Scaling Sustainable Governance: The Political Economy of Climate Action

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The Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre (IGDC), the York Centre for Conflict and Security (YCCS) and the Political Economy cluster (Department of Politics and International Relations are pleased invite members to hear Professor Rachael Diprose (University of Melbourne) present on her recent research on sustainability governance initiatives in Indonesia.

In response to the impacts of deforestation on climate change and biodiversity, global efforts have intensified through multi-stakeholder collaborations known as Jurisdictional Approaches (JAs). Aiming to improve environmental management across entire landscapes or subnational jurisdictions, these initiatives involve cross-sectoral coordination to rehabilitate degraded forests and promote more sustainable production of major deforestation-risk commodities (e.g. palm oil). However, while interest has exploded in piloting JAs and similar initiatives, progress has been slow in scaling-up these interventions, and evidence is mixed on how representative they are of diverse stakeholder interests. This raises critical questions as to what constrains the scale-up of these initiatives in extractive economies, how inclusive they are, and under what conditions progress might be made. Drawing from several research projects in Indonesia, this seminar addresses these questions, focusing especially on the ways the underlying political economies of extraction and agribusiness may constrain or enhance pathways to sustainability.

About the speaker

Rachael Diprose

Rachael Diprose is a Professor of Development Studies in the School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS) and the Associate Dean - Partnerships for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. She teaches in the Master of Development Studies program and has led a range of initiatives and partnerships at Melbourne and elsewhere. She has published widely on understanding the intersections between inequalities, conflict dynamics and conflict transformation, and on governance and political order. Her present research focuses on two inter-related streams: 1) the dynamics of rapidly changing contexts, extractive economies, and the implications for populations, environmental sustainability governance and climate change, and 2) international development and understanding inequalities, poverty and social inclusion, with a particular focus on gender inequalities and empowerment.