Justice through Polycentricity

This research paper examines how a polycentric climate governance regime in Pakistan affects the framing and operationalization of climate justice, finding that while non-state actors can voice diverse domestic concerns, state power and international frameworks prioritize inter-country justice over domestic inequalities.

• Polycentricity in Pakistan has expanded the space for non-state actors to voice diverse framings of climate justice, including those focused on human rights, vulnerability, and transformation, whereas national government actors primarily use an international framing.
• Despite the diversification of discourse, institutional barriers—such as resource constraints, scale limits, and the state's dominant power—prevent non-state actors from translating these framings into policy change. 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 framings of climate justice, limiting the ability of national-level 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} }