With an ever more fragmented global climate governance architecture, one of the key achievements opposing its institutional complexity and increasing its integration marks the launch of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) in February 2012. My paper will analyze why the establishment of this newly formed initiative leads to achieving more integration rather than more fragmentation in the global climate governance architecture, by providing innovative conceptual insights into the formation and structure of the Coalition, and by investigating the links between the character of this initiative and the increased integration and uniformity in the global climate governance architecture.
The paper will first briefly review the formation of the CCAC, addressing its functioning and work to date. This part will provide background information regarding the so called Short-Lived Climate-forcing Pollutants (SLCPs), and stress that the CCAC’s mission is entirely complementary to efforts to reduce CO₂, thereby not contesting the prevalence of the global climate regime.
Second, emphasis will be put on the structure of this voluntary partnership. With the CCAC’s Secretariat hosted by UNEP, being a multi-stakeholder forum in the context of the framework of the UN, with a clear focus on catalyzing concrete action but not on developing norms.
Thirdly, conclusions will be provided in terms of what implications with regard to fragmentation and integration in global climate governance may be drawn from the launch of the Coalition, including consequences regarding the institutional complexity and effectiveness of the global climate governance architecture as well as consequences for different types of actors, potential causes of integration, and ways through which the Coalition contributes to achieving more integration in global climate governance.
