Alexandra Buylova , Gunilla Reischl , Malin Wolters
{"title":"Diversifying climate policy advice: Research agenda on the expertise of national climate councils","authors":"Alexandra Buylova , Gunilla Reischl , Malin Wolters","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100226","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100226","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding who influences climate policy and how expertise shapes decision-making is crucial in tackling climate change effectively. This perspective piece seeks to unravel the complexities of climate governance by reflecting on the role of experts in shaping climate policies. We suggest a new research agenda for studies on the representation and role of expertise in national climate institutions and in policymaking. With a shift towards national implementation, following the Paris Agreement, greater scholarly attention to the role of domestic institutions, including their scientific foundations, is crucial for our understanding of today's climate governance. Focusing on national climate councils, we debate the role of their expert composition and diversity of scientific expertise. We highlight the need for more research on the epistemic diversity and pay special attention to the role of social sciences, particularly the discipline's ability to address the political dimensions of climate action, such as equity, justice, and public acceptance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100226"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142442769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tahmina Yasmin , Julian Clark , Greg Sambrook Smith , Afrah Daham , Andrew Nicholas , Andrea Gasparotto
{"title":"Towards sustainable governance of freshwater sand – A resource regime approach","authors":"Tahmina Yasmin , Julian Clark , Greg Sambrook Smith , Afrah Daham , Andrew Nicholas , Andrea Gasparotto","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100228","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100228","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The UN (2022) recently highlighted the global crisis posed by governance failures in sand mining. Yet despite this acknowledgement of its importance in unlocking this emerging crisis, research on sand governance has barely begun (Cao and Masanet, 2022). Recognizing governance as crucial to achieving sustainable freshwater sand mining, we bring together natural resource regime theory with the leveraging literature to elaborate the novel conceptual framework of the <em>freshwater sand resource regime</em>. This governance regime brings together black letter resource law and regulation, extraction and consumption practices of actors and societal values and behaviours to foster synergies and trade-offs for multi-scaled collective action over freshwater sand. Using a multisite research-commodity chain analysis case study of the Someshwari river in the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin, one of the most heavily mined river complexes in the world, we show the potential of this framework to identify leverage points among stakeholders to promote sustainable freshwater sand extraction and consumption practices. We demonstrate the framework's utility to align governance with UN Sustainable Development Goals for resource management. The research highlights the urgent need for further exploration of freshwater sand governance in different empirical contexts, given its potential implications for instilling global sand sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100228"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142421644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rhomir S. Yanquiling , Gabriela Cuadrado-Quesada , Susanne Schmeier
{"title":"Exploring the rights of nature in freshwater and marine ecosystems","authors":"Rhomir S. Yanquiling , Gabriela Cuadrado-Quesada , Susanne Schmeier","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100224","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100224","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recognizing nature as a legal subject could be understood as an innovative way to transform environmental law towards an ethos of respect and care. The Rights of Nature (RoN) movement gained traction at a time when planet Earth is facing unprecedented ecological degradation. So far, little attention has been given as to how RoN is interpreted and conceptualised and what its implications are to freshwater and marine ecosystem governance. Moreover, important questions remain insufficiently answered, including, for instance, the question of who grants such rights and on the basis of which legal mechanisms, who legally represents nature, or how such rights are actually being implemented and possibly enforced. This article explores the different legal conceptualizations of RoN, focusing on freshwater and marine ecosystems which have received particular attention in recent years in both the academic discourse and in policy practice – yet remain under immense pressure. It also investigates which legal mechanisms are being used to recognize these rights – e.g. court cases, laws, ordinances– and what their legal implications have been so far, including the challenges which have to be addressed to ensure that this innovative approach indeed helps transform how societies perceive and govern freshwater and marine ecosystems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100224"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811624000247/pdfft?md5=a55a163d8e926655a4e1505e67b29f68&pid=1-s2.0-S2589811624000247-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142315535","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cintya B. Molina-Rodríguez , Jose Maria Valenzuela
{"title":"Opportunities for the global climate development agenda with Net Zero in the horizon: A perspective from Central America","authors":"Cintya B. Molina-Rodríguez , Jose Maria Valenzuela","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100222","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100222","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Net Zero pledges have become the most prominent expression of political and business commitment to climate action in the 2020s. The article examines the relevance of this policy framework within the diverse context of Central American countries, which exemplify the varied experiences of middle-income economies outside the G20. The countries in the region have crafted long-term strategies and short-term policies amid rising climate ambition under significant capability gaps and the unfulfilled promises of climate development finance. This Perspective calls on the earth system governance community to draw on evidence from a larger and more diverse set of local circumstances to define expectations of climate target setting and the integration of carbon removal into climate policy. The article highlights the continued relevance of issues like capacity gap, for instance, to complete GHG inventories or to establish a carbon removal policy. But also the importance of past failures of the climate regime, notably the unfulfilled promises of finance under the Kyoto Protocol, which continue to influence policy debates in Central America.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100222"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811624000223/pdfft?md5=58be7cd35eb744e2f1245e86e20ade8a&pid=1-s2.0-S2589811624000223-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142272937","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Allowing for the multifunctionality of agroforestry systems – lessons from a legal perspective with a focus on Germany","authors":"Marina Klimke , Tobias Plieninger , Cathrin Zengerling","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100223","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100223","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In view of the multiple challenges faced by agriculture, agroforestry can promote multifunctional farming landscapes. While the law is a decisive factor for the adoption of agroforestry, it is not as yet comprehensively addressed in agroforestry and governance research. We operationalize Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework to analyze agri-environmental laws at EU, German federal and state level using doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research methods. We show that current legal provisions disincentivize farmers to establish agroforestry system and do not adequately address the benefits and risks of agroforestry systems for ecosystem functions and services and thus overall multifunctionality. We identify terminological misconceptions on the term ’agroforestry’, contradictions between subsidy law and command-and-control law, and a lack of tailored steering towards multifunctionality as major legal barriers to the promotion of agroforestry. Therefore, the example of agroforestry illustrates the challenge inherent in reconciling agricultural and environmental targets in agri-environmental law.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100223"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811624000235/pdfft?md5=0116df6a4faeffbdab4edc0bed5a11ce&pid=1-s2.0-S2589811624000235-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142238231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The depoliticization of climate disasters: Unpacking the entanglement of satellites with parametric climate risk insurance","authors":"Robert Bergsvik, Sanneke Kloppenburg","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100221","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100221","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Satellites permit (near) real-time visibility of a wide range of environmental conditions, across large areas, and to diverse audiences. In climate risk management, this technology is becoming entangled with parametric insurance technology. In areas with large uninsured populations and scarcity of environmental data, satellite-based parametric insurance is increasingly promoted as an efficient way to provide coverage against extreme weather events. Satellites can facilitate payouts for events like tropical cyclones using environmental proxies (e.g., wind speed) and demographic data, bypassing traditional post-disaster assessments. Using qualitative methods, we investigate how the entanglement impacts the understanding, management and governance of climate disasters. We find that both technologies reduce on-the-ground complexities through how such disasters are perceived, anticipated, and governed. The entanglement intensifies the depoliticization of climate disasters and further compromises climate justice. This development in climate risk governance is crucially relevant to consider in the ongoing Loss and Damage Finance negotiations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100221"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811624000211/pdfft?md5=05e38b01ad9b67875316c71dc54f9e0e&pid=1-s2.0-S2589811624000211-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142173328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Black , Geoff Bates , Rosalie Callway , Kathy Pain , Ed Kirton-Darling
{"title":"Short-termism in urban development: The commercial determinants of planetary health","authors":"Daniel Black , Geoff Bates , Rosalie Callway , Kathy Pain , Ed Kirton-Darling","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article focuses on how short-termism impacts on the quality of urban development and, in turn, both population and planetary health. The first section of the paper clarifies key terms - short-termism, health, urban development and upstream - then summarises the context of urban development in the United Kingdom, and the evidence linking urban environments to population and planetary health. The main analysis section draws on data from interviews with 132 participants carried out between May and September 2021. Using the Commercial Determinants of Health framework, six thematic areas are identified: Policy & Political Economy; Legislation and Regulation; Commercial Actors; Underlying Drivers (Power); Externalities; and Partnership. Analysis suggests 17 key messages, the majority of which point to the need for stronger government intervention, a position supported by private sector, if fairly enacted.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"22 ","pages":"Article 100220"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S258981162400020X/pdfft?md5=c5d6f18ff92c012eb798bcee8b2b8df3&pid=1-s2.0-S258981162400020X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142168455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Giorgio Varanini, Maria Proestou, Nicolai Goritz, Peter H. Feindt
{"title":"Explaining low salience of environmental resilience challenges in bioeconomy strategies: A cross-regional comparative analysis","authors":"Giorgio Varanini, Maria Proestou, Nicolai Goritz, Peter H. Feindt","doi":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esg.2024.100218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Bioeconomy policies aim at fostering economic growth while solving the sustainability challenges of the fossil-based economy. However, these policies do little to discuss the resilience challenges of bioeconomies and the bio-based production systems on which they rest. Specifically, the environmental stresses that are likely to threaten the delivery of the bioeconomy's desired functions are barely addressed. This paper aims to understand why the salience of environmental resilience challenges is low in bioeconomy strategies. We conduct an exploratory comparative analysis of the policy design processes of six countries - Malaysia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy and Germany - building on expert interviews and a conceptual approach that emphasizes the importance of the policy design space. Our findings suggest that key factors in explaining the low salience of environmental resilience challenges are the predominantly economic motivation among leading authorities and the under-representation of environmental actors across policy design spaces.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":33685,"journal":{"name":"Earth System Governance","volume":"21 ","pages":"Article 100218"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589811624000181/pdfft?md5=1bdee7f58e3551a723b513f2a0ce8bf1&pid=1-s2.0-S2589811624000181-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141950177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}