Global Environmental Governance

Module Title: Global Environmental Governance

Module Leader: Dr Liana Minkova

Overview:

Environmental problems, including climate change, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss, do not recognise state borders. As such, those problems cannot be effectively addressed in the absence of robust international cooperation. Yet, a closer look at the existing system of global environmental governance reveals a paradoxical outcome. On the one hand, this field has undergone significant developments over the past few decades – from the rapid proliferation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) adopted by states at the regional and international level, to the ‘greening’ of various international regimes, including the laws of war and the law of the sea, and, last but not least, the increasing number of environmental cases brought at international courts and tribunals. On the other hand, despite these developments, the world is witnessing the worst global environmental crisis to date.

This module engages with the paradox of global environmental governance by exploring questions of power, knowledge, and authority in relation to the construction and operationalisation of international regulations. Over the course of seven weeks, we will discuss the discourses, practices, and actors that have turned nature into a governable object, as well as the tools through which such governance is enacted. Specifically, the module will focus on the history of global environmental governance, the concepts of sustainable development and market environmentalism, the international climate change regime, the role of non-governmental organisations, experts, and international courts in the field, the proposed new crime of ecocide, and the future of international institutions in the age of the Anthropocene.

Understanding the ‘big picture’ of global environmental governance is a challenging task. The field is fragmented into numerous regimes, including on climate change, biodiversity, marine environment, and the ozone layer, to name a few. Another difficulty results from the fact that environmental matters are inherently interdisciplinary in nature, merging questions of science, law, politics, and economics. This module focuses specifically on the notion of governing the environment and, for that purpose, engages with scholarly works from the fields of international organisation, international law, and political ecology.