Philipp Pattberg

The Fragmentation of Global Governance Architectures: A Framework for Analysis

Most research on global governance has focused either on theoretical accounts of the overall phenomenon or on empirical studies of distinct institutions that serve to solve particular governance challenges. In this article we analyze instead governance architectures, defined as the overarching system of public and private institutions, principles, norms, regulations, decision-making procedures and organizations that are valid or active in a given issue area of world politics. We focus on one aspect that is turning into a major source of concern for scholars and policy-makers alike: the fragmentation of governance architectures in important policy domains. The article offers a typology of different degrees of fragmentation, which we describe as synergistic, cooperative, and conflictive fragmentation. We then systematically assess alternative hypotheses over the relative advantages and disadvantages of different degrees of fragmentation. We argue that moderate degrees of fragmentation may entail both significant costs and benefits, while higher degrees of fragmentation are likely to decrease the overall performance of a governance architecture. The article concludes with policy options on how high degrees of fragmentation could be reduced. Fragmentation is prevalent in particular in the current governance of climate change, which we have hence chosen as illustration for our discussion.

Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance

The United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro in June is an important opportunity to improve the institutional framework for sustainable development. Science assessments indicate that human activities are moving several of Earths sub-systems outside the range of natural variability typical for the previous 500,000 years (1, 2). Human societies must now change course and steer away from critical tipping points in the Earth system that might lead to rapid and irreversible change (3). This requires fundamental reorientation and restructuring of national and international institutions toward more effective Earth system governance and planetary stewardship.

World Politics and Organizational Fields: The Case of Transnational Sustainability Governance

Transnational rule-making organizations have proliferated in the area of sustainability politics. In this article, we explore why these organizations share a set of core features that appear overly costly at first sight. We argue that norms that evolved out of the social interaction among transnational rule-making organizations account for this phenomenon. Thus, in the early 1990s, an organizational field of transnational rule-making has gradually developed in the field of environmental politics. Responding to a broader social discourse about global governance that stressed a need for innovative forms of cooperation among different societal sectors, this organizational field gained in legitimacy and strength. A set of commonly accepted core norms, the increasing density of interaction among the field’s members, and the success and legitimacy ascribed to the field’s key players by the outside world helped to solidify the organizational field until it eventually developed a ‘life of its own’.

Governing climate change transnationally: Assessing the evidence from a database of sixty initiatives

With this paper we present an analysis of sixty transnational governance initiatives and assess the implications for our understanding of the roles of public and private actors, the legitimacy of governance ‘beyond’ the state, and the North–South dimensions of governing climate change. In the first part of the paper we examine the notion of transnational governance and its applicability in the climate change arena, reflecting on the history and emergence of transnational governance initiatives in this issue area and key areas of debate. In the second part of the paper we present the findings from the database and its analysis. Focusing on three core issues, the roles of public and private actors in governing transnationally, the functions that such initiatives perform, and the ways in which accountability for governing global environmental issues might be achieved, we suggest that significant distinctions are emerging in the universe of transnational climate governance which may have considerable implications for the governing of global environmental issues. In conclusion, we reflect on these findings and the subsequent consequences for the governance of climate change.

Private Governance and the South: lessons from global forest politics

Abstract Private governance beyond the state is emerging as a prominent debate in International Relations, focusing on the activities of private non-state actors and the influences of private rules and standards. However, the conceptual framework of governance has until recently been employed predominantly with reference to the oecd world. Despite this restricted view, a growing number of processes, organisations and institutions are beginning to affect developing countries and new institutional settings open up avenues of influence for actors from the South. In the context of a lively debate about global governance and the transformation of world politics, this article asks: what influences does private governance have on developing countries, their societies and their economies? What influence do southern actors have in and through private governance arrangements? I argue that we can assess the specific impacts of private governance, as well as potential avenues of influence for actors from the South, with regard to three functional pathways: governance through regulation, governance through learning and discourse, and governance through integration. Focusing in particular on private governance in the global forest arena, I argue that, while southern actors have not benefited so much economically from private certification schemes, they have been partially empowered through cognitive and integrative processes of governance.

Global Climate Governance beyond 2012: Architecture, Agency and Adaptation

List of contributors Preface List of abbreviations 1. Global climate governance beyond 2010: an introduction Frank Biermann, Philipp Pattberg and Fariborz Zelli Part I. Architecture: 2. The architecture of global climate governance: setting the stage Frank Biermann, Fariborz Zelli, Philipp Pattberg and Harro van Asselt 3. The consequences of a fragmented climate change governance architecture: a policy appraisal Fariborz Zelli, Frank Biermann, Philipp Pattberg and Harro van Asselt 4. Environmental effectiveness and economic consequences of fragmented versus universal regimes: what can we learn from model studies? Andries Hof, Michel den Elzen and Detlef van Vuuren 5. Developing the international carbon market beyond 2012: options and the cost of delay Christian Flachsland, Robert Marschinski, Ottmar Edenhofer, Marian Leimbach and Lavinia Baumstark 6. The overlap between the UN climate regime and the World Trade Organization: lessons for climate governance beyond 2012 Fariborz Zelli and Harro van Asselt 7. An architecture for long-term climate change: North-South cooperation based on equity and common but differentiated responsibilities Harald Winkler 8. Shaping the architecture of future climate governance: perspectives from the South Manish Kumar Shrivastava and Nitu Goel Part II. Agency: 9. Agency in global climate governance: setting the stage Philipp Pattberg and Johannes Stripple 10. The role and relevance of networked climate governance Philipp Pattberg 11. Carbon market governance beyond the public-private divide Johannes Stripple and Eva Lovbrand 12. A staged sectoral approach for climate mitigation Michel den Elzen, Andries Hof, Jasper van Vliet and Paul Lucas 13. Technological change and the role of non-state actors Knut H. Alfsen, Gunnar S. Eskeland and Kristin Linnerud Part III. Adaptation: 14. Global adaptation governance: setting the stage Frank Biermann and Ingrid Boas 15. Costs, benefits and interlinkages between adaptation and mitigation Andries Hof, Kelly de Bruin, Rob Dellink, Michel den Elzen and Detlef van Vuuren 16. Global adaptation governance: the case of protecting climate refugees Frank Biermann and Ingrid Boas 17. Global adaptation governance beyond 2012: developing country perspectives Jessica Ayers, Mozaharul Alam and Saleemul Huq 18. Shaping future adaptation governance: perspectives from the poorest of the poor Anne Jerneck and Lennart Olsson 19. Conclusions: options for effective climate governance beyond 2012 Frank Biermann, Philipp Pattberg and Fariborz Zelli Index.

Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Does the Promise Hold?

This significant study discusses the emergence of partnerships for sustainable development as an innovative, and potentially influential, new type of governance. With contributions from leading experts in the field, the ‘partnership paradigm’ is discussed and the contributors explore the process, extent and circumstances under which partnerships can improve the legitimacy and effectiveness of governance for sustainable development.

Reinvigorating International Climate Policy: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Nonstate Action

As countries negotiate a new climate agreement for the United Nations climate conference in December 2015, a groundswell of climate actions is emerging as cities, regions, businesses and civil society groups act on mitigation and adaptation, independently, with each other and with national governments and international organizations. The Paris conference provides a historic opportunity to establish a framework to catalyse, support, and steer these initiatives. Without such a framework, ‘bottom-up’ climate governance runs the risk of failing to deliver meaningful results. Social science research highlights the need for a comprehensive approach that promotes ambition, experimentation and accountability, and avoids unnecessary overlaps. This article specifies functions and design principles for a new, comprehensive framework for sub- and nonstate climate actions that could provide effective coordination.

The influence of global business regulation: beyond good corporate conduct.

© 2006 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK ASR usiness and Society Review 0045-3609

Theorising Global Environmental Governance: Key Findings and Future Questions

Global environmental governance in the Anthropocene is fundamentally different from older conceptions of environmental policy-making and sustainable development. Environmental problem-solving is no longer concerned with isolated problems, but rather with reorganising the overall relation between humans and natural systems. Empirically, this is reflected in the ever greater attention to questions of institutional interactions (e.g. between the issue areas of economics and environment) and functional overlaps between parallel governance approaches. Normatively, environmental governance in the Anthropocene is concerned with questions of equity and fairness on a finite planet. This article scrutinises the theoretical interregnum in global environmental governance by first sketching the key empirical trends in global environmental governance; secondly, discussing theory-building with regards to four broad areas of inquiry: the questions of agency and authority; the structural dimension of global environmental governance; the related normative questions about legitimacy, accountability, equity and fairness in the Anthropocene; and finally the integration of governance research into formal approaches and the related incorporation of non-social science concepts into environmental governance research. In our conclusions, we propose some initial ideas on how to move forward in the study of global (environmental) governance.