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Accountability of Networked Climate Governance: The Rise of Transnational Climate Partnerships

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  • Karin Bäckstrand

    (Karin Bäckstrand is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Lund University. Her research interests revolve around global environmental politics, the role of scientific expertise in environmental diplomacy and the legitimacy of new modes of governance in issues such as climate change, forestry and biotechnology. Karin's research has been published in European Journal of International Relations, Environmental Politics and Global Environmental Politics as well as contributions in edited volumes, such as The Social Construction on Climate Change. Power, Knowledge, Norms and Discourses, edited by Mary Pettenger (2007).)

Abstract

Public-private partnerships (PPP) have been advanced as a new tool of global governance, which can supply both effective and legitimate governance. In the context of recent debates on the democratic legitimacy of transnational governance, this paper focuses on accountability as a central component of legitimacy. The aim of this paper is to map transnational climate partnerships and evaluate their accountability record in terms of transparency, monitoring mechanisms and representation of stakeholders. Three types of partnerships are identified with respect to their degree of public-private interaction: public-private (hybrid), governmental and private-private. Most of the climate partnerships have functions of advocacy, service provision and implementation. None are standard setting, which indicates that governmental actors are less willing to "contract out" rule-setting authority to private actors in the climate change. Some partnerships, such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development climate partnerships and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects represent "new" modes of hybrid governance with high degree of public-private interaction. However, many partnerships, not least the voluntary technology agreements such as the APP, rest on "old" form of governance based on the logic of lobbying, corporatism, co-optation and interstate bargaining. Private (business-to business) climate partnerships are to varying degrees geared toward quantitative targets in the Kyoto Protocol. The accountability record is higher for hybrid climate partnerships, such as the CDM, due to extensive reporting and monitoring mechanisms, while lower for the governmental networks, such as voluntary technology agreements. Partnerships do not necessarily replace or erode the authority of sovereign states, but rather propels the hybridization and transformation of authority that is increasingly shared between state and nonstate actors. (c) 2008 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Bäckstrand, 2008. "Accountability of Networked Climate Governance: The Rise of Transnational Climate Partnerships," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 74-102, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:8:y:2008:i:3:p:74-102
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Teresia Rindefjäll & Emma Lund & Johannes Stripple, 2011. "Wine, fruit, and emission reductions: the CDM as development strategy in Chile," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 7-22, March.
    2. Fisher, Susannah & Surminski, Swenja, 2012. "The roles of public and private actors in the governance of adaptation: the case of agricultural insurance in India," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 46400, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Kenneth Abbott & Duncan Snidal, 2010. "International regulation without international government: Improving IO performance through orchestration," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 315-344, September.
    4. Linda K Westman & Vanesa Castán Broto, 2019. "Techno-economic rationalities as a political practice in urban environmental politics in China," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(2), pages 277-297, March.
    5. Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen & Harro Asselt, 2009. "Introduction: exploring and explaining the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 195-211, August.
    6. Harro Asselt & Norichika Kanie & Masahiko Iguchi, 2009. "Japan’s position in international climate policy: navigating between Kyoto and the APP," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 319-336, August.
    7. Tobias Hahn & Jonatan Pinkse, 2014. "Private environmental governance through cross-sector partnerships: Tensions between competition and effectiveness," Working paper serie RMT - Grenoble Ecole de Management hal-00961234, HAL.
    8. Pistorius, Till & Reinecke, Sabine, 2013. "The interim REDD+ Partnership: Boost for biodiversity safeguards?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 80-86.
    9. Satoshi Machida, 2009. "Globalization and the Legitimacy of Intergovernmental Organizations," International Studies, , vol. 46(4), pages 371-400, October.
    10. Boutilier, Robert G. & Black, Leeora, 2013. "Legitimizing industry and multi-sectoral regulation of cumulative impacts: A comparison of mining and energy development in Athabasca, Canada and the Hunter Valley, Australia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 696-703.
    11. Bitzer, Verena, 2012. "Partnering for Change in Chains: the Capacity of Partnerships to Promote Sustainable Change in Global Agrifood Chains," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 15(B), pages 1-25, December.
    12. Jonatan Pinkse & Ans Kolk, 2012. "Addressing the climate change sustainable development nexus: the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships," Post-Print hal-00707337, HAL.
    13. Jeffrey McGee & Ros Taplin, 2009. "The role of the Asia Pacific Partnership in discursive contestation of the international climate regime," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 213-238, August.
    14. Philipp Pattberg & Johannes Stripple, 2008. "Beyond the public and private divide: remapping transnational climate governance in the 21st century," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 367-388, December.
    15. Susannah Fisher & Swenja Surminski, 2012. "The roles of public and private actors in the governance of adaptation: the case of agricultural insurance in India," GRI Working Papers 89, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.

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