Global Environmental Governance: Options & Opportunities Daniel C
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Yale University EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale Forestry & Environmental Studies Publications School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Series 2002 Global Environmental Governance: Options & Opportunities Daniel C. Esty Maria H. Ivanova Follow this and additional works at: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/fes-pubs Part of the Natural Resources Management and Policy Commons Recommended Citation Esty, Daniel C. and Ivanova, Maria H., "Global Environmental Governance: Options & Opportunities" (2002). Forestry & Environmental Studies Publications Series. 8. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/fes-pubs/8 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. It has been accepted for inclusion in Forestry & Environmental Studies Publications Series by an authorized administrator of EliScholar – A Digital Platform for Scholarly Publishing at Yale. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Global Environmental Governance Options & Opportunities Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova, EDITORS yale school of forestry & environmental studies 2002 Volume editors Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova Series editor Jane Coppock Editorial assistants Pierre-Luc Arsenault, Melissa Goodall, Emily Noah Graphic design Peter W. Johnson and Maura Gianakos Page layout Dottie Scott, Tupos Type House Printing Yale Reprographics and Imaging Services (RIS) Paper Mohawk Crème Satin, recycled Cover image New Light 2: Self Portrait 3, a quilt by David Walker, Artist, Teacher, and Quiltmaker, Cincinnati, Ohio, www.davidwalker.us Original piece reproduced courtesy of the collection of Kathy and Dennis Bryant, Winters, CA. The editors gratefully acknowledge generous support from the following in the production of this volume: Heinrich Böll Foundation http://www.boell.de The Yale Center for the Study of Globalization http://www.ycsg.yale.edu Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies http://www.yale.edu/environment Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy http://www.yale.edu/envirocenter The opinions, findings, and interpretations of research contained in this volume are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect positions of their institutions or the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. ISBN 0-9707882-2-3 © 2002 Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Permission is granted to reproduce articles in this volume without prior written consent so long as proper attribution is made. Downloadable PDFs of individual chapters are available at no charge at www.yale.edu/environment/publications. Order forms for hard copies of the volume are available at the same website. Table of Contents Note from the Editors 5 Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova Foreword 9 Strobe Talbott The Global Environmental Agenda: Origins and Prospects 11 James Gustave Speth Flying Blind: Assessing Progress Toward Sustainability 31 David Hales and Robert Prescott-Allen The North-South Knowledge Divide: 53 Consequences for Global Environmental Governance Sylvia Karlsson The Role of NGOs and Civil Society in Global 77 Environmental Governance Barbara Gemmill and Abimbola Bamidele-Izu Regional Environmental Governance: Examining the 101 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Model Koh Kheng Lian and Nicholas A. Robinson Global Public Policy Networks as Coalitions for Change 121 Charlotte Streck Sustaining Global Environmental Governance: 141 Innovation in Environment and Development Finance Maritta R.v.B. Koch-Weser Making Environmental Deals: The Economic Case 163 for a World Environmental Organization John Whalley and Ben Zissimos Revitalizing Global Environmental Governance: 181 A Function-Driven Approach Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova Climate Change: National Interests or a Global Regime? 205 Christiana Figueres and Maria H. Ivanova The Road Ahead: Conclusions and Action Agenda 225 Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova Contributors 241 Index 249 Foreword Strobe Talbott Governance is the greatest challenge facing the international commu nity. In fact, only if the nations of the world cooperate in establishing institutions and rules in support of the global common good will the phrase “international community” have practical meaning. Otherwise, sovereign nations will live, and very likely die, not in a community at all but in a Hobbesian jungle. The overarching common goal can best be defined in the negative: avoiding catastrophe for the planet. Because of humankind’s mastery of technology, we now have the capacity to destroy ourselves. We can do so today and quickly, in a thermonuclear war; or we can do so tomorrow, more slowly but no less completely, through the ruination of our environment. This book addresses that danger and what it will take to avert it. In their thoughtful, rigorous, comprehensive, and readable chap ters, the scholars and practitioners assembled here discuss options and opportunities for better management of our ecological interdepend ence. The authors, all in the forefront of their fields, draw on several areas of scientific expertise, including international law, economics, biological sciences, and environmental policy; they also represent a variety of national perspectives spanning five continents. Yet they share a conviction that traditional national policy and international diplomacy are no longer sufficient, either in pace, scope or substance. Retarding and reversing the damage that we are already inflicting on our environment requires an unprecedented, coordinated, long-term effort involving ambitious, innovative, and flexible coalitions of state and non-state actors, especially non-governmental organizations that tap into the resources, knowledge, and activism of citizens. Making the case for environmental governance is an intellectual challenge as well as a political one. Hence the opportunity — and the obligation — of leading institutions like the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies to contribute to the debate. The Yale Center for the Study of Globalization is proud to have sup ported this venture. Those of us involved in the founding of the Center in 2001 have stressed that globalization is not a policy or an option. It’s not good or bad. It’s not something to be for or against. It’s a fact of life — something to be understood and managed. Yet global ization is, for better or worse, subject to human behavior. We can max imize the positive aspects of globalization, diminish the risks, and counter the threats. In that sense, we’ve often said, globalization is like the weather, which not only manifests the forces of nature but shows the effects of human profligacy and short-sightedness. This book tackles head on that aspect of globalization — including what it has to say about the weather, how it’s changing, and how we, the international community, can change the way it’s changing. Readers will have a chance to join the authors in better under standing the problem of global environmental degradation and there by being part of the solution, which is global governance. A Note from the Editors Daniel C. Esty and Maria H. Ivanova This book grew out of the Global Environmental Governance Project sponsored by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. The project began in 1998 as a dialogue among environmental profession als, government officials, business people, non-governmental organi zation leaders, and scholars from around the world keenly aware of the magnitude of modern environmental challenges, the inability of existing institutions to respond effectively, and the need for funda mental reforms in the way we manage our global ecological interde pendence. A diverse group has continued to gather over the years to push the boundaries of the current debate and to delineate options and opportunities for strengthened global environmental governance. The World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg in August 2002 provided the impetus for assembling the accumulated collective knowledge into a concise volume aiming to contribute to the policy dialogue with a thoughtful yet rigorous reform agenda. What seemed like an impossible timeframe for a pub lication became a feasible project with editorial and publicity support from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES). Dean James Gustave Speth contributed visionary leadership, policy guidance, and financial support. Jane Coppock, Assistant Dean and Editor of the Yale F&ES Book Series, ingeniously pulled all the pieces together and made this volume a vibrant part of the School’s book series on environmental subjects of current interest. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the extraordinary group of authors that gave life to this book. The fifteen contributors brought to the project a depth and breadth of expertise, invaluable experience from all social sectors, and a range of national perspectives from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, and North America. Above all, they offered energy, enthusiasm, and commit ment. The authors submitted drafts and revisions under pressing deadlines, quickly and thoughtfully responded to comments, and traveled great distances to enliven the dialogue that this volume reflects. The truly collaborative nature of this project was manifested in a two-day workshop in New Haven in April 2002 that allowed us to dis cuss the draft chapters, elaborate the overall analytical framework