Justice through Polycentricity

The research finds that while polycentricity in Pakistan allows non-state actors to voice diverse climate justice framings—including human rights and vulnerability—these perspectives are largely blocked from policy change by state power and a national strategy that prioritizes international justice over domestic inequalities.

• Polycentric governance in Pakistan has expanded the space for non-state actors to introduce diverse climate justice framings, such as those focused on human rights, vulnerability, and transformation, whereas government actors primarily use an international framing.
• Despite the diversification of discourse, institutional barriers—including resource constraints, scale limits, and the state's dominant power—prevent non-state actors from translating these framings into policy. Consequently, Pakistan's national strategy emphasizes justice between nations while ignoring domestic poverty and inequality.
• The intergovernmental climate regime may strengthen the nation-state's preference for international justice framings, limiting the ability of national polycentric regimes to redistribute power or elevate local justice concerns during international negotiations.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). Justice through Polycentricity. https://www.sei.org/publications/justice-through-polycentricity/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Justice through Polycentricity. 2020. https://www.sei.org/publications/justice-through-polycentricity/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Justice through Polycentricity |date=11 February 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/justice-through-polycentricity/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2020justice, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Justice through Polycentricity}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/justice-through-polycentricity/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }