BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute's\, Central Asia &\; the Caucasus Ini tiative welcomes \;Tobias Zumbrägel from Heidelberg University. \; This talk examines the evolving dynamics of global climate governance in t he Post-Paris Agreement era\, with a particular emphasis on the role of au tocratic regimes\, including those in Central Asia and the Caucasus\, in s haping climate diplomacy. Drawing on insights from the UN COP26–29 negotia tions\, it defines the strategies and implications of autocratic engagemen t at these forums—highlighting the interconnected sustainability approache s of fossil fuel-dependent regimes in West Asia\, such as the Arab Gulf st ates\, Central Asia\, and the most recent COP29 host country\, Azerbaijan. The talk challenges traditional North-South divides and regime-centric na rratives to shed light on the blurred lines between democratic and authori tarian approaches in climate governance. It thus offers a richer understan ding of the complexities and contradictions shaping contemporary climate d iplomacy. \;Discussant: Darzhan Kazbekova\, Ph.D. candidate\, social s cience\, Maxwell SchoolTobias Zumbraegel is a postdoc at Heidelberg’s Geog raphy Institute since January 2023. Prior to this he worked as a researche r at the center for excellence Climate\, Climatic Change and Society (CLIC CS) at the University of Hamburg and the Germany-based think tank CARPO in Bonn. He studied history\, political science and Middle Eastern studies i n Cologne\, Tuebingen and Cairo\, and holds a Ph.D. (summa cum laude) from the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg\, which was awarded with the dissertation prize of the German Middle East Association.Darzhan  \;Kazbekova has an M.A. degree in international relations and a Ph.D. in international relations. Her most recent work position was as a deputy director of the Institute for Applied Research\, Academy of Public Admini stration under the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Darzhan's rese arch interests are focused on environmental policy formation\, stakeholder analysis\, and theoretical frameworks of policy analysis in the case of K azakhstan. DTEND:20250307T190000Z DTSTAMP:20260513T132722Z DTSTART:20250307T173000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:After Azerbaijan: Understanding Autocratization and Climate Diploma cy at UN COP Negotiations UID:RFCALITEM639142612425685351 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Moynihan Institute's\, Central Asia &am p\; the Caucasus Initiative welcomes \;Tobias Zumbrägel from Heidelberg University. \;

This talk examines the ev olving dynamics of global climate governance in the Post-Paris Agreement e ra\, with a particular emphasis on the role of autocratic regimes\, includ ing those in Central Asia and the Caucasus\, in shaping climate diplomacy.

Drawing on insights from the UN COP26–29 negotiations\, it defines the strategies and implications of autocratic engagement at these forums— highlighting the interconnected sustainability approaches of fossil fuel-d ependent regimes in West Asia\, such as the Arab Gulf states\, Central Asi a\, and the most recent COP29 host country\, Azerbaijan.

The talk c hallenges traditional North-South divides and regime-centric narratives to shed light on the blurred lines between democratic and authoritarian appr oaches in climate governance. It thus offers a richer understanding of the complexities and contradictions shaping contemporary climate diplomacy.

 \;

Discussant: Darzhan Kazbekova\, Ph.D. candidate\, social science\, Maxwell School

T obias Zumbraegel is a postdoc at Heidelberg’s Geography Institute since January 2023. Prior to this he worked as a researcher at the center for excellence Climate\, Climatic Change and Society (CLICCS) at the Univ ersity of Hamburg and the Germany-based think tank CARPO in Bonn. He studi ed history\, political science and Middle Eastern studies in Cologne\, Tue bingen and Cairo\, and holds a Ph.D. (summa cum laude) from the Friedrich- Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg\, which was awarded with the disse rtation prize of the German Middle East Association.

Darzhan  \;Kazbekova has an M.A. degree in international relations an d a Ph.D. in international relations. Her most recent work position was as a deputy director of the Institute for Applied Research\, Academy of Publ ic Administration under the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Darzh an's research interests are focused on environmental policy formation\, st akeholder analysis\, and theoretical frameworks of policy analysis in the case of Kazakhstan.

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