Environmental governance Notes

Environmental Governance Coordinates People, Power, And Nature

1. Environmental issues rarely stay within political borders.
2. Soil eroded from farms can wash into the ocean and damage coral reefs, while greenhouse gases emitted in one country contribute to global climate change.
3. Governance includes governments, but it also includes international agreements, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses, community groups, and consumers.

How Does Local And Community Governance Shape Everyday Environmental Outcomes?

1. Local decisions often determine whether land and water are protected or degraded.
2. For instance, farming methods affect how much soil sediment, nutrients, and chemicals are washed into the sea.
3. Large amounts of sediment in the ocean can reduce the sunlight that reaches coral and the algae coral rely on for energy.
4. Sediment that settles can also smother coral and other reef organisms.
5. Nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers can increase algal growth, contributing to eutrophication.
6. Local governance can include informal and formal arrangements such as community rules (for grazing limits, water sharing, or fishing seasons), education programs, and local monitoring by people with close knowledge of the ecosystem.

National governance provides laws, enforcement, and investment

1. National governments set the legal and economic framework for environmental management.
2. This often includes:
   1. Environmental laws and regulations (pollution limits, land-use rules)
   2. Protected areas and biodiversity protection policies
   3. Enforcement agencies (rangers, inspectors, courts)
   4. Economic tools such as subsidies for sustainable practices or taxes on pollution
   5. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) to predict impacts before approving major projects
3. National governance matters because many environmental harms are linked to activities that require permits, infrastructure, or large-scale investment (mining, industrial agriculture, transport).

Global governance addresses shared problems and creates common targets

1. Some environmental challenges require coordinated international action.
2. Key examples include:
   1. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which provide shared targets. In particular, SDG 15.3 aims that by 2030 societies will combat desertification and restore degraded land and soils, striving for a land degradation-neutral world.
   2. The Paris climate agreement (2015), a legally binding global deal where countries agreed to work to limit global temperature rise to well below $2^\circ\text{C}$ and to strive for $1.5^\circ\text{C}$.
   3. International awareness-raising, such as designating World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (17 June).
3. Global governance influences national and local decisions by setting goals, encouraging funding and technology transfer, and creating expectations that citizens and NGOs can use to hold decision-makers to account.

How Does Governance Use Different Policy Tools To Change Behavior?

Effective environmental governance usually combines multiple tools, because environmental problems have multiple causes.

1. Regulation sets rules and standards
   1. Regulation sets minimum standards (for example, limits on fertilizer application near waterways, or rules about waste discharge).
   2. Regulation tends to work best when rules are clear, enforceable, and supported by monitoring.
2. Economic instruments align incentives with environmental goals
   1. Economic tools aim to make environmentally harmful behavior more expensive and sustainable behavior more attractive.
   2. Common approaches include taxes on pollution, subsidies for soil conservation or renewable energy, and payments for ecosystem services where communities are paid to protect forests or watersheds.
3. Information and education build long-term change
   1. Many sustainability strategies depend on people knowing what to do and having the skills to do it.
   2. In drylands, for example, aid agencies and charities may educate farmers about crop rotation, which can protect soil nutrients and reduce erosion.
4. Direct management and restoration repairs ecosystems
   1. Governance also includes actions that physically change landscapes, such as afforestation and land restoration.
   2. A major example in the Sahel and Sahara is the "Great Green Wall," planned using drought-resistant shrubs and grasses to bind soil and reduce erosion, extending about 8,000 km across Africa.

Why Do Non-State Actors And Markets Matter?

1. Environmental governance involves more than just governments.
2. Global supply chains mean that decisions by companies and consumers can influence forests, fisheries, and farms far away.

NGOs act as governance partners and watchdogs

1. The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has established the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), linking companies, forest-dependent communities, NGOs, and entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries.
2. The aim is to create a market for environmentally responsible forest products and reduce demand for products from illegal sources.
3. NGOs often support governance by setting standards, monitoring and reporting illegal activities, supporting participation, and providing expertise or international attention.

Certification and eco-labels influence products through consumers

1. Certification schemes (for example, eco-labels for seafood) are a form of governance that operates through markets rather than law.
2. They aim to shift demand toward sustainably produced goods.

Companies can reduce harm, but accountability is crucial

1. Some companies now develop restoration plans to reduce environmental impacts.
2. For instance, mining firms may commit to replanting, repairing damaged soil, and supporting forest monitoring by employing rangers and providing equipment to combat illegal logging and poaching.
3. However, corporate sustainability claims are most trustworthy when they are linked to transparent reporting, independent monitoring, and consequences for non-compliance.

How Does Globalization Drive Both Environmental Harm And Environmental Solutions?

1. Globalization increases connections through trade, investment, and cultural exchange.
2. This can increase environmental pressure (through higher demand for timber, minerals, fish, or cash crops).
3. But it can also spread solutions, such as global standards, shared technologies, and international cooperation.