Concept of Governance

1. ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AS AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION TO GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS Esra Banu SipahiSelcukUniversityFaculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Department of Public Administration, Konya, TURKEY

2. Concept of Governance The buzzword of the late 1990s and early 2000s in political sciences, public administration and management sciences alike is the concept of governance. Governance also predicts a system that involves corporate regulating, governing, producing and public-private partnership rather than the governments act alone. Governance is ultimately concerned with creating the conditions for ordered rule and collective action.

3. Environmental Problems and Governance Economic development and environmental problems are the main problems ofour era. Since environment is not considered in traditional development paradigms, the economic development is the main precedence. But the problems like environmental depredation and poverty have shown that having a healthy society and economy is impossible while environmental depredation and poverty occurred; so searching solutions for these problems are accelerated. In the context of these efforts, the traditional development paradigms should not guarantee the social, economic and environmental development, so the idea of providing this guarantee could be possible only if sustainable development approach.

4. Sustainable Development • “Sustainable development” is the fashionable buzzword in environmental conservation circles and in much of the world of international development. It received its most popular exposition in the highly influential in Brundtland Report, in 1987. The Brundtland Report was prepared by the World Commission on Environment and Development created by the UN as a result of a General Assembly resolution in 1983. • According to a similar definition of sustainable development is; “a development strategy that manages all assets, natural resources, and human resources as well as financial and physical assets, for increasing long-term wealth and well-being. Sustainable development, as a goal rejects policies and practices that support current living standards by depleting the productive base, including natural resources, and that leaves future generations with poorer prospects and greater risks than our own.” • The sustainable development model is mentioned as a democratization project in developing countries; therefore, the term of governance is coming to the agenda in achieving the sustainable development goal.

5. Environmental Governance • The concept of environmental governance can be defined as; “the interactions among formal and informal institutions and the actors within society that influence how environmental problems are identified and framed” • Global environmental governance refers to the sum of organizations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that regulate global environmental protection. • Environmental governance at the national, regional and global levels is critical for the achievement of environmental sustainability.  • Strengthened environmental governance should be in place at all levels to respond quickly and effectively to emerging environmental challenges, and to address agreed environmental priorities.  

6. For achieving environmental sustainability who should be the actors of environmental governance?

7. Nation-state • While providing environmental sustainability, states remain as leading actors but also they have to cooperate with the other states. • The main functions of the nation-states are both defining and legitimizing the supra-national and sub-national governance mechanisms. • Nation-states are the main representation agents in governance process, in which the international agents and regulatory structures are important. This kind of a governance system means global governance, in this system the nation-states are “global voters”. • On the other hand, according to the global agreements and laws, the responsibility on environmental issues turns back to nation-states at the end.

8. International Organizations • International organizations such as World Bank (WB), United Nations (UN), World Trade Organization (WTO) play important roles in arranging international meetings and conferences and also prepare agreements that are obligatory for the states. United Nations UN had drawn attention the public opinion to the dimensions and threats of environmental problems and created a sensitiveness. • The major institutional decision coming out of the UN Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972) was the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which was created to play the lead role in global environmental governance by coordinating environmental activities within the UN agencies and acting as a catalyst for new initiatives.

9. World Bank • The expression of the Bank has been in turn; “development”, “redistribution with development”, “development with structural adjustment” and “governance”. • The key issues which are determined by the Bank are; “urban environmental pollution and pollution governance”, “forests, land governance and desertification”, “biodiversity”, “energy, environmental problems and climate change”, “global environment fund”, “regional threats”. • Also WB predicts multiple acting in solving these problems.

10. World Trade Organization WTO has taken attention to environmental issues; and also this has reflected the Organization’s treaties. Committee of Trade and Environment’s aim is determined as; “developing environmental protection and methods of the protection for the partners who are in different economic development levels; providing maximum opportunities for partners to produce and trade the properties and the services, therefore providing the optimum use of natural resources in continuing sustainable development goals”

11. International NGOs NGOs (non-governmental organizations) involved in environmental governance are highly diverse, including local, national, regional, and international groups with various missions dedicated to environmental protection, sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and other issues.

12. The major roles that NGOs might play in global environmental governance are; • Collecting, disseminating, and analyzing information; • Providing input to agenda-setting and policy development processes; • Performing operational functions; • Assessing environmental conditions and monitoring compliance with environmental agreements; • Advocating environmental justice.

13. Multinational Companies • Companies play an increasing role in global environmental politics, not only as lobbyists in international negotiations or agents of implementation, but also as actors creating private institutional arrangements that perform environmental governance functions. • Private sector is appeared as a global sector that effects environmental tendencies by the decisions on Technologies and investments. • Multinational companies make their plans according to the global dimensions; in which stage of the production should be made in which location. For example private water companies, through their pricing and investment strategies, decide which communities have access to clean water and at what cost.

14. Evaluation • According to the governance approach, NGOs play the role of meeting social demands and helping to overcome the legitimacy crisis by bridging the gap between the state and society. • However, when the current situation is considered, it would be useful to ask the following question: Is civil society helping to overcome this crisis or is it just a tool of the global capital which aims to eliminate the obstacles stemming from the nation-states? With this regard, it should be noted that civil society is not absolutely free from the mass organizations or the companies which own the power of the capital.

15. While the governance arguments are going on this context, governance approach appears as a concept that should be examined as a part of the politics that are produced in favour of environment by the different categories of the society. Thank You for Your Patience…