A new model for effective global environmental governance in an era of human-caused planetary transformation and disruption.
Humans are no longer spectators who need to adapt to their natural environment. Our impact on the earth has caused changes that are outside the range of natural variability and are equivalent to such major geological disruptions as ice ages. Some scientists argue that we have entered a new epoch in planetary history: the Anthropocene. In such an era of planet-wide transformation, we need a new model for planet-wide environmental politics. In this book, Frank Biermann proposes βearth systemβ governance as just such a new paradigm.
Biermann offers both analytical and normative perspectives. He provides detailed analysis of global environmental politics in terms of five dimensions of effective governance: agency, particularly agency beyond that of state actors; architecture of governance, from local to global levels; accountability and legitimacy; equitable allocation of resources; and adaptiveness of governance systems. Biermann goes on to offer a wide range of policy proposals for future environmental governance and a revitalized United Nations, including the establishment of a World Environment Organization and a UN Sustainable Development Council, new mechanisms for strengthened representation of civil society and scientists in global decision making, innovative systems of qualified majority voting in multilateral negotiations, and novel institutions to protect those impacted by global change. Drawing on ten years of research, Biermann formulates earth system governance as an empirical reality and a political necessity.
Review
β¦ there is currently a massive gap between the reality of global environmental governance and the requirements identified by natural and social scientists who have taken the condition of the earth system seriously. Biermann has provided a thorough and credible program for starting to bridge that gap. Even those who do not share his prescriptions will have to grapple with the analysis that underpins them; Earth System Governance is now a clear and standard reference point, and as such should be required reading for all those who care about the condition of the earth system and its governance. β Perspectives on Politics β
β¦ Biermann's examinations of the analytical problems of earth system governance are excellent β¦ Earth System Governance stands out as the most comprehensive, best integrated, and most advanced review of earth system governance research to date. β International Studies Review β
β¦ Frank Biermann's book is an imaginative must-read on the challenges of earth system governanceβa book about a realistic utopianism. It conforms to all central criteria for a seminal academic work: It is theoretically interesting, empirically relevant, and up-to-date. And what is more, it is also a bibliophilic delight. β International Journal of Social Economics
About the Author
Frank Biermann is Research Professor of Global Sustainability Governance with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University and the author of Earth System Governance: World Politics in the Anthropocene (MIT Press).