Kennedy Mbeva is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Global Economic Governance programme.
In his role, Kennedy is contributing to the Future of Climate Cooperation project, which aims to better understand what institutional changes will be required in order for the international climate change regime, broadly conceived, to meet its objectives.
The project does this by bringing together existing research, promoting further research into knowledge gaps, and looking across different areas to address critical gaps and weaknesses.
Kennedy’s research in the project analyses the challenges and opportunities faced by developing and emerging countries in contributing to long-term international climate cooperation.
A Kenyan national, Kennedy holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Melbourne. His broader research interests are in the linkage politics of sustainability and economic governance. He also has experience in policy convening and international diplomacy.
Kennedy has also studied and worked in several countries including Australia, China and Germany.
Peer-reviewed articles
“Assessing the effectiveness of orchestrated climate action from five years of summits” (with Chan, S. et al.) 2022. Nature Climate Change, 12(7), 628–633.
“Bolstering Global Climate Action Beyond 2020: A Catalytic Framework for Ambition and Sustainable Development" (with Chan, S. et al.). 2021. Global Policy, 12 (3), 245-259.
“Subtle differentiation of countries’ responsibilities under the Paris Agreement” (with Pieter Pauw and Harro van Asselt). 2019. Palgrave Communications (Nature). 5(86): 1-7.
“Can Pay-As-You-Go, digitally enabled business models support sustainability transformations in developing countries? Outstanding questions and a theoretical basis for future research” (with Ockell, D. et al.). 2019. Sustainability. 11 (7): 2105-2126
“Squaring the Circle: Development Prospects Within the Paris Agreement” (with Reuben Makomere). 2018. Carbon & Climate Law Review .12(1): 31-40.
“Beyond headline mitigation numbers: we need more transparent and comparable NDCs to achieve the Paris Agreement on climate change” (with Pauw, P. et al.). 2018. Climatic Change. 147(1-2): 23-29.
“A political economy of niche-building: Neoliberal-developmental encounters in photovoltaic electrification in Kenya” (with David Ockwell and Rob Byrne). 2018. Energy Research & Social Science. 44: 6-16.
“Exploring the agency of Africa in climate change negotiations: the case of REDD+” (with Atela, J. et al.). 2016. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics. 17: 463–482.
“The Emergent Nature of National REDD+ Design: Lessons from Kenya” (with Guo Ru). 2016. International Research Journal of Environmental Sciences. 2016. 5(4): 8-17.
“The Case for Intergenerational Equity: A Case of Youth Quotas in Wildlife Management in Kenya” (with Grace Mwaura). 2016. Policy Matters. 20: 33-40.
Book chapters
“Climate Action and Low-Carbon Economy" (with Reuben Makomere) In: eds. Leal Filho W., Azul A., Brandli L., Özuyar P., Wall T., Climate Action. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2019. Springer, Cham.
“Contested multilateralism: Toward aligning regimes for ocean and climate governance” (with Reuben Makomere) In: ed. Harris, P. G., Climate Change and Ocean Governance: Politics and Policy for Threatened Seas, 2019. Cambridge University Press.
Book reviews
Book Review - Emergent Africa: Evolution of Regional Economic Integration, South African Journal of International Affairs 26(3), 2019.
Commentary
What agenda will an African Champion bring to COP27? (with Thomas Hale, Victoria Chengo and Joanes Atela), November 10, 2021
Harnessing the SDGs for Africa’s Climate Policy (with Joanes Atela), The Current Column (GDI/DIE), 25 March 2019
Five big gaps in national climate plans – and how to close them (with Pieter Pauw, Richard Klein and Adis Dzebo), Climate Home News, 02 January 2018
Sweet harmony: Why UN climate plans should use the same metrics (with Pieter Pauw), Climate Home News, 17 March 2016
INDCs: A Silver Bullet for the Climate Negotiations, or Empty Talk? (with Pieter Pauw), The Current Column (GDI/DIE), 26 May 2015
Other publications
Cooperative climate action 2013 – 2018: Global performance and geographic scope, A report of the project “Strengthening non-state climate action in the Global South” (ClimateSouth), 2018