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The Role of Science in Environmental Governance: Competing Knowledge Producers in Swedish and Norwegian Forestry

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  • Lars H. Gulbrandsen

    (Lars H. Gulbrandsen is a Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway. He was a visiting scholar in 2007 at Harvard University's Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government. His research interests include non-state environmental governance, corporate social responsibility, international environmental regimes, and social studies of science. His publications have appeared in journals such as Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Environment, Environmental Politics, Global Environmental Politics, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Journal of Environment and Development, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, Organization, and Third World Quarterly.)

Abstract

This article explores the influence of scientific knowledge in rule-making processes to enhance environmental protection in Swedish and Norwegian forestry. It examines the mapping and protection of small reserves; the development of plans for protection of large reserves; and rule-setting in voluntary forest certification schemes. The analysis shows that Sweden has enacted more stringent environmental protection policies on all measures examined. Whereas variation in the state of knowledge about environmental protection needs does not explain these differences, variation in the access to the science-policy dialogue and in the distribution of costs and benefits in the forestry sector does help explain the differences in the stringency of Norwegian and Swedish forest policy. I conclude that the influence of knowledge depends on the process by which it is created. Although scientific information usually has little influence when strong economic counter-forces are involved in the decision-making process, this problem can be ameliorated by facilitating processes of coproduction of knowledge among scientific experts, practitioners, and decision-makers. (c) 2008 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars H. Gulbrandsen, 2008. "The Role of Science in Environmental Governance: Competing Knowledge Producers in Swedish and Norwegian Forestry," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 8(2), pages 99-122, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:8:y:2008:i:2:p:99-122
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    Cited by:

    1. Moritz Albrecht, 2012. "Public Procurement and Forest Governance: A German Case Study of Governmental Influences on Market-Driven Governance Systems," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Amelia Sharman, 2015. "The impact of controversy on the production of scientific knowledge," GRI Working Papers 207, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    3. Katharina Rietig, 2014. "‘Neutral’ experts? How input of scientific expertise matters in international environmental negotiations," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 47(2), pages 141-160, June.
    4. Amelia Sharman, 2013. "Mapping the climate sceptical blogosphere," GRI Working Papers 124, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    5. Mitchell J. Small & Ümit Güvenç & Michael L. DeKay, 2014. "When Can Scientific Studies Promote Consensus Among Conflicting Stakeholders?," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(11), pages 1978-1994, November.
    6. Tobias Böhmelt, 2013. "A closer look at the information provision rationale: Civil society participation in states’ delegations at the UNFCCC," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 55-80, March.
    7. Sarkki, Simo, 2017. "Governance services: Co-producing human well-being with ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 27(PA), pages 82-91.

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