and reproduction of institutional hierarchies in climate governance.
