One recurrent theme at various intergovernmental meetings is
Coordination. With a plethora of multilateral agreements, many of
which are interrelated, there is frequent talk about coordinating
their implementation. "Synergies" is a keyword in global policy
discourse and an item on the formal agendas of many meetings.
Similarly, the overpopulation with IGOs of overlapping mandates and
jurisdiction, there are constant discussions at various fora about
coordinating IGO activities. Various examples can be offered, from
workshops on synergies among the Rio Conventions, to setting up a
Collaborative Partnership on Forests (among 7 or so IGOs), to
persistent proposals to create a grandiose environmental
organization. (I mean ideas that circulate among governments, apart
from the academic proposals of Esty, Biermann and others. There are
have been high level meetings on this topic, involving ministers).
So, there is a coordination or "Governing governance" theme that can
be treated as an emerging issue in global environmental politics.
Hope this helps, Beth.
Rado
Radoslav S. Dimitrov, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Western Ontario
Social Science Centre
London, Ontario
Canada N6A 5C2
Tel. +1(519) 661-2111 ext. 85023
Fax +1(519) 661-3904
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 3-Apr-06, at 5:53 PM, Beth DeSombre wrote:
For a committee I'm on (proposing directions for a university
environmental institute) I've been charged with determining what
people in
my research community see as emerging environmental issues. These
can be
based on topic/issue area (e.g. nanotechnology, nitrogen pollution),
approach (e.g. market mechanisms for environmental regulation, private
regulatory processes), or even thinking about other ways we might
usefully
consider environmental issues (e.g. consumption, sufficiency).
So, if you're willing to weigh in, where do you see our field going
in the
not-too-distant future? What are the things we as scholars should be
gearing up to try to consider?
Incidentally, this shouldn't be limited to an international focus
-- all
scales, from very local, through national and international, are
relevant.
Thanks in advance to those willing to conceptualize and speculate.
Beth
Elizabeth R. DeSombre
Wellesley College
