Transparency in Global Environmental Governance

Transparency in Global Environmental Governance
Author: Aarti Gupta
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 365
Release: 2014-07-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 026232086X

A critical assessment of whether transparency is a broadly transformative force in global environmental governance or plays a more limited role. Transparency—openness, secured through greater availability of information—is increasingly seen as part of the solution to a complex array of economic, political, and ethical problems in an interconnected world. The “transparency turn” in global environmental governance in particular is seen in a range of international agreements, voluntary disclosure initiatives, and public-private partnerships. This is the first book to investigate whether transparency in global environmental governance is in fact a broadly transformative force or plays a more limited, instrumental role. After three conceptual, context-setting chapters, the book examines ten specific and diverse instances of “governance by disclosure.” These include state-led mandatory disclosure initiatives that rely on such tools as prior informed consent and monitoring, measuring, reporting and verification; and private (or private-public), largely voluntary efforts that include such corporate transparency initiatives as the Carbon Disclosure Project and such certification schemes as the Forest Stewardship Council. The cases, which focus on issue areas including climate change, biodiversity, biotechnology, natural resource exploitation, and chemicals, demonstrate that although transparency is ubiquitous, its effects are limited and often specific to particular contexts. The book explores in what circumstances transparency can offer the possibility of a new emancipatory politics in global environmental governance.

Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap

Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap
Author: Susan Park
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262351889

An examination of whether accountability mechanisms in global environmental governance that focus on monitoring and enforcement necessarily lead to better governance and better environmental outcomes. The rapid development of global environmental governance has been accompanied by questions of accountability. Efforts to address what has been called “a culture of unaccountability” include greater transparency, public justification for governance decisions, and the establishment of monitoring and enforcement procedures. And yet, as this volume shows, these can lead to an “accountability trap”—a focus on accountability measures rather than improved environmental outcomes. Through analyses and case studies, the contributors consider how accountability is being used within global environmental governance and if the proliferation of accountability tools enables governance to better address global environmental deterioration. Examining public, private, voluntary, and hybrid types of global environmental governance, the volume shows that the different governance goals of the various actors shape the accompanying accountability processes. These goals—from serving constituents to reaping economic benefits—determine to whom and for what the actors must account. After laying out a theoretical framework for its analyses, the book addresses governance in the key areas of climate change, biodiversity, fisheries, and trade and global value chains. The contributors find that normative biases shape accountability processes, and they explore the potential of feedback mechanisms between institutions and accountability rules for enabling better governance and better environmental outcomes. Contributors Graeme Auld, Harro van Asselt, Cristina Balboa, Lieke Brouwer, Lorraine Elliott, Lars H. Gulbrandsen, Aarti Gupta, Teresa Kramarz, Susan Park, Philipp Pattberg, William H. Schaedla, Hamish van der Ven, Oscar Widerberg

Handbook of Global Environmental Politics

Handbook of Global Environmental Politics
Author: Peter Dauvergne
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 561
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1849809410

The second edition of this Handbook contains more than 30 new and original articles as well six essential updates by leading scholars of global environmental politics. This landmark book maps the latest theoretical and empirical research in this energetic and growing field. Captured here are the pioneering and lively debates over concerns for the health of the planet and how they might best be addressed. The introduction explores the intellectual trends and evolving parameters in the field of global environmental politics. It makes a case for an expansive definition of the field, one that embraces an interdisciplinary literature on the connections between global politics and environmental change. The remaining chapters are divided into four broad themes – states and cooperation; global governance; the political economy of governance; and knowledge and ethics – with each section covering key emerging issues. In-depth explorations are given to topics such as climate change, multinational corporations, international agreements and UN organizations, regulations and business standards, trade and international finance, multilevel and transnational governance, and ecological citizenship. Handbook of Global Environmental Politics, Second Edition is a comprehensive review of the field and offers cutting-edge ideas for further research. As such, scholars, students and policymakers will find themselves looking to it for many years to come.

Global Environmental Governance

Global Environmental Governance
Author: Adil Najam
Publisher: International Institute for Sustainable Development = Institut international du développement durable
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2006
Genre: Environmental economics
ISBN: 9781895536911

Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap

Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap
Author: Susan Park
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2019-02-19
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262536234

An examination of whether accountability mechanisms in global environmental governance that focus on monitoring and enforcement necessarily lead to better governance and better environmental outcomes. The rapid development of global environmental governance has been accompanied by questions of accountability. Efforts to address what has been called “a culture of unaccountability” include greater transparency, public justification for governance decisions, and the establishment of monitoring and enforcement procedures. And yet, as this volume shows, these can lead to an “accountability trap”—a focus on accountability measures rather than improved environmental outcomes. Through analyses and case studies, the contributors consider how accountability is being used within global environmental governance and if the proliferation of accountability tools enables governance to better address global environmental deterioration. Examining public, private, voluntary, and hybrid types of global environmental governance, the volume shows that the different governance goals of the various actors shape the accompanying accountability processes. These goals—from serving constituents to reaping economic benefits—determine to whom and for what the actors must account. After laying out a theoretical framework for its analyses, the book addresses governance in the key areas of climate change, biodiversity, fisheries, and trade and global value chains. The contributors find that normative biases shape accountability processes, and they explore the potential of feedback mechanisms between institutions and accountability rules for enabling better governance and better environmental outcomes. Contributors Graeme Auld, Harro van Asselt, Cristina Balboa, Lieke Brouwer, Lorraine Elliott, Lars H. Gulbrandsen, Aarti Gupta, Teresa Kramarz, Susan Park, Philipp Pattberg, William H. Schaedla, Hamish van der Ven, Oscar Widerberg

Global Environmental Assessments

Global Environmental Assessments
Author: Ronald Bruce Mitchell
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2006
Genre: Environmental impact analysis
ISBN: 0262134683

A comparative analysis of global environmental assessments shows the importance of policy salience, scientific credibility, and social and political legitimacy in determining the influence of scientific assessments on global environmental policy.

Transparency in International Law

Transparency in International Law
Author: Andrea Bianchi
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2013-11-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1107470242

While its importance in domestic law has long been acknowledged, transparency has until now remained largely unexplored in international law. This study of transparency issues in key areas such as international economic law, environmental law, human rights law and humanitarian law brings together new and important insights on this pressing issue. Contributors explore the framing and content of transparency in their respective fields with regard to proceedings, institutions, law-making processes and legal culture, and a selection of cross-cutting essays completes the study by examining transparency in international law-making and adjudication.

Environmental Governance Reconsidered, second edition

Environmental Governance Reconsidered, second edition
Author: Robert F. Durant
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2017-06-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262533316

Key topics in the ongoing evolution of environmental governance, with new and updated material. This survey of current issues and controversies in environmental policy and management is unique in its thematic mix, broad coverage of key debates, and in-depth analysis. The contributing authors, all distinguished scholars or practitioners, offer a comprehensive examination of key topics in the continuing evolution of environmental governance, with perspectives from public policy, public administration, political science, international relations, sustainability theory, environmental economics, risk analysis, and democratic theory. The second edition of this popular reader has been thoroughly revised, with updated coverage and new topics. The emphasis has shifted from sustainability to include sustainable cities, from domestic civic environmentalism to global civil society, and from global interdependence to the evolution of institutions of global environmental governance. A general focus on devolution of authority in the United States has been sharpened to address the specifics of contested federalism and fracking, and the treatment of flexibility now explores the specifics of regulatory innovation and change. New chapters join original topics such as environmental justice and collaboration and conflict resolution to address highly salient and timely topics: energy security; risk assessment, communication, and technology innovation; regulation-by-revelation; and retrospective regulatory analysis. The topics are organized and integrated by the book's “3R” framework: reconceptualizing governance to reflect ecological risks and interdependencies better, reconnecting with stakeholders, and reframing administrative rationality. Extensive cross-references pull the chapters together. A broad reference list enables readers to pursue topics further. Contributors Regina S. Axelrod, Robert F. Durant, Kirk Emerson, Daniel J. Fiorino, Anne J. Kantel, David M. Konisky, Michael E. Kraft, Jennifer Kuzma, Richard Morgenstern, Tina Nabatchi, Rosemary O'Leary, Barry Rabe, Walter A. Rosenbaum, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Paul Wapner