Opening the Black Box of Transparency in Multilateral Climate Governance: Causal Pathways of Reporting and Review

Transparency, in the form of regular reporting by nations and expert and multilateral peer review, has become a backbone of the international climate change regime. The hope is that transparency can indicate whether the level of collective efforts undertaken by countries is adequate to address climate change, by shining a light on what countries do individually. However, very little is still known about whether and how such transparency arrangements bring about effects such as increased ambition, stronger policies and/or greater accountability. International regime theorists suggest that reporting and review can help promote compliance with international agreements. Moreover, reporting and review can influence state behaviour, by giving states information on whether they are achieving their policy objectives, providing other states information that allows for diplomatic responses, offering non-state actors information that can generate domestic pressure, and facilitating learning. This paper aims to open the black box of transparency in multilateral climate governance by identifying the causal pathways through which transparency arrangements, such as reporting and review, can contribute to improved international and national climate governance. The paper will distinguish several ideal-typical causal pathways, and specify the role of various actors (e.g. governments, civil society organisations, international organisations) in each pathway.