Global Sustainability Governance Research Articles

Navigating the future by fuzzy AHP method: Enhancing global tech-sustainable governance, digital resilience, & cybersecurity via the SME 5.0, 7PS framework & the X.0 Wave/Age theory in the digital age

<abstract> <p>In the rapidly evolving landscape of the digital age, the call for intelligent governance has become paramount. This study offers a nuanced exploration of global sustainable governance, integrating the Seven Pillars of Sustainability (7PS) framework and innovation culture. Utilizing structural equation modeling and data from diverse government organizations, this research empirically established the 7PS framework's pivotal role in enhancing organizational sustainability, supported by a robust 95% confidence level. Notably, it unveiled the transformative influence of innovation culture in amplifying the 7PS's impact. The methodological innovation lies in strategically applying the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP), assigning priority weights to 7PS criteria, and identifying culture as the linchpin. This approach provided a robust framework for dissecting the complex interplay of emerging technologies, sustainable engineering, and cybersecurity. The study delves into the X.0 wave/age (X.0 = 5.0) theory, offering insights into the intricate dynamics of innovation, sustainability, and governance. Beyond academic discourse, this research informs practical strategies globally, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) transitioning to SME 5.0/hybrid SMEs. Emphasizing inclusivity and diversity as catalysts for innovation, it scrutinizes contemporary challenges amid technological evolution and cybersecurity threats. Functioning as a visionary compass, the study elucidates the path to a 7PS sustainable future. It signifies a paradigm shift, transcending boundaries between knowledge domains. The fusion of the 7PS framework, X.0 wave theory, and fuzzy AHP navigates global governance, digital resilience, and cybersecurity, offering a transformative roadmap. This research contributes by substantiating the pivotal role of culture in emerging technologies, augmenting global tech-sustainable governance, fortifying digital resilience, and safeguarding cybersecurity.</p> </abstract>

‘Transforming our world’? A historical materialist critique of the sustainable development agenda

Abstract Questioning the transformative potential of the Sustainable Development Goals, the article mobilises elements of critical theory in order to demonstrate how contemporary forms of global sustainability governance refrain from tackling the capitalist roots of unsustainable development. For this reason, they remain incapable of delivering on their promises of world transformation.

The Catholic Church in Times of Ecological Crisis: An “Unusual Suspect” in Advancing the Transition to Sustainability?

Abstract Religious traditions and institutions have historically played a significant role in shaping cultural scaffoldings and social practices. Can they also help re-shape the unsustainable world humans have made for themselves, which is now undermining not only the actual and prospective minimum standards of dignified life for the many, but also the basic fabric of Earth’s life support? From an approach critical of mainstream sustainability and looking to the example of the Catholic Church and Pope Francis’ vision of an “integral ecology”, this article argues that, in spite of being a latecomer to the global sustainability debate, the Church is structurally uniquely positioned to play the role of a global sustainability governance agent in the necessary transition to future-able way(s) of societal organization. It can, however, do so only if it proves capable of avoiding the risks of corporatist takeover, instrumentalisation for economic and political purposes, and assimilation of the integral ecology narrative used by the overall ineffective approaches of mainstream sustainable development.

Country-Specific Participation Patterns in Transnational Governance Initiatives on Sustainability: Preliminary Insights and Research Agenda.

Transnational public-private governance initiatives (TGIs) have become key elements in global governance, especially in the governance of sustainability. Pertinent research has concentrated on why TGIs have emerged as well as on their impacts on political outcomes and questions related to their legitimacy. This instructive literature has predominantly focused on TGIs as entities in their own right. This explorative study contributes to the literature by advocating a complementary analytical perspective that pays attention to domestic-level patterns of participation in TGIs and national factors that determine which types of organizations (public, business, or civil society) participate in TGIs. It is shown for six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru) that there exists cross-country variation in the composition patterns in 29 TGIs on sustainability, suggesting that national conditions matter for how organizations participate in them. By improving the knowledge of the national conditions, a more complete analysis of participation and the effectiveness of TGIs can be provided in global sustainability governance. In this spirit, in a last step,an agenda is developed for guiding future research on this topic.

Regularization methods for sparse ESG-valued multi-period portfolio optimization with return prediction using machine learning

In the context of global sustainable development, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment has become a frontier topic in the field of asset management. This paper focuses on ESG-valued multi-period portfolio selection problem which incorporates ESG factor into traditional portfolio optimization. Using ESG-valued returns instead of traditional returns, we propose an ESG-valued fused LASSO model to promote an optimal sparse multi-period portfolio strategy. The objective of the model is to minimize a combination of returns and risks with respect to ESG ratings based on classical Markowitz mean–variance framework. The sparsity of the portfolio at each period and the turnover across periods is achieved by the ℓ1 regularization approach. To improve the out-of-sample performance of the ESG-valued model, we introduce two machine learning methods, namely random forest and support vector regression, to predict the ESG-valued returns. We develop a symmetric alternating direction method of multipliers to solve the regularized optimization model. Additionally, some other sparsity-driven penalty functions are discussed which results in a general framework of multi-period portfolio optimization. Finally, numerical experiments on several real datasets from both in-sample and out-of-sample demonstrate the positive effect of ESG in multi-period portfolio optimization.

The SDGs as integrating force in global governance? Challenges and opportunities

In 2015, the United Nations agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an “integrated and indivisible” set of policy objectives with the aim, among others, to unite the diverse and vast system of international organizations under one shared normative agenda. And yet, have these SDGs really become such an integrative force in global governance? Our conclusion here is negative, and our research suggests that the SDGs have not lived up to these high expectations. We find instead that the 17 global goals have not been taken up by a substantial group of international organizations, and some organizations rather cherry-pick those goals that best fit their own agenda and interests. To overcome these challenges and to fulfill the promise of integrated global sustainability governance enshrined in the SDGs, we propose three urgent actions: first, to further push the use of the SDGs across all international organizations, in particular regional organizations outside the United Nations system; second, to facilitate better collaboration across policy domains; and third, to focus attention on those SDGs that are so far “left behind.”

Contextualizing Global Sustainability Governance: Duality of the Postcolonial African State System

Contextualizing Global Sustainability Governance: Duality of the Postcolonial African State System

Voluntary standards and the SDGs: Mapping public-private complementarities for sustainable development

To strengthen global sustainability governance, academics and policymakers have called for a better integration of private governance with public policy instruments. Surprisingly, however, systematic research on the state of such public-private complementarities in the field of sustainable development is lacking. With a focus on voluntary sustainability standards and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this article addresses this research gap. It uses a novel dataset of 232 voluntary standards to examine how their policies and organizational processes interact with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their targets. We identify significant public-private complementarities, but also areas of institutional disconnect. We further explore how the creation of institutional linkages in this issue area is driven by instrumental, managerial, and normative concerns and develop an agenda for future research. This includes research on whether and how intensifying public-private interactions at the transnational level translate into tangible impacts for sustainable development on the ground.

The impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on a network of 276 international organizations

Global sustainability governance is marked by a highly fragmented system of distinct clusters of international organizations, along with states and other actors. Enhancing inter-organizational coordination and cooperation is thus often recognized as an important reform challenge in global sustainability governance. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, agreed by the United Nations in 2015, thus explicitly aim at advancing policy coherence and institutional integration among the myriad international institutions. Yet, have these goals been effective in this regard? We assess here the impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on the network structure of 276 international organizations in the period 2012–2019, that is, four years before and four years after the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals. The network structure was approximated by analyzing data from the websites of these 276 international organizations that were joined by more than 1.5 million hyperlinks, which we collected using a custom-made web crawler. Our findings are contrary to what is widely expected from the Sustainable Development Goals: we find that fragmentation has in fact increased after the Sustainable Development Goals came into effect. In addition, silos are increasing around the 17 SDGs as well as around the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

Philanthropic Foundations as Agents of Justice in Global Sustainability Governance

AbstractPrivate philanthropic foundations—nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations with assets provided by donors for socially useful purposes—have become key political actors in global sustainability governance. Their collective efforts amount to over USD 112 billion for the implementation of the United Nations (UNs)’s ambitious plan to deliver on seventeen interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This corresponds to about a quarter of governmental contribution through official development assistance for the same purposes. Many of these foundations implicitly or explicitly aim to foster global justice, through, for example, empowering women, reducing inequalities, and promoting democracy. They thus act as justice agents shaping the substance and practice of justice in global sustainability governance. But what does this direction of private money into supporting global justice norms really mean? This question deserves scrutiny, especially against a context of diverse and contested meanings of justice and because philanthropy—beyond an act of giving—is often an exercise of power. Using critical discourse analysis of texts produced by selected foundations that are key funders of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, this paper examines how private foundations frame global justice and with what implications for sustainability governance.

International organisations as 'custodians' of the sustainable development goals? Fragmentation and coordination in sustainability governance.

It is widely assumed that the fragmentation of global governance can affect coordination efforts among international institutions and organisations. Yet, the precise relationship between the fragmentation of global governance and the extent to which international organisations coordinate their activities remains underexplored. In this article, we offer new empirical evidence derived from the so-called custodianship arrangements in which numerous international organisations have been mandated to coordinate data collection and reporting for 231 indicators of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These complex custodianship arrangements provide a fertile testing ground for theories on the relationship between fragmentation and coordination because the institutional arrangements for each of the 17 SDGs have emerged bottom-up with varying degrees of fragmentation. Through a comparative approach covering 44 custodian agencies and focusing on the most and least fragmented custodianship arrangements, we make three key contributions. First, we offer a novel operationalisation of institutional fragmentation and coordination. Second, we present empirical evidence in support of the claim that fragmentation negatively affects coordination. Third, we provide nuances to this claim by identifying factors that affect the strength of this relationship. Based on our analysis, we suggest further steps that might facilitate coordination in global sustainability governance.

Value-Based Governance as a Performance Element in Social and Solidarity Economy Organizations: A French Sustainable Post-Modern Proposal

This article offers a general reflection on governance and managerial practices within a Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and suggests that in a time of profound socioeconomic change, it is in SSE companies’ interest to establish global sustainable governance and responsible team management systems consistent with both the values structuring this domain as well as employee aspirations. This a French point of view with a sustainable dimension based on a literature review and on several published studies but not on an empirical approach. In a way it is an essay more than a demonstration. It is a proposal which could lead to methodological work. Here is a first step.

Religion: A resource in european climate politics? An examination of faith-based contributions to the climate policy discourse in the EU

Recent research has considered the contribution of faith-based actors (FBAs) and religious norms to global sustainability and climate governance. However, as yet, it has paid little attention to the relationship between religion and climate politics in the EU. The EU is supposedly a secular body. Nevertheless, FBAs participate in its climate policy discourse, and, therefore, their normative contributions are of interest. In this article, therefore, we explore the role of FBAs in the EU climate discourse with respect to two specific questions: what, if any, specific normative arguments and claims do the FBAs contribute to the EU’s climate policy discourse; and, can or do the relevant normative arguments and claims serve as a basis for collaboration or are they a source of normative conflict between different FBAs or between FBAs and non-FBAs? To answer these questions, we draw on the EU’s transparency register and a content analysis of a specific dialogue between FBAs and the EU’s institutions. On this basis, we identified a range of active FBAs within EU climate politics and demonstrated that they contribute to the European climate discourse by adding deep-rooted values. One way this is achieved is through the connection of climate values to “creation” and the divine command to mankind which can give specific meaning to one’s understanding of nature and fellow humans, as well as one’s sense of responsibility towards both. Furthermore, we find a basis for both agreement and conflict in references to religious norms and ideas. Many actors from different faiths and secular backgrounds emphasize the compatibility of faith-based and other norms. However, other actors highlight differences in perspectives and challenges to climate governance that arise from “conservative” religious norms.

Can the Sustainable Development Goals Green International Organisations? Sustainability Integration in the International Labour Organisation

ABSTRACT In global sustainability governance, many actors have emphasised the need for policy integration across the economic, social, and environmental dimensions. In 2015, the United Nations agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to advance such integration. But have international organisations responded to this call, and can we observe any integrative effect of the SDGs? We draw on International Relations theories that incorporate change in their analysis and develop an analytical framework to assess change through the lenses of ideas, norms, and institutions. We use this framework to assess sustainability-oriented change in the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ILO is traditionally an organisation with a primarily socio-economic mandate and hence an ideal case to study whether the SDGs had any impact after 2015 in strengthening the environmental dimension of sustainability in the ILO’s institutional settings and policy development. We focus on the 2010–2019 period and conduct a systematic qualitative content analysis of primary documentary sources, complemented with expert interviews and data on operational developments. The paper concludes that there is a significant yet instrumental greening trend in the ILO’s approach to sustainable development, but also a bidirectional influence between the ILO and the SDGs.

In Whose Name Are You Speaking? The Marginalization of the Poor in Global Civil Society.

Global civil society is often uncritically seen as a democratic force in global governance. Civil society organizations claim to hold states and intergovernmental institutions accountable and channel the voices of the world’s poorest people in policy making. Yet to what extent do they succeed in performing that role? This article assesses the representation of the poor in global civil society, with a focus on the negotiations of the Sustainable Development Goals, a process widely hailed as one of the most democratic ever organized by the United Nations. We first analyse how the poor and their local representatives are procedurally included in global civil society (procedural representation). We then quantitatively assess the actual representation of civil society organizations from the world’s poorest countries in the civil society hearings of the SDG negotiations, where civil society was invited to speak on behalf of their constituencies (geographical representation). Finally, we evaluate the extent to which global civil society representatives who claim to speak on behalf of the poor legitimately represented the interests of these people (discursive representation). We found that global civil society fails to fully represent the poor on procedural, geographical and discursive terms, and eventually perpetuates postcolonial injustices in global sustainability governance.

Knowledge integration in sustainability governance through science-based actor networks

Understanding how science, technology and innovation can best help to accelerate progress in achieving sustainable development remains a grand challenge for researchers and practitioners. In the context of the global consultation process for preparing a post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, various science-based actor networks have emerged, aiming to translate research into political decision-making and to inform transformations towards sustainability. Over the last years, these networks seem to have taken an ever-growing role in structuring the science-policy interface in global sustainability governance. The question arises, however, how they understand and organize ‘scientific knowledge integration’ in sustainability politics.This study offers a structured comparison of twelve global science-based actor networks engaged in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. It shows that these networks use two types of strategies to foster scientific knowledge integration in sustainability governance. A new framework emerges, in which each strategy corresponds to two main approaches of scientific knowledge integration: The entrepreneurial strategy generally seeks to advance advice-oriented and solution-oriented knowledge processes, while assessment-oriented and learning-oriented processes in scientific knowledge integration are mainly promoted through a mediating strategy.

Locating Cities and Their Governments in Multi-Level Sustainability Governance

Cities and their governments are increasingly recognized as important actors in global sustainability governance. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, their role in the global endeavor to foster sustainability has once again been put in the spotlight. Several scholars have highlighted pioneering local strategies and policies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and render urban areas more sustainable. However, the question of how such urban sustainability actions are embedded in complex interactions between public and private actors operating at different levels has not been studied in enough detail. Building upon a multi-level governance approach, this article explores the entanglement and interconnectedness of cities and local governments with actors and institutions at various levels and scales to better capture the potential and limitations of urban policymaking contributing to global sustainability. The article finds that on the one hand cities and their governments are well positioned to engage other actors into a policy dialogue. On the other hand, local authorities face considerable budgetary and institutional capacity constraints, and they heavily rely on support from actors at other governmental levels and societal scales to carry out effective sustainability actions in urban areas.

Information exchange networks among actors for the implementation of SDGs

This article emphasizes the importance of actor networks for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and suggests how a network perspective can contribute to our understanding of (global) sustainability governance. Actor networks are often driven by homophily, as actors tend to interact with those similar to them. Yet, not least in a context sustainability governance, heterophily of actor cooperation is claimed to be beneficial. In contrast to homophily, heterophily represents situations where actors cooperate with those that are different, and thus combine diverse sets of knowledge and competences. Based on the case of Swiss actors involved in the implementation of the SDG 6 on water in countries of the global South, we use social network analysis and qualitative interview data to study how homophily and heterophily influence actors' information exchange. According to quantitative network data, information exchange between actors is indeed influenced by homophily regarding the type of actor and the policy forums actors are participating in. Nevertheless, we also find evidence for heterophily, as actors tend to exchange information with actors with different methodological foci. Furthermore, qualitative interview data show that actors perceive heterophilous network ties as beneficial for SDG implementation.

Global Sustainability Governance: fragmented, orchestrated or polycentric?

La présente contribution compare les structures institutionnelles dans trois domaines, à savoir le changement climatique, la filière bois et la pêche. L’étude mondiale de la gouvernance environnementale dans la tradition de l’institutionnalisme néolibéral a déplacé son attention des institutions individuelles vers des « ensembles de régimes », également appelés « architectures », « systèmes de gouvernance » ou « systèmes assemblés ». Des données probantes émergentes montrent que plusieurs problèmes environnementaux (par exemple le changement climatique, les ressources phytogénétiques et la biodiversité) sont désormais régis par des ensembles institutionnels faiblement reliés entre eux plutôt que par des régimes uniques et cohérents. Les discussions actuelles portent sur des conceptualisations et évaluations selon un modèle idéal d’un système et de ses propriétés, par exemple sur la question de savoir si les ensembles sont institutionnellement fragmentés ou polycentriques. Ce qui manque, ce sont des cartographies empiriques comparant les différents ensembles de régimes ainsi que des explications qui en résultent, fondées sur la théorie de la variation appliquée aux différents domaines. Nous suggérons une évaluation comparative des systèmes de gouvernance selon quatre perspectives complémentaires : la première dimension utilisée pour cartographier une architecture de gouvernance est institutionnelle. Elle se concentre sur les systèmes de règles régissant un domaine à l’échelle mondiale. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement à la nature des institutions entrecroisées de gouvernance publique et privée. La deuxième dimension est organisationnelle. Elle est représentée par les acteurs constituant ces institutions puisque dans cette perspective les institutions sont mises en place par des organisations qui possèdent la qualité d’acteur. Dans notre conceptualisation, seules les organisations ayant un rôle décisionnel sont prises en compte. La troisième dimension est fonctionnelle, axée sur les rôles distincts joués par les institutions et les instruments utilisés. Nous nous intéressons ici au caractère contraignant de ces instruments, par exemple par rapport au caractère souple ou strict des mécanismes de mise en œuvre. Enfin, la quatrième dimension est relationnelle. Ce qui est pertinent ici, ce sont les points de contact entre institutions et acteurs étudiés à travers une approche de réseau.

The influence of small states: how Bhutan succeeds in influencing global sustainability governance

Abstract How do small states succeed in influencing global policies? Traditional International Relations theories highlight the vulnerability and limited capacity of small states and suggest that the scope for these states to influence global policies is limited. However, recent literature on small states in global governance has challenged this view. Studies have found that in the context of international organizations, participation in coalitions and favourable decision-making structures, among others, contribute to explaining the influence of small states in global governance. While these factors are indeed relevant, they only partly explain how small states are able to influence global policies. Drawing on in-depth qualitative research exploring the influence of small states, this article advances understandings of how small states can influence global governance and international negotiations. Focusing on one small state, the article analyses how Bhutan, through policy entrepreneur Jigme Y. Thinley, challenged fundamental ideas about what constitutes development by placing happiness on the global agenda. We contribute unique data on the influence of Bhutan and an analytical framework on the influence of small states, outlining a process of how small states can influence global policy despite their structural weaknesses. The framework consists of an attribute in the form of policy entrepreneur(s) who speak and act on behalf of the state, four strategies comprising the marketing of the state, venue shopping, facilitating learning and coalition networks, and two framework conditions, including windows of opportunity and a conducive decision-making process.