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Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

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Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance POLICYFORUM SCIENCE AND GOVERNMENT The United Nations conference in Rio de Navigating the Anthropocene: Janeiro in June is an important opportunity to improve the institutional framework Improving Earth System Governance for sustainable development. F. Biermann, 1 ,2* K. Abbott, 3 S. Andresen, 4 K. Bäckstrand, 2 S. Bernstein, 5 M. M. Betsill, 6 H. Bulkeley, 7 B. Cashore, 8 J. Clapp, 9 C. Folke, 10 ,11 A. Gupta, 12 J. Gupta, 1 ,13 P. M. Haas, 14 A. Jordan, 15 N. Kanie, 16, 17 T. Kluvánková-Oravská, 18 L. Lebel, 19 D. Liverman, 20, 21 J. Meadowcroft, 22 R. B. Mitchell, 23 P. Newell, 24 ment, science assessment, and capacity- S. Oberthür,25 L. Olsson, 2 P. Pattberg, 1 R. Sánchez-Rodríguez, 26, 27 H. Schroeder, 15 A. Underdal, 28 building ( 8– 10). S. Camargo Vieira, 29 C. Vogel, 30 O. R. Young, 31 A. Brock, 1 R. Zondervan 2 Second, it is crucial to strengthen the inte- gration of the social, economic, and environ- cience assessments indicate that mental Change (IHDP) (4 , 5 ). The assess- mental pillars of sustainable development, human activities are moving several of ment has been designed to contribute to the from local to global levels. The UN Commis- S Earth’s sub-systems outside the range 2012 United Nations (UN) Conference on sion on Sustainable Development (CSD) was of natural variability typical for the previous Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, created in 1992 for this purpose. Yet its politi- 500,000 years ( 1, 2). Human societies must which will focus on the institutional frame- cal relevance as a subbody to the UN Eco- now change course and steer away from criti- work for sustainable development and pos- nomic and Social Council has remained lim- cal tipping points in the Earth system that sible reforms of the intergovernmental gov- ited. Governments must now take action to might lead to rapid and irreversible change ernance system. improve the integration of sustainable devel- ( 3). This requires fundamental reorientation The assessment revealed remaining dif- opment policies. In our view, the CSD must and restructuring of national and international ferences of opinion among social scientists, be replaced by a new mechanism that stands institutions toward more effective Earth sys- as well as an increasing consensus in many much higher in the international institutional tem governance and planetary stewardship. areas. As a general conclusion, our work hierarchy. The most promising route is cre- We propose building blocks of such a new indicated that incremental change (6 )—the ating a high-level UN Sustainable Develop- on September 10, 2012 institutional framework, based on a compre- main approach since the 1972 Stockholm ment Council directly under the UN General hensive assessment conducted in 2011 by the Conference on the Human Environment— Assembly ( 11). To be more effective, such Earth System Governance Project, a 10-year is no longer suffi cient to bring about soci- a council should rely not on traditional UN social science–based research program under etal change at the level and with the speed modes of geographical representation, but the auspices of the International Human needed to mitigate and adapt to Earth system give special predominance to the largest econ- Dimensions Programme on Global Environ- transformation. Structural change in global omies—the Group of 20—as primary mem- governance is needed, both inside and out- bers that hold at least 50% of the votes in the side the UN system and involving both pub- council. Only such a strong novel role for the www.sciencemag.org 1VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Nether- lic and private actors. Group of 20 will allow the UN Sustainable lands. 2Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden. 3Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. 4Fridtjof Nansen To this end, decision-makers must seize Development Council to have a meaningful Institute, 1326 Lysaker, Norway. 5University of Toronto, the opportunity in Rio to develop a clear and infl uence in areas such as economic and trade Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1, Canada. 6Colorado State Univer- ambitious roadmap for institutional change governance. The countries that cooperate in sity, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. 7Durham University, Dur- ham DH1 3LE, UK. 8Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, and effective sustainability governance the Group of 20 represent about two-thirds USA. 9University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, within the next decade. Seven reform mea- of the world’s population and around 90% Canada. 10Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm Univer- sures are urgently required as a fi rst step. of global gross national product. This legit- 11 sity, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. Beijer Institute, Royal imizes a sizeable institutional role for these Downloaded from Swedish Academy of Sciences, 104 05 Stockholm, Swe- den. 12Wageningen University and Research Centre, 6706 Seven Building Blocks nations as primary members of a powerful KN Wageningen, Netherlands. 13UNESCO-IHE Institute for First, the environmental agencies and pro- UN Sustainable Development Council. Water Education, 2611 AX Delft, Netherlands. 14University grams of the United Nations must be Third, better integration of sustainability of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. 7 15Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 reformed and/or upgraded ( ). Many reform governance requires governments to close 7TJ, UK. 16Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, proposals have been submitted in recent remaining regulatory gaps at the global Japan. 17United Nations University Institute of Advanced decades. Some of the more radical propos- level. One such area is the development and Studies, Yokohama 220-8502, Japan. 18CETIP, Slovak Acad- emy of Sciences, 814 38 Bratislava, Slovakia. 19Chiang Mai als—such as an international agency that deployment of emerging technologies, such University, Chiang Mai, 50200 Thailand. 20University of Ari- centralizes and integrates existing inter- as nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and zona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. 21Oxford University, Oxford governmental organizations and regimes— geo-engineering. Such emerging technolo- OX1 2JD, UK. 22Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S are unlikely to be implemented and would gies promise signifi cant benefi ts, but also 5B6, Canada. 23University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. 24University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9SN, UK. 25Vrije yield uncertain gains. However, most of us pose major risks for sustainable develop- Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium. 26El Colegio see substantial benefi ts in upgrading the UN ment. They need an international institutional de la Frontera Norte, Tijuana, 22560 Mexico. 27University Environment Programme to a UN special- arrangement—such as one or several multi- of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521, USA. 28Uni- versity of Oslo, 0317 Oslo, Norway. 29Universidade de ized agency for environmental protection lateral framework conventions—to support Itaúna, 35680-054 Itaúna, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 30Indepen- along the lines of the World Health Organi- forecasting, transparency, and information- dent scholar, Johannesburg 2010, Gauteng, South Africa. zation or the International Labor Organiza- sharing; further develop technical standards; 31 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA tion, that is, a strong environmental organi- help clarify the applicability of existing trea- 93106, USA. zation with a sizable role in agenda-setting, ties; promote public discussion and input; *Author for correspondence. E-mail: [email protected] norm-development, compliance manage- engage multiple stakeholders in policy dia- 1306 16 MARCH 2012 VOL 335 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org Published by AAAS POLICYFORUM that is needed toward sustainability. Changes in the behavior of citizens, new engagement of civil society organizations, and reorienta- tion of the private sector toward a green econ- omy, are all crucial to achieve progress. Yet, in order for local and national action to be effective, the global institutional framework must be supportive and well designed. We propose a fi rst set of much-needed reforms for effective Earth system governance and planetary stewardship. The 2012 Rio Confer- ence offers an opportunity and a crucial test of whether political will exists to bring about these urgently needed changes. logues, and ensure that environmental con- agreements or stronger participation in coun- siderations are fully respected ( 12). cils that govern resources and in commissions References and Notes Fourth, integration of sustainability poli- that hear complaints. Greater transparency 1. W. Steffen et al., Global Change and the Earth System (Springer, New York, 2004). cies requires that governments place a stron- can help empower citizens and consumers to 2. H. J. Schellnhuber et al., Eds., Earth System Analysis for ger emphasis on planetary concerns in eco- hold governments and private actors account- Sustainability (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2004). nomic governance. Environmental goals able and can provide incentives for better sus- 3. J. Rockström et al., Nature 461, 472 (2009). 17 must be mainstreamed into global trade, tainability performance ( 18). In particular, 4. F. Biermann, Glob. Environ. Change , 326 (2007). 5. Science and Implementation Plan of the Earth System investment, and fi nance regimes so that the stronger consultative rights for civil society Governance Project (Working papers, Earth System Gov- activities of global economic institutions representatives in intergovernmental
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