Global Environmental Governance Research Articles

Marketization Mechanism of Environmental Protection Law under Global Governance

The Global Environmental Problem is becoming serious, which needs to maintain the environmental governance mechanism effectively. This study analyzes the marketization mechanism of environmental protection law under global governance to meet the environmental challenge. Analyzing the severe background of environmental problems, highlighting the urgency of global governance in environmental protection, it explores the main content of the market-oriented mechanism of environmental protection law. Using various research methods such as literature analogy and clause research, this topic is elaborated from different perspectives. The market-oriented mechanism of environmental protection laws helps to stimulate the environmental awareness of enterprises and individuals, promote the effective utilization of resources and sustainable development of the environment. Attention should be paid to exploring areas such as improving market supervision, strengthening international cooperation, and promoting technological innovation, in order to provide reference for a better global environmental governance mechanism.

Mitigating boundary pollution: Evidence from China's environmental protection inspection centers

The efficacy of a vertical environmental protection system in managing transboundary pollution has not been extensively explored. Through a quasi-natural experiment facilitated by China's six environmental protection inspection centers (EPICs), this study assesses their impact on boundary pollution intensity and compares it with their effect on non-boundary pollution intensity. The findings demonstrate that the institution of EPICs significantly mitigates the intensity of boundary pollution, with a more pronounced reduction effect compared to non-boundary areas. Analysis of mechanisms reveals that both boundary and non-boundary enterprises achieve a reduction in pollution intensity through the enlargement of production capacities, enhancement of investments in pollution control, and a decrease in total pollution emissions. Given that boundary enterprises exhibit a greater magnitude in reducing total pollution emissions, the resultant effect on pollution intensity reduction is more significant among these entities. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of EPICs on reducing pollution intensity is more substantial among samples with minimal political connections, elevated political incentives, and within heavily polluting industries, with boundary enterprises experiencing a more pronounced influence. This article unveils that strengthening coordination between central and local authorities, alongside fostering corporate actual investment in environmental protection, serves as pivotal mechanisms, offering innovative strategies for global environmental governance and advancing both the practice and theory of sustainable development.

The impact of broadband China and low-carbon pilot on China's urban carbon emissions

In the context of global environmental governance, a reduction in carbon emissions (CE) is critical for sustainable development. This article delves into the correlation between China's dual pilot policy (DPP), comprising the broadband China city pilot (BCCP) and low-carbon city pilot (LCCP), and CE using panel data for 281 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2020 and a staggered difference-in-differences approach. Our results demonstrate that the DPP contributes to reducing CE. In this regard, we find that DPP exerts a more significant negative effect on CE when the LCCP precedes the BCCP, compared to the BCCP preceding the LCCP. Heterogeneity analysis shows that urban location and resource utilization patterns influence DPP's impact on CE reduction. Moreover, green technology innovation and industrial agglomeration account for the relationship between DPP and CE. The DPP additionally exhibits positive economic performance, benefiting urban sustainability. Taken together, these findings reveal how the DPP negatively affects CE, providing key evidence for regional green economy advancement.

Exploring the Impact of FDI and Technological Progress Path on Ecological Unequal Exchange within Manufacturing Industry in China

Under the premise of jointly promoting global ecological and environmental governance, as an important promoter of economic globalization and the main communicator of low-carbon technology, how does FDI contribute to EUE? In addition, technology can affect ecological inequality exchange by affecting production methods and other aspects, so what role does the path of technological progress play in it? These questions are the focus of this paper. Ecological unequal exchange is calculated using the MRIO model, and this study further examines the influence of FDI on this exchange in the manufacturing sector via technological progress using the systematic GMM model. The study discovered the following: (1) The full sample study reveals that FDI inflows can significantly reduce the EUE of the manufacturing industry, but FDI exacerbates the EUE in the manufacturing industry by further worsening it through the pathway of technological progress (2) Further research finds that the effect of FDI on the EUE in the manufacturing sector through technological progress path will be different due to the source of FDI vary, the causes of ecological unequal exchange, the time period, and the development of a technological progress path.

The Public Legitimacy of Multistakeholder Partnerships in Global Environmental Governance: Evidence from Survey Experiments in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Abstract Multistakeholder partnerships (MSPs) in global environmental governance are either praised for their problem-solving capacities and inclusion of various societal actors or criticized for their limited accountability and corporate dominance. Despite the lively scholarly debate and the continued promotion of MSPs by international organizations and governments, knowledge about how environmental MSPs are perceived by the public is very limited. Understanding the sources of public support for MSPs is important, given its crucial role in MSPs’ abilities to secure resources and achieve their goals. In this article, we evaluate whether and how institutional features of MSPs influence citizens’ legitimacy beliefs. Building on previous studies, we theorize which institutional dimensions of MSPs matter for citizens’ level of support. We conduct population-based survey experiments in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States, encompassing more than 6,000 respondents. The results from the survey experiments have substantive implications for our understanding of the role of MSPs.

Managers of complex change? How United Nations treaty secretariats jointly govern institutional interplay in global environmental governance

AbstractResearch on international bureaucracies, such as treaty secretariats, has predominantly focused on broadening our understanding of their role, function, and influence within their respective regulatory domains. However, the potential for treaty secretariats to manage situations of institutional overlap by coordinating with other agencies across policy areas has remained understudied. This article offers new empirical and theoretical insights for studying collective agency and coordination mechanisms in instances of institutional interaction within hybrid regime complexes. Specifically, it investigates how the treaty secretariats of the Rio Conventions under the United Nations employ joint interplay management as a means to improve institutional coherence within the climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification nexus. Collectively, the public agencies aim to advance knowledge and discourse, influence norm‐building processes and regulation, or build capacity and support the joint implementation of policy objectives addressing the interlinked environmental problems. They do this by interacting with various actors across governance levels, including national governments, transnational initiatives, private actors, or civil society. By tracing the process linking joint activities with effects of such interactions, this qualitative case study makes a conceptual contribution by extrapolating a mechanistic theory for joint interplay management. The article demonstrates that treaty secretariats have to contend with challenges of resource allocation, diverging mandates, leadership priorities, and the degree of politicization and timing which frequently intervene stages of strategizing and executing joint activities. The results highlight that joint interplay management can be most impactful when secretariats employ orchestration practices through joint outreach and advocacy to advance coherent institutional responses to interdependent environmental problems.

Does the "Belt and Road Initiative" benefit the environment? Insight from analysis of intra-industry trade in environment goods.

The expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has raised a wide range of concerns about its environmental impact. Therefore, from the perspective of environmental impacts, this study used the two-way fixed effect staggered differences in differences (TWFE Staggered DID) method to examine the impact of the BRI on the Environment Goods (EGs) intra-industry trade (IIT) between China and other Belt and Road (B&R) countries, including a sample of 191 countries, covering the period from 2010 to 2019 for eliminating the impact of COVID-19 and the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009. Because only 135 countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding between 2010 and 2019, this study treated these B&R countries as the study group, and the other 73 countries (non-B&R countries) as the control group. This study described EGs using the 54 6-digit code Environment Goods in Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System listed in the "APEC LIST OF ENVIRONMENT GOODS" published by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in 2012, and used the intra-industry trade index proposed by Grubel and Lloyd in 1971 to measuring dependent variable. The research results indicated that the BRI has significantly promoted bilateral EGs IIT. The mechanism test implied that, in addition to direct impacts, the BRI also has indirect impacts by boosting the energy restructuring of B&R countries. These results prove that the BRI has positive impacts on the environment. The heterogeneity test showed that there is a heterogeneous impact depending on the type of IIT, product categorization, B&R countries' income levels, and geographic environment. This study not only gives theoretical and empirical evidence of the positive environmental impacts of the BRI, but also provides practical guidance for the development of EGS IIT between China and B&R countries, thereby contributing to global carbon emissions reduction and environmental governance to some degree.

한국 녹색 ODA 메커니즘 변화에 대한 연구

Purpose: This study analyzes changes in the mechanism of South Korea’s Green ODA to ASEAN-Korea partner countries.
 Originality: The allocation of Green ODA support cannot be comprehensively explained by neither the donor country interest model nor the recipient country need model. Thus, it is essential to broaden the discussion by considering various combinations of conditions that impact the allocation of Green ODA.
 Methodology: Utilizing Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study identifies the changing allocation patterns of South Korea's Green ODA. Subsequently, case studies were conducted based on the results of the combination of causal conditions.
 Result: In 2006 and 2011, the causal conditions converged into the same combination. However, two distinct patterns were identified in 2021. Both combinations are characterized by low trade volumes and a low democracy index from the donors’ interest, as well as by lower exports of eco-friendly products and a lower GDP per capita from the recipients’ need. Despite these shared traits, differences emerged in FDI and environmental vulnerability. These results underline how unique combinations of factors influence Green ODA distribution differently. Detailed case studies on Cambodia and Laos, particularly the latter, illustrate scenarios where conventional criteria of donor country's interests and recipient country's needs were not met. Despite this, a significant level of Green ODA was still secured.
 Conclusion and Implication: This study contributed to enhance Green ODA's integral role in global environmental governance, emphasizing the importance of formulating Green ODA strategies that aligned with the environmental goals and unique socio-economic contexts of recipient countries.

Corrigendum: Leveraging windows of opportunity for expertise to matter in global environmental governance: insights from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Corrigendum: Leveraging windows of opportunity for expertise to matter in global environmental governance: insights from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

Research on the driving factors of rural residents' pro-environmental behavior under the background of frequent heat waves

Heat wave events have frequently occurred worldwide in recent years, and continuous high temperatures have severely impacted human life and ecosystems. Given this problem, the government and the public must cooperate closely to participate in global environmental governance. Among them, pro-environmental behavior is the most significant form for citizens to participate in environmental protection and fulfill social responsibilities. It plays an essential role in mitigating extremely high temperatures worldwide and achieving "carbon neutrality" and sustainable development of the world environment. Based on this, the study utilized the field survey data of 554 respondents from 14 villages in Xi'an and applied a structural equation model that integrates the theory of planned behavior and protection motivation theory to identify the main determinants of the pro-environmental behavior of rural dwellers. The research reported that: 1) The integrated model of the theory of planned behavior and protection motivation theory is suitable for studying people's pro-environmental behavior in the context of heat waves. 2) Heat risk perception, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and subjective norms significantly improved rural residents' pro-environmental behavior. In contrast, response cost had an opposite negative impact on rural residents' pro-environmental behavior. Among them, subjective norms had the most considerable effect. Based on these, we recommend that local governments promote public participation in environmental governance through the following methods: 1) Strengthen the publicity and education of heat wave knowledge and improve public awareness of heat wave risks. 2) Increase investment in environmental protection facilities and reward the public for environmental protection behavior to reduce the cost of the public's pro-environmental behavior. 3) Give full play to the leading role of government cadres and improve the public's awareness of environmental protection through the impact of the social environment.

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGULATION OF SUSTAINABLE USE OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

The sustainable use of biological diversity is essential for maintaining the health of ecosystems and supporting human well-being. International legal frameworks play a crucial role in guiding and regulating activities related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. This article explores the key legal instruments and principles that govern the sustainable use of biological diversity, with a focus on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its associated protocols. It also highlights practical examples of how these frameworks are implemented at national and regional levels, including initiatives in Central Asian countries. The challenges and futuredirections in the international legal regulation of biodiversity are discussed, emphasizing the need for enhanced implementation, cooperation, and adaptation to emerging environmental issues. The article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal and practical aspects of sustainable use of biological diversity, contributing to a better understanding of its importance in global environmental governance.

Symphony of sustainability: how technology similarity impacts international trade patterns in environmental goods.

The global consensus on sustainable development and environmental cooperation has prompted the promotion of trade in environmental goods (EGs) for green growth. This study delves into the diversity of EGs trade patterns, using decomposed environmental technology similarity indicators to reveal the technological drivers. Linking innovation indicators to trade performance in EGs provides new insights into the determinants of inequality in environmental governance cooperation. Based on an extended gravity model, we empirically analyze their impact on bilateral EGs trade flows among 176 countries over the period 2002-2019. The study finds that (1) the global EGs trade network presents a "core-periphery" structure, with increased network density and participation of developing countries. (2) Technology similarity contributes significantly to EGs trade. Compared to competition, technology complementarity has a greater impact on EGs trade flows. (3) The influence of technology similarity varies across trade patterns and product complexity explains the mechanisms, with technology complementarity promoting more trade in high-complexity products, mainly concentrated in the trade from Northern countries, while technology competition greatly promotes the export of low-complexity products from the South. (4) Technology similarity helps to overcome information barriers in EGs trade, and its trade-enhancing effects exhibit geographical regionalization. The findings offer empirical evidence on the technological drivers of EGs trade and provide policy implications for fostering inclusive global environmental governance and enhancing the competitive advantages of Southern countries, fostering more opportunities for green growth.

Physicochemical properties of carbonized grass (CG): Implications for soft clay improvement

In global environmental governance, effectively and sustainably treating soft clay remains a key challenge. The production of traditional soil stabilizers, like cement, not only consumes vast non-renewable resources but also poses issues related to high energy consumption and environmental burdens. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify sustainable alternatives. This study introduces carbonized grass (CG) prepared from waste cutting grass as a sustainable material, experiments on soft clay and research on its physical and chemical properties, and adds wood charcoal (WC) and carbonized cow dung compost (CC) as controls. The study assesses the impact of carbonization temperature (500–1000 °C) on the water absorption properties of WC, CC, and CG. Using CG produced by a homemade dry distillation gasifier (SDDG) as raw material, it is added directly or together with calcined oyster shell waste (COS) into the soft clay, and a cone penetration test is conducted. The impact of different initial moisture contents (30%, 50% and 70%) of soft clay and the blending amounts of CG and CG-COS on the strength of the samples was studied, and an evaluation formula was proposed. Test results showed that CG exhibited a significant advantage in stabilizing high-moisture clay compared to CC and WC. After 28 days, the incorporation of CG significantly reduces the amount of COS (about 40%). Employing Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), the physical and chemical properties of the samples were analyzed. The analysis confirmed CG's unique honeycomb structure, acting as nucleation sites between particles. Additionally, its strong water absorbency aided in shortening the distance between particles, promoting the bonding of hydrated calcium silicate (C-S-H) with soil particles, leading to an improvement in sample strength. The results showed that improving soft clay with CG-COS significantly reduces the use of traditional stabilizers while leading to a substantial increase in soil strength. Additionally, this approach contributes to a noteworthy reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, recycling cutting grass for CG preparation as a substitute for conventional soil stabilizers emerges as a green and viable method.

The role of nature's contributions to people in sustaining international trade of agricultural products

Abstract Nature's contributions to people (NCP) are essential for the production and trade of agricultural, forestry and fishery commodities. Often, there is a spatial disconnect between consumers and the natural systems where the commodities are produced. Traded agricultural products are therefore dependent on nature and NCP in their region of origin. The dependencies of agricultural products on NCP are, however, insufficiently recognised by consumers and are rarely considered in global environmental governance and trade policies along value chains. Here, we synthesise studies highlighting dependencies of agricultural products on NCP in their origin locations to identify opportunities and challenges in quantifying their contribution in sustaining trade flows. We suggest three methodological steps for quantifying NCP dependencies in international agricultural trade: spatial mapping of NCP supply and demand, linking NCP to agricultural trade flows, and tracing trade flows. Each methodological step requires further development and harmonisation to enable a complete accounting of how international agricultural trade depends on NCP. Given the lack of knowledge and data on how NCP support agricultural trade, social and environmental trade‐offs of natural resource management are currently hard to quantify. Quantifying the role of NCP dependencies of traded agricultural products can support their sustainable management, contribute to supply chain accountability and serve as input to sustainable natural resource governance and foster responsibility and equity in supply chains. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

“IPCC-envy”? Shaping global soil and land governance through science-policy activism

AbstractUnderstanding the relationship between science and policy, including the role of actors engaged in facilitating science-policy interplay, is crucial in the study of global environmental governance. In spite of this, theorization of agency in science-policy relations has been limited in the IR field. Concomitantly, limited knowledge exists about the role played in this respect by international bureaucracies. This paper addresses these issues by introducing the concept of science-policy activism. The paper is based on the study of two UN institutions, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which operate in the issue—area of soil and land degradation. Informed by a combination of elite interviews and participant observation, the study investigates the ways in which the UNCCD and GSP secretariats steer the interplay between scientific advice and policymaking. The qualitative analysis reveals that, although both secretariats engage in normative narratives of cooperation, they actively and competitively pursue self-interested agendas. Unearthing the key role of secretariats in comparison with other relevant actors, such as member states and epistemic communities, the study shows that science-policy activism is conducive to “regime conflict,” limiting opportunities for interplay management and ultimately benefiting the interests of international bureaucracies themselves.

The mediated planet: Datafication and the environmental SDGs

Over the past half century, the global environment has become subject to an accelerated pace of mediation and datafication. This ongoing transition has become so comprehensive that the knowledge, management and governance of the Earth system is dependent on enormous flows of data from a “vast machine” of measuring tools. These processes combined have formed what we call a “mediated planet,” subject to interpretation and shared human decision-making – that should ideally be democratic, inclusive and accountable. As environmental datafication continues to accelerate, private corporations are gaining increasing influence on and power over the associated collections of data. This is a cause for concern, as the global environmental commons are a public interest of concern to all people. This article argues for the need to critically research the challenges and risks associated with the rapid datafication of the environment, specifically in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for climate change (13), the ocean (14), biodiversity (15) and inclusive and accountable institutions (16). More knowledge is needed of how the SDGs and their supporting networks influence data-generation on a mediated planet, and how issues of access to and use of environmental data, as well as data ownership and AI implementation, can best be navigated. We contend that such knowledge can help enhance the democratic potential of the SDGs to build public trust and secure broad participation in global environmental governance in ways that also support peaceful and inclusive societies, as promised by SDG 16.

Assessing the interplay between political globalization, social globalization, democracy, militarization, and sustainable development: evidence from G-7 economies.

Sustainable development can act as a catalyst in boosting environmental sustainability and human welfare by alleviating unsustainable production and consumptionpractices. Political globalization emerges as indispensable in increasing global environmental governance. In addition, social globalization, militarization, and democracy can also affect sustainable development. In light of the overlooked impacts of these crucial variables on sustainable development within prior research studies, this study investigates the heterogeneous effects of political globalization, militarization, social globalization, and democracy on sustainable development from 1990 to 2019in the G-7 panel. The results obtained from the application of the methods of moment quantile regressions reveal that a one-percentage-point increase in political globalization yields a significant enhancement in sustainable development, ranging from 0.015 to 0.017% across the 10th to 90th quantiles. Contrarily, sustainable development exhibits a decline within the range of 0.025 to 0.028% across the 10th to 90th quantiles, on account of a 1% increase in social globalization. Likewise, militarization hampers sustainable development with a slightly increasing effect from the 10th to 90th quantiles. Gross fixed capital formation decreases sustainable development while the relationship between democracy and sustainable development indicates a negative correlation, which has not achieved statistical significance across the majority of quantiles. These novel outcomes are also verified by using some other regression tests. Subsequently, a detailed policy framework is presented for the purpose of fostering sustainable growth within the G-7 group.

Leveraging windows of opportunity for expertise to matter in global environmental governance: insights from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

IntroductionWhether and under what conditions scientific knowledge provided by experts actually leads to political action is a question that academic research in various fields have focused on at length, without reaching a definitive answer. The position of expertise is especially delicate within the global environmental governance sphere containing multiple values, worldviews and epistemological standpoints.MethodsFirstly, we developed a theoretical model to examine how contextual factors, like institutional design and boundary work dynamics, contribute to expertise influencing global environmental governance. Secondly, we applied this model to the case of the Science Policy Interface to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD SPI), using data from semi-structured interviews with SPI stakeholders and participant observation of meetings.ResultsWe identified specific dimensions of the SPI mandate that enabled expertise to matter: inclusive membership of practitioners, close interaction between experts and political actors, coordination with other advisory bodies, regular reviews, and a small group size. However, after underpinning the prevailing differences in power between SPI experts and member states in their interactions, we found that international environmental decision-making and its national-level implementation remain ultimately and inevitably subordinated to political actors, making it less likely for expertise to have a significant impact.DiscussionInternational expertise for sustainable development can only take advantage of the rare “windows of opportunity” that intergovernmental processes concede for experts to influence policy.

“The human face of the UN plastics treaty”? The role of waste pickers in intergovernmental negotiations to end plastic pollution and ensure a just transition

Abstract Waste pickers are recognised as a key stakeholder in the ongoing negotiations towards an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. Up to 34 million waste pickers contribute to recovering close to 60% of recycled post-consumer plastic waste globally. The International Alliance of Waste Pickers (IAWP) has actively engaged in the negotiations to safeguard a just transition for these important but vulnerable and frequently overlooked workers. This article explores how the IAWP has gained prominence in the plastics treaty negotiations through three iterative processes. First, the reiterative naming of “waste pickers” has constituted a symbolic practice and discursive influence that heightened recognition of waste pickers’ role as knowledge and rights holders in a just transition to end plastic pollution. Second, the performative dimension of waste picker advocacy has influenced official and informal events. Third, by engaging in “scale work”, waste pickers have influenced and leveraged their alliances to work towards a just transition across national, regional and international levels. By examining the role and influence of waste pickers in the plastics treaty through the frames of naming, performance and scale, the article contributes to advance the scholarly literature on just transition and grassroots movements in global environmental governance (GEG).

The effect of foreign aid on carbon emissions in recipient countries: Evidence from China

Foreign aid is an essential tool in economic diplomacy tool, yet its significance in global environment governance often goes underestimated. Taking 118 countries that received Chinese foreign aid from 2000 to 2018 as the research objects, this study investigated the impact of foreign aid on the carbon emissions of recipient countries and the mechanism. Firstly, the present study found that Chinese foreign aid increased the overall carbon emission levels of recipient countries during the sample period, with each 1 % increase in Chinese foreign aid being followed by a 0.0148 % increase in the carbon emissions of recipient countries. Secondly, the improvement of the economic growth and technological innovation of recipient countries served a mediating role in the process of Chinese aid affecting the carbon emissions of recipient countries. Thirdly, the threshold test results indicate that Chinese foreign aid helps to reduce the carbon emission levels of recipient countries when their economic growth rates and technology innovation levels are low, noting that this emission reduction effect may weaken as the recipient countries' economic growth rates and technological innovation increase. The findings of this paper expand the literature on the functional theory and non-economic consequences of foreign aid. Moreover, they told significant theoretical and policy implications for promoting cleaner aid practices and fostering low-carbon, green growth in recipient countries.