Can the G20 better integrate stakeholders to respond more effectively to climate change?

Abstract

As climate change becomes a more serious and urgent problem, there remain consistent questions regarding whether and how the institutions of global governance should respond. The G20 has not been immune from these criticisms, with an impressive set of literature adequately detailing slow progress and underwhelming commitments to tackle global warming. Among the proposals to remedy this is to enhance participation by stakeholders who might be able to better influence the adoption of climate pledges and hold G20 leaders to account. This dissertation provides a detailed and mixed methods analysis of whether and how stakeholder involvement might improve climate governance at the G20. The core argument followed throughout is that the G20 is relatively impervious to stakeholder engagement and in its current form it is unlikely to meaningfully integrate stakeholders in a way that would increase its effectiveness in the fight against climate change. As such, a proposal for a root and branch reform that institutionalises and formalises the G20 is proposed as an important consideration.