32 leading experts from around the world argue for immediate ambitious reforms
News — TEMPE, Ariz. 鈥� Some 32 social scientists and researchers from around the world, including a Senior Sustainability Scholar at Arizona State University, have concluded that fundamental reforms of global environmental governance are needed to avoid dangerous changes in the Earth system. The scientists argued in the March 16 edition of the journal Science that the time is now for a 鈥渃onstitutional moment鈥� in world politics.
Research now indicates that the world is nearing critical tipping points in the Earth system, including on climate and biodiversity, which if not addressed through a new framework of governance could lead to rapid and irreversible change.
鈥淪cience assessments indicate that human activities are moving several of Earth鈥檚 sub-systems outside the range of natural variability typical for the previous 500,000 years,鈥� wrote the authors in the opening of 鈥淣avigating the Anthropocene: Improving Earth System Governance.鈥�
Reducing the risk of potential global environmental disaster requires the development of 鈥渁 clear and ambitious roadmap for institutional change and effective sustainability governance within the next decade,鈥� comparable in scale and importance to the reform of international governance that followed World War II, they wrote.
In particular, the group argued for the creation of a Sustainable Development Council that would better integrate sustainability concerns across the United Nations system. Giving a leading role to the 20 largest economies (G20) would help the council act effectively. The authors also suggested an upgrade of the UN Environment Program to a full-fledged international organization, a move that would give it greater authority and more secure funding
To keep these institutions accountable to the public, the scientists called for stronger consultative rights for representatives of civil society, including representatives from developing countries, NGOs, consumers and indigenous peoples.
鈥淲e should seek input from people closest to the ground, not just from the elites, not just at the 30,000-feet level,鈥� noted Kenneth W. Abbott, a professor of international relations in ASU鈥檚 Sandra Day O鈥機onnor College of Law. 鈥淐onsultations should not take place only at the global scale, where the broadest policies are created, but also at local scales, smaller scales, all scales,鈥� he said.
To improve the speed of decision-making in international negotiations, the authors called for stronger reliance on qualified majority voting. 鈥淭here has to be a change in international negotiating procedures from the current situation, in which no action can be taken unless consensus is reached among all participating governments,鈥� Abbott said.
The authors also called for governments 鈥渢o close remaining regulatory gaps at the global level,鈥� including the treatment of emerging technologies.
鈥淎 great deal of attention has been given to issues such as climate change, yet nanotechnology and other emerging technologies, which may bring significant benefits, also carry potential risks for sustainable development,鈥� Abbott said.
Relying on research by Abbott and his colleagues at ASU鈥檚 College of Law, the authors wrote that emerging technologies 鈥渘eed an international institutional arrangement鈥搒uch as one or several multilateral framework conventions鈥� to support forecasting and transparency, and to ensure that environmental risks are taken into account.
鈥淲orking to make the world economy more green and to create an effective institutional framework for sustainable development will be the two main focal points at this summer鈥檚 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro,鈥� Abbott said. 鈥淭his article was written to bring urgency to those discussions and to outline specific 鈥榖uilding blocks鈥� for a more effective and sustainable Earth system governance system.鈥�
The authors also argued for increased financial support for poorer nations. 鈥淢ore substantial financial resources could be made available through novel financial mechanisms, such as global emissions markets or air transportation levies for sustainability purposes,鈥� they wrote.
Lead author Frank Biermann, of Free University Amsterdam and Lund University, Sweden, said, 鈥淪ocieties must change course to steer away from critical tipping points in the Earth system that could lead to rapid and irreversible change. Incremental change is no longer sufficient to bring about societal change at the level and with the speed needed to stop Earth system transformation.
鈥淪tructural change in global governance is needed, both inside and outside the UN system and involving both public and private actors,鈥� said Biermann, who also is chair of the scientific steering committee of the Earth System Governance Project.
All 32 authors of the Science article are affiliated with the Earth System Governance Project, a global alliance of researchers and leading research institutions, specializing in the scientific study of international and national environmental governance. ASU鈥檚 Abbott is one of some 50 lead faculty of the Earth System Governance Project. Lead faculty are scientists of high international reputation who share responsibility for research on earth system governance. Additional information is at .
Among the other authors of 鈥淣avigating the Anthropocene鈥� are: S. Andresen, Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway; K. B盲ckstrand, Lund University, Sweden; S. Bernstein, University of Toronto, Canada; M. M. Betsill, Colorado State University; H. Bulkeley, Durham University, U.K.; B. Cashore, Yale University; J. Clapp, University of Waterloo, Canada; C. Folke, Stockholm Resilience Centre Stockholm University and Beijer Institute, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Sweden; A. Gupta, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Netherlands; J. Gupta, Free University Amsterdam and UNESCO-International Institute for Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering Institute for Water Education, Netherlands; P. M. Haas, University of Massachusetts at Amherst; A. Jordan, Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, U.K.; N. Kanie, Tokyo Institute of Technology and United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies, Japan; T. Kluv谩nkov谩-Oravsk谩, CETIP, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; L. Lebel, Chiang Mai University, Thailand;
And, D. Liverman, University of Arizona and Oxford University, U.K.; J. Meadowcroft, Carleton University, Canada; R. B. Mitchell, University of Oregon; P. Newell, University of Sussex, U.K.; S. Oberth眉r, Vrije University, Belgium; L. Olsson, Lund University, Sweden; P. Pattberg, Free University Amsterdam; R. S谩nchez-Rodr铆guez, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, Mexico, and University of California, Riverside; H. Schroeder, Tyndall Centre, University of East Anglia, U.K.; A. Underdal, University of Oslo, Norway; S. Camargo Vieira, Universidade de Ita煤na, Brazil; C. Vogel, independent scholar, South Africa; O. R. Young, University of California, Santa Barbara; A. Brock, Free University Amsterdam; and R. Zondervan Lund University, Sweden.
Abbott is also a Senior Sustainability Scholar in the Global Institute of Sustainability, a transdisciplinary unit in ASU鈥檚 Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development that advances research, entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development, and a professor of global studies in the School of Politics and Global Studies at ASU鈥檚 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
###
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY ()Sandra Day O鈥機onnor College of Law (http://http://www.law.asu.edu)Global Institute of Sustainability ()Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development ()School of Politics and Global Studies ()Tempe, Arizona USA
RSS