title: The influence of the Paris Agreement on mitigation actions toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions post 2015: A comparative study of Nordic, Asian and African regions

authors: Hughes, Kemi Mildred

subjects: Emissions Reductions

abstract: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stepped up its warning on climate tipping points as scientists warn of the impending irrevocable disaster that will occur with continued emissions. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries are encouraged to substantially reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2⁰C and pursue efforts to limit global temperatures to 1.5⁰C. So, have countries adhered to the IPCC warnings by reducing emissions and does the international environmental regime (IER) have anything to do with their emissions-reductions efforts since 2015? To answer these questions, this thesis tracks the emissions reductions efforts of eight countries to determine whether the IER vis-à-vis the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC) have influenced the emissions reduction effort in these countries. The eight countries are China, Denmark, Finland, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden selected based on their emissions contributions, emissions reductions ambition and efforts since 2015.

Further, the significance of the IER has been interrogated for several decades in relation to major environmental concerns such as ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss and climate change. The thesis responds to the current gap in the literature that has not addressed the influence of the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions efforts across four continents. Previous literature has examined other international environmental agreements (IEA) such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol and have utilised parameters to measure the IER’s effectiveness. The thesis distinguishes by examining the influence of the Paris Agreement utilising the existing parameters proffered by various scholars such as compliance, enforcement, monitoring, problem structure and institutional design. The thesis also introduces new parameters that have not been used in the existing literature to analyse international environmental regime influence, such as political will subsumed under behavioural changes, equipping of environmental judges and climate litigation under the enforcement parameter, and NDC target review under the implementation parameter.

The thesis builds a conceptual framework using the green political theory and the regime theory as its pillars. These theories are best suited to the thesis as they support state and non-state engagement in environmental issues concerning the global commons. The thesis also relies on the Paris Agreement’s preamble that recognises the importance of all levels of government and various actors (corporate and non-state actors) to aid its analysis of the selected countries’ engagement with emissions reduction.
The analysis of the selected countries reveals that their climate action benefited from cross-influences from the IER, regional environmental organisations (REOs) and non-state actors. The thesis found that there was significant IER influence in Morocco, India and Nigeria. The regime also moderately influenced Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and China. In addition, the thesis found that REOs such as the European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a commendable role in encouraging emissions reductions efforts. Non-state actors also played a crucial role to pressure governments to act through climate litigation and protests. 

The thesis’ significance lies in its ability to present an up-to-date view of the interplay among the IER, the REOs and other non-state actors in emissions reductions post-Paris 2015. In addition, new parameters as mentioned above, have been introduced that could be relevant in assessing the influence of future environmental regimes.

text: The influence of the Paris Agreement on mitigation actions toward the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions post 2015: A comparative study of Nordic, Asian and African regions The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stepped up its warning on climate tipping points as scientists warn of the impending irrevocable disaster that will occur with continued emissions. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, countries are encouraged to substantially reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2⁰C and pursue efforts to limit global temperatures to 1.5⁰C. So, have countries adhered to the IPCC warnings by reducing emissions and does the international environmental regime (IER) have anything to do with their emissions-reductions efforts since 2015? To answer these questions, this thesis tracks the emissions reductions efforts of eight countries to determine whether the IER vis-à-vis the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCCC) have influenced the emissions reduction effort in these countries. The eight countries are China, Denmark, Finland, India, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden selected based on their emissions contributions, emissions reductions ambition and efforts since 2015.

Further, the significance of the IER has been interrogated for several decades in relation to major environmental concerns such as ozone layer depletion, biodiversity loss and climate change. The thesis responds to the current gap in the literature that has not addressed the influence of the Paris Agreement on emissions reductions efforts across four continents. Previous literature has examined other international environmental agreements (IEA) such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol and have utilised parameters to measure the IER’s effectiveness. The thesis distinguishes by examining the influence of the Paris Agreement utilising the existing parameters proffered by various scholars such as compliance, enforcement, monitoring, problem structure and institutional design. The thesis also introduces new parameters that have not been used in the existing literature to analyse international environmental regime influence, such as political will subsumed under behavioural changes, equipping of environmental judges and climate litigation under the enforcement parameter, and NDC target review under the implementation parameter.

The thesis builds a conceptual framework using the green political theory and the regime theory as its pillars. These theories are best suited to the thesis as they support state and non-state engagement in environmental issues concerning the global commons. The thesis also relies on the Paris Agreement’s preamble that recognises the importance of all levels of government and various actors (corporate and non-state actors) to aid its analysis of the selected countries’ engagement with emissions reduction.
The analysis of the selected countries reveals that their climate action benefited from cross-influences from the IER, regional environmental organisations (REOs) and non-state actors. The thesis found that there was significant IER influence in Morocco, India and Nigeria. The regime also moderately influenced Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and China. In addition, the thesis found that REOs such as the European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) played a commendable role in encouraging emissions reductions efforts. Non-state actors also played a crucial role to pressure governments to act through climate litigation and protests. 

The thesis’ significance lies in its ability to present an up-to-date view of the interplay among the IER, the REOs and other non-state actors in emissions reductions post-Paris 2015. In addition, new parameters as mentioned above, have been introduced that could be relevant in assessing the influence of future environmental regimes.

year: 2022

title: Quiescence induces epigenetic changes in bovine fibroblasts and improves their reprogramming into cloned embryos

authors: Kallingappa, Prasanna Kumar

subjects: Quiescence, Epigenetics, Reprogramming, Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), Histone Methylation, Histone Acetylation, Histone varients, DNA methylation, Polycomb group (PcG) proteins

abstract: Cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) forces cells to lose their lineage-specific epigenetic marks and become totipotent again. This reprogramming process often results in epigenetic and transcriptional aberrations that compromise development. Development rates after SCNT can thus serve as a functional assay for genome-wide epigenetic reprogramming. Dolly the sheep, the first mammalian SCNT clone, was derived from a donor cell that was induced into quiescence by serum starvation. We hypothesized that quiescence alters the epigenetic status of donor cells and elevates their reprogrammability. In order to test this idea, we compared chromatin composition and cloning efficiency of serum-starved, quiescent (G₀), bovine fibroblasts vs non-starved, diploid G₁ controls. Mechanically synchronized G₁ cells were generated by mitotic shake-off and harvested within 3 h post-mitosis. Based on morphological assessment and EdU incorporation during continuous labeling, >93% of cells were captured in G₁.
Using quantitative confocal immunofluorescence microscopy and fluorometric ELISA, we show that G₀ fibroblasts were significantly hypomethylated at lysines (K) of histone 3 (H3), specifically H3K4me3, H3K9me2, H3K9me3 and H3K27me3, but not H3K9me1. Histone acetylation was reduced at H3K9 and H4K5, increased at H3K12 and remained unchanged at H3K16. G₀ cells also significantly reduced DNAme. In addition, they significantly down-regulated the nuclear abundance of RNA polymerase II, histone variant H2A.Z, as well as Polycomb group (PcG) proteins EED, SUZ12, PHC1 and RING2. Histone variant H3.3, PcG proteins EZH2 and histone deacetylase HDAC1 did not change compared to the G₁ controls. Following NT into metaphase-arrested oocytes, G₀ DNA condensed slower than that of G₁ cells, indicating a more relaxed chromatin configuration. After seven days of in vitro culture, H3K9me3, but not H3K4me3, H3K27me3, SUZ12 and RING2, remained hypomethylated in G₀- vs G₁-derived NT blastocysts, both in the inner cell mass and trophectoderm. Furthermore, G₀ donors significantly improved development into cloned blastocysts. In conclusion, quiescence induced long-term epigenetic changes, specifically H3K9me3 hypomethylation, that correlated with increased donor cell reprogrammability.

text: Quiescence induces epigenetic changes in bovine fibroblasts and improves their reprogramming into cloned embryos Cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) forces cells to lose their lineage-specific epigenetic marks and become totipotent again. This reprogramming process often results in epigenetic and transcriptional aberrations that compromise development. Development rates after SCNT can thus serve as a functional assay for genome-wide epigenetic reprogramming. Dolly the sheep, the first mammalian SCNT clone, was derived from a donor cell that was induced into quiescence by serum starvation. We hypothesized that quiescence alters the epigenetic status of donor cells and elevates their reprogrammability. In order to test this idea, we compared chromatin composition and cloning efficiency of serum-starved, quiescent (G₀), bovine fibroblasts vs non-starved, diploid G₁ controls. Mechanically synchronized G₁ cells were generated by mitotic shake-off and harvested within 3 h post-mitosis. Based on morphological assessment and EdU incorporation during continuous labeling, >93% of cells were captured in G₁.
Using quantitative confocal immunofluorescence microscopy and fluorometric ELISA, we show that G₀ fibroblasts were significantly hypomethylated at lysines (K) of histone 3 (H3), specifically H3K4me3, H3K9me2, H3K9me3 and H3K27me3, but not H3K9me1. Histone acetylation was reduced at H3K9 and H4K5, increased at H3K12 and remained unchanged at H3K16. G₀ cells also significantly reduced DNAme. In addition, they significantly down-regulated the nuclear abundance of RNA polymerase II, histone variant H2A.Z, as well as Polycomb group (PcG) proteins EED, SUZ12, PHC1 and RING2. Histone variant H3.3, PcG proteins EZH2 and histone deacetylase HDAC1 did not change compared to the G₁ controls. Following NT into metaphase-arrested oocytes, G₀ DNA condensed slower than that of G₁ cells, indicating a more relaxed chromatin configuration. After seven days of in vitro culture, H3K9me3, but not H3K4me3, H3K27me3, SUZ12 and RING2, remained hypomethylated in G₀- vs G₁-derived NT blastocysts, both in the inner cell mass and trophectoderm. Furthermore, G₀ donors significantly improved development into cloned blastocysts. In conclusion, quiescence induced long-term epigenetic changes, specifically H3K9me3 hypomethylation, that correlated with increased donor cell reprogrammability.

year: 2013

title: /u/ fronting and /t/ aspiration in Māori and New Zealand English

authors: Maclagan, Margaret

subjects: Maori

abstract: This article examines the relationship between the frontness of /u/ and the aspiration of /t/ in both Māori and New Zealand English (NZE). In both languages, these processes can be observed since the earliest recordings dating from the latter part of the nineteenth century. We report analyses of these developments for three groups of male speakers of Māori spanning the twentieth century. We compare the Māori analyses with analyses of related features of the speakers' English and of the English of monolingual contemporaries. The occurrence of these processes in Māori cannot be seen simply as interference from NZE as the Māori-speaking population became increasingly bilingual. We conclude that it was the arrival of English with its contrast between aspirated and unaspirated plosives, rather than direct borrowing, that was the trigger for the fronting of the hitherto stable back Māori /u/ vowel together with increased aspiration of /t/ before both /i/ and /u/.

text: /u/ fronting and /t/ aspiration in Māori and New Zealand English This article examines the relationship between the frontness of /u/ and the aspiration of /t/ in both Māori and New Zealand English (NZE). In both languages, these processes can be observed since the earliest recordings dating from the latter part of the nineteenth century. We report analyses of these developments for three groups of male speakers of Māori spanning the twentieth century. We compare the Māori analyses with analyses of related features of the speakers' English and of the English of monolingual contemporaries. The occurrence of these processes in Māori cannot be seen simply as interference from NZE as the Māori-speaking population became increasingly bilingual. We conclude that it was the arrival of English with its contrast between aspirated and unaspirated plosives, rather than direct borrowing, that was the trigger for the fronting of the hitherto stable back Māori /u/ vowel together with increased aspiration of /t/ before both /i/ and /u/.

year: 2009