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Hybrid governance mechanisms as political instruments: the case of sustainability partnerships

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  • Ayşem Mert

Abstract

Hybrid governance mechanisms have become one of the most preferred models of governance. Their influence and use have increased slowly but consistently since the end of the Cold War. This article investigates their political dimension, by way of studying United Nations’ partnerships for sustainable development, registered with the commission on sustainable development (CSD). Around 350 sustainability partnerships that promise to solve environmental problems and achieve the MDGs are registered with the CSD. Since their endorsement at the 2002 Johannesburg Summit, various studies assessed their value for environmental governance often finding them ineffective or counter-productive. This article exposes a new set of influences that partnerships have on the practice and discourses of global environmental governance, by following the politics of their emergence, that of partnership building and registration, and their actualization: During their negotiation, various contestations emerged and influenced the resulting partnerships regime; this is studied through in-depth interviews. Secondly, this regime leaves many geographical and participatory lacunas with political effects, which are studied through a large-N database. Finally, the unintended consequences of partnership projects on their issue areas and the discursive changes they cause in environmental governance reveal an otherwise concealed political dimension: The introduction of controversial technologies into the UN platforms. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

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  • Ayşem Mert, 2014. "Hybrid governance mechanisms as political instruments: the case of sustainability partnerships," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 225-244, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ieaple:v:14:y:2014:i:3:p:225-244
    DOI: 10.1007/s10784-013-9221-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mert, Aysem, 2009. "Partnerships for sustainable development as discursive practice: Shifts in discourses of environment and democracy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 109-122, March.
    2. Peter M. Haas, 2004. "Addressing the Global Governance Deficit," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 4(4), pages 1-15, November.
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    1. Oscar Widerberg & Cornelia Fast & Montserrat Koloffon Rosas & Philipp Pattberg, 2023. "Multi-stakeholder partnerships for the SDGs: is the “next generation” fit for purpose?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 165-171, June.

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