This book studies the role of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as an advocate for greater environmental responsibility and analyses the major achievements and outcomes of two landmark conferences – Stockholm (1972) and Rio (1992) – which set the agenda for the future role of the UNEP. It discusses the UNEP’s evolution, objectives and the problems of differing perspectives within, its ability to deal with environmental challenges, its skill in successfully carrying out the mandate and contributing to the pursuit of environmental security. The book also looks at five developing countries of South Asia, namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to study the role of the South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP), which plays an active role in the management of environmental issues and constitutes an important landmark in regional cooperation in South Asia. The author evaluates the contributions of National Conservation Strategies not only in creating environmental awareness but also in strengthening environmental governance architecture by integrating Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals into the development planning of these South Asian countries under study. Drawing on in-depth research and interviews, this book will be of interest to students, teachers, researchers, policymakers and strategic analysts working in the fields of environment studies, sustainable development, environmental science and policy, environmental law and governance, geography, politics and international affairs.

A unique publication that examines emerging and cutting-edge environmental issues from no less than seven countries including Africa and China. These issues are examined mainly from a trans-disciplinary environmental governance perspective that includes law, ecology, economics, policy and management. The contributors to the book include some exceptional young scholars. They, together with other contributors who are distinguished environmental legal experts, have advanced the scholarship of environmental governance. Koh Kheng-Lian, National University of Singapore This timely volume provides fascinating insights into emerging developments in the field of legal governance of the environment at a time when environmental governance is increasingly concerned with far more than legal doctrine. The expert contributors are concerned with the totality of arrangements through which power and resources are deployed to protect and restore natural resources, and how the costs and benefits of this are allocated. They explore key issues such as: how the community exercises its democratic rights; how government responds to the needs of current and future generations and balances the interests of the powerful with the powerless; the freedoms and responsibilities of commerce and the holders of property; and the ways in which laws and policies are informed by science and other perspectives. The various ways in which legal scholarship is pivotal to good governance are thus highlighted, as is the extent of innovation being generated by current ecological, economic and social challenges. Clearly demonstrating the increasing breadth and depth of environmental law scholarship, this thought-provoking book will prove an invaluable reference tool for academics, students and researchers focusing on environmental law and development.

Sustainable development stirs up debate about the capacities of political steering and governance. The complexity of the task expounds limits of steering in three dimensions: goals, knowledge, and power: Sustainability goals are subject to changing and controversial risk perceptions, values and interests. Moreover, knowledge of the coupled dynamics of society, technology and nature is limited. Finally, the power to shape structural change in society and technology is distributed across a multitude of actors and societal subsystems. Steering attempts therefore have to cope with conflict and ambivalence, with uncertainty, and with a lack of central control; and they have to face the necessity of coordinating different actor groups and social networks. This volume explores steering strategies and governance arrangements for sustainable development with a view to these problem dimensions. The contributions by authors from various disciplines approach these challenges from different conceptual angles, ranging from positivist, managerial up to post-modern, constructivist perspectives. By combining theoretical reflections with insights from empirical research in European and American contexts, the volume maps out conditions and identifies approaches which both reflect the limits of steering and reveal options for constructively taking up the task of sustainable development in science and practice.

This unique dictionary and introduction to Global Environmental Governance (GEG), written and compiled by two veterans of the international stage, provides a compilation of over 5000 terms, organizations and acronyms, drawn from hundreds of official sources. An introductory essay frames the major issues in GEG and outlines the pitfalls of talking past one another when discussing the most critical of issues facing the planet. It challenges those who are concerned with the management of our planet and its inhabitants to understand and accept a vocabulary common to the often-opposing objectives sought in the many GEG instruments.The result is a practical tool that should find a central place on the desk of anyone involved in environmental management, development or sustainability issues anywhere in the world, including the United Nations, government policy makers, NGOs and other stakeholder groups, the business community, and students and professionals.

As the process of globalization continues and power imbalances between decision-making institutions become increasingly apparent, the need for a critical assessment of the way in which we manage our interaction with the natural environment becomes ever more urgent. Good governance was identified at the World Summit on Sustainable Development as a critical factor for ensuring successful sustainable development. This book builds on the briefing papers that were presented at the Summit, taking further the discussions of the WEHAB agenda (Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and food, and Biodiversity - the five international priority sectors highlighted by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan). This is a unique offering on the role and reform of global institutions and processes, raising issues that have previously been neglected in international discussions.

This book offers a comparative analysis of environmental governance in Europe and Asia. The book assesses the legislative, institutional and participatory mechanisms which affect environmental governance, and analyses current issues, concerns and strategies in respect of environmental governance at the local, national, and international levels.

The Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics surveys the broad range of environmental and sustainability challenges in the emerging Anthropocene and scrutinizes available concepts, methodological tools, theories and approaches, as well as overlaps with adjunct fields of study. This comprehensive reference work, written by some of the most eminent academics in the field, contains 68 entries on numerous aspects across 7 thematic areas, including concepts and definitions; theories and methods; actors; institutions; issue-areas; cross-cutting questions; and overlaps with non-environmental fields. With this broad approach, the volume seeks to provide a pluralistic knowledge base of the research and practice of global environmental governance and politics in times of increased complexity and contestation. Providing its readers with a unique point of reference, as well as stimulus for further research, this Encyclopedia is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in the politics of the environment, particularly students, teachers and researchers.

A detailed examination of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the shift in governance strategy they represent. In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Sustainable Development Goals built on and broadened the earlier Millennium Development Goals, but they also signaled a larger shift in governance strategies. The seventeen goals add detailed content to the concept of sustainable development, identify specific targets for each goal, and help frame a broader, more coherent, and transformative 2030 agenda. The Sustainable Development Goals aim to build a universal, integrated framework for action that reflects the economic, social, and planetary complexities of the twenty-first century. This book examines in detail the core characteristics of goal setting, asking when it is an appropriate governance strategy and how it differs from other approaches; analyzes the conditions under which a goal-oriented agenda can enable progress toward desired ends; and considers the practical challenges in implementation. Contributors Dora Almassy, Steinar Andresen, Noura Bakkour, Steven Bernstein, Frank Biermann, Thierry Giordano, Aarti Gupta, Joyeeta Gupta, Peter M. Haas, Masahiko Iguchi, Norichika Kanie, Rakhyun E. Kim Marcel Kok, Kanako Morita, Måns Nilsson, László Pintér, Michelle Scobie, Noriko Shimizu, Casey Stevens, Arild Underdal, Tancrède Voituriez, Takahiro Yamada, Oran R. Young