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Global Public Policy Networks: an Emerging Innovation in POLICY DEVELOPMENT and APPLICATION

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Global Public Policy Networks: an Emerging Innovation in POLICY DEVELOPMENT and APPLICATION Global Public Policy Networks: An emerging innovation in POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION Tariq Banuri and Erika Spanger-Siegfried Stockholm Environment Institute – Boston Center January 5, 2001 Stockholm Environment Institute - Boston Center 1. INTRODUCTION TO GPPNS.........................................................................................................................3 1.1 HISTORY AND CONTEXT..............................................................................................................................4 1.1.1 Globalization .........................................................................................................................................6 1.1.2 Governance Crisis .................................................................................................................................7 1.1.3 Governance Gaps ................................................................................................................................10 1.1.4 Growth in Systems Consciousness.......................................................................................................13 1.1.5 The Role of Change Agents..................................................................................................................14 1.2 ROLE AND FUNCTION OF GPPNS...............................................................................................................15 1.2.1 Overview..............................................................................................................................................16 1.2.2 Closing Governance Gaps...................................................................................................................20 1.2.3 Structure of GPPNs .............................................................................................................................22 1.2.4 Function of GPPNs..............................................................................................................................23 1.2.5 Implications for the Three Organizational Sectors..............................................................................26 1.2.6 GPPN Challenges................................................................................................................................32 1.2.7 Summary of GPPN Role and Function ................................................................................................34 1.3 GPPN PROFILE .........................................................................................................................................35 1.3.1 Defining Network Types.......................................................................................................................35 1.3.2 Effectiveness Indicators .......................................................................................................................41 1.4 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................................43 ANNEX 1................................................................................................................................................................436 2 Stockholm Environment Institute - Boston Center 1. Introduction to GPPNs The 1990s were a time of expanding dialogue around environmental issues and a time when the concept of sustainable development - though interpreted in a range of ways - became widely utilized. It was also a time of rapid economic growth and increasing concentration of market power in the large corporate sector. And it is the time when information and communication technology exploded into the mainstream. The combination of these factors created a backdrop for the emergence of a key global public policy network – the Global Reporting Initiative – in which the free-flow of information and the rapidity of communication enabled interested parties to scrutinize corporate activities much more closely, while at the same time it provided incentives to these businesses for voluntary disclosure. The Global Reporting Initiative arose to fill a fundamental gap in information - namely, the gap between the corporate sector and its pool of suppliers of corporate sustainability information, and those demanding this information, such as investors, consumers, human rights groups and environmental organizations. In doing so, the GRI essentially activated a “latent network” of actors unaware of their need for one another, and stepped into the critical role of harmonizing and responding to these existing needs. Over its brief six-year lifetime, the GRI has seen a sequence of resounding successes, from the participatory development of its Reporting Guidelines to the establishment of a permanent Secretariat, to the use of its Guidelines (as of early 2003) by 253 organizations in 26 countries. Today, it serves as the central platform for voluntary reporting by organizations around the world on the economic, environmental, and social impacts of their activities. This narrative, and many others like it, provides an example of a new phenomenon that has emerged at the global level. Beyond the confines of traditional governmental activity, a quiet sea change has taken place over the past decade. International networks and coalitions have sprung up around the globe to draw attention to fundamental issues of justice, equity and fair play, which were normally considered as the reserve of conventional political activity. They have enhanced the participation of actors and voices that were hitherto excluded from discussions; complemented and expanded the technical and political capacities of governments, especially in the South, where they were already stretched beyond limits. They have worked to introduce collaborative efforts aimed at devising consensus-based and more sustainable policies. They have served to communicate the text and implications of various decisions in more accessible ways, thus enhancing both transparency and ownership. This phenomenon has many features, and accordingly, it has been described in the literature under a variety of names: global social movements, global civil society, the global NGO movement, and global public policy networks (GPPNs). The different descriptions illuminate slightly different characteristics. Some stress its nature as a social movement, which opens up a 3 Stockholm Environment Institute - Boston Center new arena for political action and mobilizes multiple stakeholders. Others focus on the motivation behind the movement, and emphasize the non-state or voluntary basis of actions involved. Still others are struck by its innovative organization, and highlight the network structure that distinguishes it from earlier initiatives. Finally, others are concerned with its impacts, and accentuate its role in public policy formulation. We have chosen to work with the last two of these characteristics, not because we view them as being superior to the others - indeed, all of them capture an important component of the new reality. It is rather because the goal of our work is precisely to draw lessons from this experience and thereby assist existing and new networks to become more effective in their designated activity, namely influencing global public policy formulation. GPPNs, as a whole, have already had an indelible impact on the global public policy arena. They link a broad range of groups interested in an equally broad range of problems, ranging from landmines to labor rights to hydroelectric dams, and from standards for business performance to business associations. While the experiences and approaches of different groups are often distinct from one another, they share a common origin and a number of core characteristics. The goal of this chapter is first, to explore the context, origins, and structure of the GPPNs, and second, and in particular to highlight the factors that have enabled such networks to develop and coalesce and fill the gaps in global policy-making. Section 1 examines the conditions that have served to limit the effectiveness of traditional policy-making processes. Section 2 provides an overview of the function of GPPNs, the role that they have come to play in policy-formulation, and their impacts in major policy domains. Finally, Section 4 develops tentative criteria for the definition and effectiveness of various networks. 1.1 History and Context When spiders unite, they can tie down a lion. ...Ethiopian Proverb Global public policy networks can be defined as formal or informal coalitions of organizations and individuals that hold as a central goal the development of new norms, visions, analyses, methods of collecting and disseminating knowledge, and ways of operating that can directly 4 Stockholm Environment Institute - Boston Center impact global public policy. GPPNs engage directly in global policy-making arenas and/or actively fill the void in global policy left by traditional mechanisms. To achieve their objectives, GPPNs serve a number of innovative bridging functions, spanning the following divides: • sectoral - i.e., between the three organizational sectors of business, government and civil society • geopolitical - i.e., between North and South • experiential - i.e., between analytical expertise and practical experience • professional or disciplinary - e.g. between natural and social sciences, or between economics and politics • ideological - e.g. between trade and sustainable development, or environment
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