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Liberal Environmentalism and Global Environmental Governance

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  • Steven Bernstein

Abstract

Global environmental governance rests on a set of norms best characterized by the label "liberal environmentalism." The 1992 Earth Summit catalyzed the process of institutionalizing these norms, which predicate environmental pro tection on the promotion and maintenance of a liberal economic order. To support this claim, this article identifies the specific norms institutionalized since Rio that undergird international environmental treaties, policies and programs. It also explains why a shift toward liberal environmentalism occurred from earlier, very different, bases of environmental governance. The implications of this shift are then outlined, with examples drawn from responses to climate change, forest protection and use, and biosafety. The article is not an endorsement of liberal environmentalism. Rather, it shows that institutions that have developed in response to global environmental problems support particular kinds of values and goals, with important implications for the constraints and opportunities to combat the world's most serious environmental problems. Copyright (c) 2002 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven Bernstein, 2002. "Liberal Environmentalism and Global Environmental Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 2(3), pages 1-16, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:2:y:2002:i:3:p:1-16
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    Cited by:

    1. Siegel, Karen M. & Bastos Lima, Mairon G., 2020. "When international sustainability frameworks encounter domestic politics: The sustainable development goals and agri-food governance in South America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    2. Bok Gyo Jeong & Seongho An & Geiguen Shin, 2024. "Mapping policy agenda in international development: Reflections on OECD Development Centre Working Papers from 1990 to 2017," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 502-523, January.
    3. Christopher M. Dent, 2022. "Neoliberal Environmentalism, Climate Interventionism and the Trade-Climate Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, November.
    4. Allison Loconto & Eve Fouilleux, 2014. "Politics of private regulation: ISEAL and the shaping of transnational sustainability governance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(2), pages 166-185, June.
    5. Thomas Hale, 2016. "“All Hands on Deck”: The Paris Agreement and Nonstate Climate Action," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 12-22, August.
    6. Joya A. Kemper & C. Michael Hall & Paul W. Ballantine, 2019. "Marketing and Sustainability: Business as Usual or Changing Worldviews?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Üzelgün, Mehmet Ali & Pereira, João Rui, 2020. "Beyond the co-production of technology and society: The discursive treatment of technology with regard to near-term and long-term environmental goals," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    8. Sneddon, Chris & Howarth, Richard B. & Norgaard, Richard B., 2006. "Sustainable development in a post-Brundtland world," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 253-268, May.
    9. Frauke Urban & Giuseppina Siciliano & Linda Wallbott & Markus Lederer & Anh Dang Nguyen, 2018. "Green transformations in Vietnam's energy sector," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(3), pages 558-582, September.
    10. Paul Foley & Karen Hébert, 2013. "Alternative Regimes of Transnational Environmental Certification: Governance, Marketization, and Place in Alaska's Salmon Fisheries," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(11), pages 2734-2751, November.
    11. Benjamin M. Abraham, 2021. "Ideology and non-state climate action: partnering and design of REDD+ projects," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 669-690, December.
    12. Peter Dauvergne & Jennifer Clapp, 2016. "Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, February.
    13. David Krogmann, 2024. "Here to stay? Challenges to liberal environmentalism in regional climate governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 15(2), pages 288-300, May.
    14. Jonathan Rosenberg, 2020. "Adaptation, Official Development Assistance, and Institution Building: The Case of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-26, May.
    15. Scott Prudham, 2013. "Men and Things: Karl Polanyi, Primitive Accumulation, and Their Relevance to a Radical Green Political Economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(7), pages 1569-1587, July.
    16. Klodiana Gorica & Dorina Kripa & Engjellushe Zenela, 2012. "The Role of Local Government in Sustainable Development," Acta Universitatis Danubius. OEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 2(2), pages 139-155, April.
    17. Jessica F. Green, 2018. "Transnational delegation in global environmental governance: When do non‐state actors govern?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), pages 263-276, June.

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