Hans Bruyninckx

Governance for Sustainable Development at the Inter-subnational Level: The Case of the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD)

Subnational entities increasingly exert agency in multilateral decision making. Since they are often not recognized as actors in multilateral bodies, they use several mechanisms to gain representation. An example of an extra-state mechanism is the participation in inter-subnational networks. This article is about the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (nrg4SD), a network that focuses on sustainable development and that has a unique global scope, addressing the UN institutions above all. A first part of our analysis shows that, although it is a relatively young initiative, nrg4SD has evolved into an institution with a permanent character, but subsequently went through a period of stagnation and criticism. It also demonstrates that, besides offering subnational entities an extra-state route to multilateral decision making, it entails an important internal dimension as well, through the promotion of policy learning and bilateral co-operation. The second part of the article offers a comparative analysis of three of the networks members (Flanders, the Basque Country and North Rhine-Westphalia), which shows that they have diverging views on nrg4SD and its functioning and use their participation in very different ways and with different results.

The Modus Narrandi A Methodology for Evaluating Effects of Environmental Policy

‘Are we being effective?’ has become an increasingly central question in policy evaluation research. This article defends the position that this question can only be answered by employing a methodology that is adapted and can stand scrutiny in the policy field in which the evaluation occurs. In our experience the evaluation of environmental policy requires a renewed effort to develop methodologies that take into account the key characteristics of that policy area. The ‘modus narrandi’, based on causal narrative story reconstruction, is our contribution to these efforts. It is a methodology for effect evaluation that looks at effectiveness and side effects within contexts characterized by causal uncertainty.

The governance network of European football: introducing new governance approaches to steer football at the EU level

The authors of this article aim at introducing a new approach in the academic debate on governance failures in professional football. In recent years, political, legal and economic driving forces have led to the emergence of a governance network in European football. We state that this provides the European Union (EU) with the opportunity, if not the duty, to get a grip on the football sector through meta-governance. Further improvement of the networks democratic legitimacy through the enhancement of its democratic anchorage via the introduction of more openness, stakeholder participation and meta-governance by the EU should help the network to deal with the growing complexity of the football world. This way, governance networks in sport can be the solution to the governance failures in the sector, just like governance networks were the solution to many examples of government and market failures in modern society.

Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations: The Multi-Level Politics of Climate Change Policy in Belgium

This article discusses the relations between the different layers of government in Belgium with regard to a typical multi-level issue, i.e. climate change. It addresses the question to which degree the characteristics of Belgian federalism shape those intergovernmental relations. Three major characteristics are identified: the constitutionally ‘dual’ but de facto ‘cooperative’ federalism, the Europeanization of competences and of relations, and the executive and politicized character of federalism. The impact of those characteristics are studied with regard to crucial cases in recent decision-making on (i) domestic climate change policy in Belgium and on (ii) the position and representation of Belgium in the international climate change debate. It is observed that intergovernmental relations on climate change are to a high degree institutionalized. That is the consequence of the fragmentation in many of the competence areas important for climate change (e.g. environment, energy, transport). The different cooperation mechanisms are based on consensus, as a consequence of the principle of no hierarchy between the two levels of government. Since climate change is a highly sensitive issue involving important interests, consensus-based decision-making has led to lengthy and difficult discussions. In the complex Belgian setting, the EU is often the number one reason to bring the different governments around the same table. Intergovernmental relations on climate change policy in Belgium are triggered by formal requests by the EU to take a stance or deliver certain policy outputs on specific issues. Yet international requirements and deadlines are unable to break domestic gridlock due to political stalemates. Intergovernmental relations are completely controlled by political parties and ministerial cabinets. That becomes problematic in a context of political asymmetry, where the distinct levels of government are ruled by different coalitions. In the case of climate change, the opposition between conservative and progressive climate goals has meant that Belgium was unable to take a stance in recent debates, and it increases the probability of policy failures.

Taking stock of the UN Decade of education for sustainable development: the policy-making process in Flanders

In this paper, we address the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Flanders, a sub-national entity of Belgium. Our analysis shows how the policy-making process in Flanders is inextricably intertwined with three developments in environmental and educational policy: the increasing impact of ESD policy and discourse on environmental education, the framing of social and political problems as learning problems, and ecological modernisation. These trends give shape to a post-ecologist and post-political policy regime and, thus, affect what is possible and acceptable within Flemish ESD policy. However, this case study also revealed that these developments do not completely determine ESD policy-making in Flanders. Our examination thus allowed us to understand how the actual policy translation in a particular local setting brings about powers that legitimise and maintain as well as counteract the bounds of the policy regime that emerged in the context of the UN Decade.

The State of Sustainable Development: Perspectives from the Subnational Level

The chapters in this volume have given an account of a multitude of subnational activities for sustainable development. The issue has clearly found its way on to the subnational policy agenda, and subnational governments have taken many initiatives to institutionalize it. In some cases, new approaches were initiated only recently, such as in the Basque Country, Flanders and Wallonia. The book also shows that subnational governments are pushed to ‘go international’ for sustainable development, trying to influence regional and global decision-making and trying to gain international visibility for their own efforts. However, it is also clear that sustainable development’s general appeal is lower now than it was at the time of the Rio Summit or the Johannesburg Summit. In some cases, the enthusiasm has faded and the meta-concept of sustainable development has difficulties in staying on the political agenda, where it is replaced by increased attention on more specific policy issues (such as climate change). The situation is thus ambiguous, and future developments will point out whether sustainable development remains an attractive concept to guide policy-making.

Analysing the Position of the European Union in the United Nations System: Analytical Framework

Chapter 1 underscored the growing importance of the EU’s engagement in global multilateral fora under the UN umbrella. This tendency, emblematically reflected in the two influential EU policy documents of 2003 – the Commission communication on ‘The EU and the UN: partners in effective multilateralism’ and the European Security Strategy (European Commission, 2003; European Council, 2003) – sparked substantive research interest in the topic. Where the EU’s participation in UN fora had been predominantly examined by legal scholars before (BrA¼ckner, 1990), analysts of EU foreign policy began to turn to the subject from the early 2000s onwards (Jorgensen, 2007, p. 509).

Green Growth in the Benelux: Indicators of Local Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy in Cross-Border Regions

This paper discusses the results of a study of measuring green growth in the Benelux countries (Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg). The study paid particular attention to the challenges of measuring the transition to a low-carbon economy in cross-border areas as they have additional levels of complexity when it comes to measuring and monitoring their low-carbon transition. In cross- regions data collection hardly ever coincide with any single data gathering ‘institution’. Moreover, Belgium (Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia), the Netherlands, and Luxembourg have different indicator systems at the national level, and even more so at the more decentralised level which creates problems of data availability, data (in)consistency, and hence comparability. Progress is already noticeable in the two crossborder areas analysed in the study. In Ghent-Terneuzen the bio-base economy is contributing to the value of turnover and growth in employment in the environmental goods and services (EGS) sectors. In Alzette-Belval the construction industry is engaging in resource-efficient building design and certification. In other aspects there is evidence of progress, but this evidence is anecdotal, or patchy in its collection, and not able to be included in the dashboard metrics developed during the study and discussed in the paper.

Introduction: governing climate relations between Europe and Asia in a restructuring world order: Evidence from China and Vietnam as Key Emerging Economies

This book provides a thorough empirical study of the most fundamental dynamics, practices and policy processes involved in Europe–Asia climate relations, with a specific focus on China and vietnam as key emerging economies. Due to doubledigit economic growth and related booming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, major Asian developing economies such as China and, to a lesser extent, India have moved centrestage in all important areas of global governance (Dryzek et al. 2011; Wouters et al. 2012). This restructuring of the global world order is having a profound impact on the global climate regime, as established by the 1992 united nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (unFCCC). Since the 2009 Copenhagen summit, China in particular has assumed a pivotal role in international climate negotiations (Grubb 2010: 127). As a result, the relationship between Asia and the most active player in the climate regime, the European union (Eu), has become a key element for future climate governance practices (belis and Schunz 2012; Schreurs 2010: 89). The rise of China also implies major changes for other Asian developing countries, including vietnam. China is attempting to move away from an economic model based on infrastructure development and cheap consumer good exports, an evolution that is accelerating with the implementation of the 2011–2015 12th socioeconomic FiveYear Plan (Fan et al. 2011). As the Chinese economy moves higher up the international value chain, major parts of its manufacturing industries are relocating towards other lowwage, industrializing countries in the region, such as Indonesia, Malaysia or vietnam (Adams and Tran 2011; Mol and van buuren 2003). vietnam is especially important in this regard because of its geographic location, sustained economic growth and relative political stability. Countries such as vietnam will thus be increasingly important in global climate governance and are likely to join China and the other

The European Union’ Participation in United Nations Human Rights and Environmental Governance: Key Concepts and Major Challenges

Within the span of a few decades, the European Union (EU or Union) has made a remarkable ascent as a global player, evolving from a comparatively marginal actor in world affairs to a resourceful and widely recognized foreign policy force in its own right. This has been most recently reaffirmed with the adoption of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 65/276 on 3 May 2011 entitled ‘Strengthening of the United Nations System: Participation of the European Union in the work of the UN’, which granted the EU further rights, such as the right to speak and right of reply, in the UNGA. The adoption of this resolution, with 180 states in favour, demonstrated the UNGA’s formal recognition of the institutional changes in the EU brought about by the Lisbon Treaty and, more generally, the evolving nature of the global body (for a discussion of these changes see Chapter 13).