IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/osf/marxiv/wpr8k.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Beating the Microbead: How private environmental governance has influenced the regulatory process of banning microbeads in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Meier, Leonie

Abstract

Microplastics pollution in marine environments is one of the top global emerging conservation issues (Sutherland et al., 2010), with science gradually emerging about its detrimental impacts on animal welfare and human health. Microbeads have been identified as one source of microplastic pollution intentionally added to personal care and cosmetics products (PCCPs) (UNEP, 2015). Microbead governance has been subject to increasing involvement of private actors such as NGOs and businesses, besides government interventions through regulatory bans. Previous research suggests that private environmental governance has ambiguous effects in terms of democratic decision-making and transparency. This study advances our understanding of the type and impacts of private governance in the regulatory process of microbeads in the UK, drawing on the qualitative analysis of 3 expert interviews and 56 documents submitted to the government during the parliamentary inquiry phase. The case study analysis suggests that private governance of microbeads, in the form of voluntary certification schemes and corporate self-regulation, has the potential to significantly influence regulatory processes through their influence on power and market dynamics, and their ability to create a common discourse.

Suggested Citation

  • Meier, Leonie, 2017. "Beating the Microbead: How private environmental governance has influenced the regulatory process of banning microbeads in the UK," MarXiv wpr8k, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:marxiv:wpr8k
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/wpr8k
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://osf.io/download/5ac50c98db30240012eab7eb/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.31219/osf.io/wpr8k?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miguel Rivera-Santos & Carlos Rufín, 2010. "Odd Couples: Understanding the Governance of Firm–NGO Alliances," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 55-70, July.
    2. Paulo A.L.D. Nunes & Lisa E. Svensson & Anil Markandya (ed.), 2017. "Handbook on the Economics and Management of Sustainable Oceans," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17310.
    3. Seung‐Kyu Rhee & Su‐Yol Lee, 2003. "Dynamic change of corporate environmental strategy: rhetoric and reality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 175-190, May.
    4. Tobias Hahn & Jonatan Pinkse, 2014. "Private environmental governance through cross-sector partnerships: Tensions between competition and effectiveness," Working Papers hal-00961234, HAL.
    5. Fuchs, Doris & Kalfagianni, Agni, 2010. "The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-34, October.
    6. Laurence Schwesinger Berlie, 2010. "Alliances for Sustainable Development," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-27806-6, December.
    7. Verena Bitzer & Pieter Glasbergen & Bas Arts, 2013. "Exploring the potential of intersectoral partnerships to improve the position of farmers in global agrifood chains: findings from the coffee sector in Peru," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(1), pages 5-20, March.
    8. Philip Schleifer, 2016. "Private Governance Undermined: India and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 38-58, February.
    9. Robert Falkner, 2003. "Private Environmental Governance and International Relations: Exploring the Links," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 3(2), pages 72-87, May.
    10. David L. Levy & Peter J. Newell, 2002. "Business Strategy and International Environmental Governance: Toward a Neo-Gramscian Synthesis," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 84-101, November.
    11. Fuchs Doris & Kalfagianni Agni, 2010. "The Causes and Consequences of Private Food Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-36, October.
    12. Rolf A. Groeneveld & Simon R. Bush & Megan Bailey, 2017. "Private governance of ocean resources," Chapters, in: Paulo A.L.D. Nunes & Lisa E. Svensson & Anil Markandya (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Management of Sustainable Oceans, chapter 20, pages 416-428, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Agni Kalfagianni, 2014. "Addressing the Global Sustainability Challenge: The Potential and Pitfalls of Private Governance from the Perspective of Human Capabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 307-320, June.
    2. Fiorini, Matteo & Solleder, Olga & Jansen, Marion & Schleifer, Philip & Taimasova, Regina & Wozniak, Joseph, 2017. "Institutional Design of Voluntary Sustainability Standards Systems: Evidence from a New Database," CEPR Discussion Papers 12204, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Schleifer, Philip & Fiorini, Matteo & Fransen, Luc, 2019. "Missing the Bigger Picture: A Population-level Analysis of Transnational Private Governance Organizations Active in the Global South," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Hamish van der Ven, 2015. "Correlates of rigorous and credible transnational governance: A cross‐sectoral analysis of best practice compliance in eco‐labeling," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 276-293, September.
    5. Daniel Witte, 2020. "Business for Climate: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Policy Support from Transnational Companies," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 167-191, Autumn.
    6. Burkard Eberlein & Kenneth W. Abbott & Julia Black & Errol Meidinger & Stepan Wood, 2014. "Transnational business governance interactions: Conceptualization and framework for analysis," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(1), pages 1-21, March.
    7. Ronja Teschner & Jessica Ruppen & Basil Bornemann & Rony Emmenegger & Lucía Aguirre Sánchez, 2021. "Mapping Sustainable Diets: A Comparison of Sustainability References in Dietary Guidelines of Swiss Food Governance Actors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, November.
    8. Domenico Dentoni & Verena Bitzer & Greetje Schouten, 2018. "Harnessing Wicked Problems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 333-356, June.
    9. van der Ven, Hamish & Sun, Yixian & Cashore, Benjamin, 2021. "Sustainable commodity governance and the global south," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Jung, Suhyun & Polasky, Stephen, 2018. "Partnerships to prevent deforestation in the Amazon," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 498-516.
    11. Christiana Weber & Helen Haugh & Markus Göbel & Hannes Leonardy, 2022. "Pathways to Lasting Cross-Sector Social Collaboration: A Configurational Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 177(3), pages 613-639, May.
    12. Wenlong He & Wei Yang & Seong-jin Choi, 2018. "The Interplay Between Private and Public Regulations: Evidence from ISO 14001 Adoption Among Chinese Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 477-497, October.
    13. Kate Barclay & Alice Miller, 2018. "The Sustainable Seafood Movement Is a Governance Concert, with the Audience Playing a Key Role," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, January.
    14. Laura Kurth & Pieter Glasbergen, 2017. "Serving a heterogeneous Muslim identity? Private governance arrangements of halal food in the Netherlands," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 103-118, March.
    15. Maria Paula Escobar & David Demeritt, 2017. "Paperwork and the decoupling of audit and animal welfare: The challenges of materiality for better regulation," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(1), pages 169-190, February.
    16. Vivica I. Kraak & Kim L. Niewolny, 2024. "A Scoping Review of Food Systems Governance Frameworks and Models to Develop a Typology for Social Change Movements to Transform Food Systems for People and Planetary Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-22, February.
    17. Elena Fagotto, 2014. "Private roles in food safety provision: the law and economics of private food safety," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 83-109, February.
    18. Baudot, Lisa & Cooper, David J., 2022. "Regulatory mandates and responses to uncomfortable knowledge: The case of country-by-country reporting in the extractive sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Phoebe Stephens, 2021. "Social Finance Investing for a Resilient Food Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-15, June.
    20. Anne-Kathrin Weber, 2018. "The revival of the Honourable Merchant? Analysing private forest governance at firm level," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 619-634, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:osf:marxiv:wpr8k. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: OSF (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://marxiv.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.