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Environmental Governance

Chapter · January 2017

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1766-1

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 Title: Environmental Governance

Dr Mahfuzul Haque
Adjunct Faculty, Department of Development Studies
University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh
E-mail: drmahfuzulhaque@yahoo.com

Synonyms
Governance: supremacy; ascendency; domination; authority; power; control
Environmental: ecological; conservational; ecofriendly; green
Environmental Governance: management of the environment

Definitions
Environment: Environment includes water, air, soil and physical properties and the inter
relationship which exists among and between them and human beings, other living
creatures, plants and microorganism. Environment is the sum of all external conditions
affecting the life, development and survival of an organism (any form of animal or plant).
Environmental Governance: Environmental governance comprises of rules, practices, policies
and institutions that shape how humans interact with the environment. It’s a process that
links and harmonizes policies, institutions, procedures, tools and information to allow
participants (public and private sector, NGOs, local communities) to manage conflicts,
seek points of consensus, make fundamental decisions, and be accountable for their
actions.

1.0 Introduction

Governing the planet’s rich and diverse natural resources is an increasingly complex challenge. In
our globalized world of interconnected nations, economies and people, managing environmental
threats, particularly those that cross political borders such as air pollution and biodiversity loss will
require new global, regional, national and local responses involving a wide range of stakeholders.
Effective environmental governance at all levels is critical for finding solutions to these challenges.
Environmental governance therefore comprises rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape
how humans interact with the environment.

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Environmental governance has been defined in several ways. Environmental governance is the
whole range of rules, practices and institutions related to management of the environment in its
different forms (conservation, protection, exploitation of natural resources, etc). All the processes
and institutions, both formal and informal, that encompass the standards, values, behavior and
organizing mechanisms used by citizens, organizations and social movements as well as the
different interest groups are part of environmental governance in terms of accessing and using
natural resources. Good environmental governance takes into account the role of all actors that
impact the environment

From governments to NGOs, the private sector and civil society, cooperation is critical to
achieving effective governance that can help us move towards a more sustainable future.
Environmental governance is the concept in political ecology and environmental policy which
advocates sustainable development as the highest consideration for managing human activities. It
assumes a desirable future state for human societies in which living conditions and resources meet
human needs without undermining the sustainability of natural systems and the environment, so
that future generations may also meet their needs. It boils down to the concept of “Sustainable
Development”.

2.0 Global Environmental Governance

At the international level, global environmental governance is the sum of organizations, policy
instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that regulate the processes pf
global environmental protection. United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
(UNCHE) held at Stockholm, Sweden in 1972 was a watershed in the emergence of sustainable
development. It adopted Action Plan on Human Development, which looked at the term “pollution
of poverty” meaning environmental concerns of the poor, such as lack of clean water or sanitation.
The major institutional decision coming out of the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment held at Stockholm in 1972 was the establishment of the United Nations Environment
Program (UNEP), which was created to play the lead role in Global Environmental Governance
(GEG) by coordinating environmental activities within the UN agencies and acting as a catalyst

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for new initiatives. Since then, the world has seen hectic activity in global environmental policy
(and, more recently, in sustainable development policy) and a host of treaties, organizations and
mechanisms have emerged. Global environmental governance is understood as the sum of
organizations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that
regulate the processes of global environmental protection. Since environmental issues entered the
international agenda in the early 1970s, global environment today reflects both the successes and
failures of this development. There is great awareness of environmental threats and numerous
efforts have emerged to address them globally. At the same time-and partly because of the rather
spectacular growth in awareness and initiatives-the GEG system has outgrown its original design
and intent. The system’s high maintenance needs, its internal redundancies and its inherent
inefficiencies have combined to have the perverse effect of distracting from the most important
GEG goal of all-improved environmental performance. Even though the GEG system has achieved
much in the way of new treaties, more money and a more participatory and active system than
anyone might have imagined three decades ago, environmental degradation continues. Indeed,
because we know so much more about environmental conditions and environmental processes, we
also know more about what is not going well with the global environment.

2.1 UN Development Decades

A series of UN Development Decades were undertaken by the United Nations in the sixties,
seventies, eighties and nineties in order to raise awareness among the global community targeting
development. The First UN Development Decade in the 1960s prioritised economic growth and
application of modern scientific and technical knowledge as route to prosperity in the
underdeveloped world and development was expected to be “More like the West”. The Second
UN Development Decade in 1970s followed the previous policy. Development was not shared
equally amongst the populations of these nations. It was thought underdevelopment was the direct
outcome of development elsewhere. In 1980s, the Third UN Development Decade criticised over-
emphasising of the economic dimensions of development. Development needed to be sustainable.
“Development” in contrast was seen as a multidimensional. It was expected that development
should encompass not only economic and social activities, but also development of the habitat and
the environment. The Fourth UN Development Decade in the 1990s aimed at developing a process
that is responsive to social needs, sought a significant reduction in extreme poverty, promoted the

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development and utilization of human resources and skills. It put emphasis on economic growth
in the developing countries, especially in the LDCs. UN Development Decades set the tone of a
holistic development addressing all six aspects of a multidisciplinary development: economic,
social, ecological, political, cultural and spiritual.

2.2 Sustainable Development

The Brundtland Commission, in its report, Our Common Future, 1987, warned of the growing
threat to Earth from pervasive world of poverty, environmental degradation, diseases and
pollution. The Commission led by Gro Harlem Brundtland, the then Prime Minister of Norway,
defined “sustainable development” as the “development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987). It
contains with two key concepts: a) the concept of “needs” in particular the essential needs of the
world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and b) the idea of limitations imposed
by the state of technology and social organization on the environment’s ability to meet present and
future needs (Haque, 2013). At a minimum, sustainable development must not endanger the natural
systems that support life on the Earth: the atmosphere, the waters, the soils and living beings.

Development needed are to be sustainable. It must encompass not only economic and social
activities, but also those related to population, the use of natural resources and the resulting impacts
on the environment. Resources are thought to be infinite, in fact they are not. Pollution and
environmental degradation are considered the inevitable consequences of industrial development.
Development and conservation are incompatible; challenges are how to develop minimizing
adverse impacts on the environment. The idea of sustainable development represents an attempt
to link economic growth to wider ecological and social issues. ”The reconciliation of society's
developmental goals with the planet's environmental limits over the long term is the foundation of
an idea known as sustainable development” (US National Research Council 1999). FAO’s code of
responsible fisheries practice says that “Sustainable development is the management and
conservation of the natural resource base and the orientation of technological and institutional
change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for

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present and future generations. Such sustainable development (in the agriculture, forestry and
fisheries sectors) conserves land, water, plant and animal genetic resources, is environmentally
non-degrading, technically appropriate, economically viable and socially acceptable (FAO 1997).

By “sustainable governance”, we understand a governance, which takes care of environmental

conservation, natural resource management in particular and “greening” of plans and policies and
projects in general. It brings forth the issue of “green politics” and “green constituencies”. If such
a constituency is established, government would be sustainable. The environmental degradation
we observe may be the result of unsustainable governance as much as of unsustainable
development. The symptoms of unsustainable governance-perverse subsidies, open-access
resources and countervailing risk-are widespread and serious sources of environmental hazard.
Narrow focus on sustainable development to the neglect of sustainable governance may leave
problems unsolved. If it is to succeed, then, "sustainable development" must go arm-in-arm with
sustainable governance. Sustainable development is holistic development. It accounts for the six
dimensions of human welfare, namely, social, economic, ecological, political, cultural and
spiritual, without letting any dimension unduly dominate the others.

The environmental injuries arising from weak governance are well known. These include
worldwide practice of government subsidies for environmentally damaging activities, such as
logging, grazing, farming, mining, water use, dam construction, and fuel use. A second and more
general form of weak governance occurs when the state does not or cannot protect security in
property rights. The basic inability of the state to underpin market activity not only inhibits
economic development in general, but is often a prime contributor to environmental degradation.

2.3 Earth Summit

Two decades have passed, since the world leaders assembled at Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil at the “Earth
Summit” held in 1992 to chart a course of actions for this only habitable planet, called the Earth.
The Summit marked an important milestone in awakening the world to the need for a development
process that does not jeopardize future generations. The Rio Conference achieved consensus in
more than one area: first, it secured a set of agreements between governments which marks a

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significant advance in international cooperation on environment and development. Second, it
marshaled political commitment to these arrangements at the highest level and placed the issue of
sustainable development at the heart of international agenda. Third, it opened new paths for
communication and cooperation between officials and non-official organizations working towards
development and environmental goals. Fourth, it led to an enormous increase in public awareness
leading to adoption of policies and allocation of additional resources to achieve the desired results.

The Earth Summit offered a unique opportunity to establish the basis for the major shift required
to put this planet on the path towards a more secure and sustainable future. At the core of this shift,
there is a felt need for fundamental change. Change to our economic life, a more careful and more
caring use of the Earth’s resources and greater cooperation and equity in sharing the benefits as
well as the risks of our technological civilization. Of particular importance is the need to integrate
the ecological dimension into education and culture as well as in economics. The summit adopted
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aiming at stabilizing
climate change; the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aiming at conservation of
biodiversity; the Earth Charter; the Forestry Principles; and the Agenda 21, which is a non-binding
blue-print for nations, a development pathway for the 21 st century.

Targeting global environmental governance, the World Summit on Sustainable Development

(WSSD) was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002. The summit took stock of developments
since the Earth Summit, 1992 held 10 years ago and implementation status of Agenda 21. Outcome
of the summit was “Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”. The declaration titled, “The Future
We Want” was rather a weak document. It called for green development; green growth; and green
economy. It was agreed to enable the countries to undertake nationally-driven greener
development. Throughout the process leading up to the 2002 World Summit, the international
community endorsed the need to integrate better three dimensions of sustainable development: the
environmental, social, and economic dimensions of development.

2.4 Multilateral Environment Agreements

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There had been a series of conferences of parties of various multilateral environment agreements
(MEAs) related to climate change, biodiversity conservation, ozone layer depletion, combatting
desertification and so on. Intentions of such a global environmental governance were to bring this
planet Earth back to a habitable situation not only for this generation but also for the future
generations. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for example, at its 21st
Conference of the Parties (COP-21) held at Paris, France in 2015 adopted the “Paris Agreement”
which made and it mandatory for all countries to reduce carbon emission to 350 ppm, to keep the
global average temperature well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and to limit it to 1.5 °C.
The country-parties signing the Paris Agreement are obliged to undertake country-specific policies
and projects to meet their commitments. Similarly, conference of parties of other conventions also
made substantial progress in biodiversity conservation, halting depletion of ozone layer,
combatting desertification, withdrawing persistent organic pollutants etc. Around 500 multilateral
environmental agreements and a plethora of international organizations, doing the best they can to
respond to environmental challenges that range from climate change to persistent organic
pollutants.

MEAs have an important role to play in shaping global environmental governance. Increasingly,
the countries of the world are signing and ratifying various conventions of global environmental
interests and becoming parties to these conventions. Following ratification of these conventions,
they are obliged to examine their national plans, policies, legislation and projects and revise and
redraft them in line with the commitments they made to the global community by becoming parties
to these conventions. Often the Convention secretariats set up “Implementation Committees” in
order to help the developing countries and the LDCs in particular to redraft their local legislation
and undertake training programmes for the officials. Implementation Committees of the UNFCCC
and Montreal Protocol played an important role in implementing various provisions of the
convention at a local level.

2.5 United Nations Environmental Programme

United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) established in 1972 is a watchdog body to ensure
that the MEAs are implemented by the signatory countries in their respective localities. UNEP’s

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has been playing a leading role as a global environmental authority. From delivering expert
scientific assessments to providing international platform for negotiations and decision making,
UNEP has been fulfilling this mandate since 1972. The country-parties (signatory states) of the
MEAs are expected to implement these conventions, treaties and protocols at national level by
redrafting their national plans and policies and enactment of legislation in line with the MEAs.
Conference of Parties (COP) being the supreme body of these conventions meet periodically (e.g.,
Conference of Parties of UNFCCC are held annually). Although, UNEP with its headquarters in
Nairobi, Kenya does not hold much influence these days over the implementation processes of
various MEAs because of establishment of independent secretariats (e.g., UNFCCC secretariat in
Bonn, Germany; CBD secretariat in Montreal, Canada), the organization was the pioneer UN
agency in upholding the cause of environmental governance globally.

2.6 From MDGs to SDGs

Building on the UN Development Decades in the sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties, the UN
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000 marked a strong commitment to
development; peace and stability; gender equality; eradication of many dimensions of poverty; and
sustainable human development. Building on the UN global conferences of the 1990s, the MDGs
over the years made substantial progress in reducing poverty, hunger; improving education,
healthcare, water sanitation and ensuring environmental conservation. MDGs were expected to be
achieved by 2015, although, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, maternal deaths, stunting growth of
children, mortality and morbidity continue to engulf many parts of the planet. Millennium
development goals were followed by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the theme,
Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 with 17
goals and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. MDGs focused on both human development and
environmental goals, while SDGs covered all three dimensions of sustainable development- the
economic, social and environmental and its interdependence. Another important aspect of SDGs
that it promoted peace and justice (SDG 16). “There can be no sustainable development without
peace, and no peace without sustainable development”. SDGs are bold and ambitious and instead
of halving poverty, SDGs aimed at ending poverty. Governments were entrusted with the
responsibility to implement them at a national level. There are various indicators established by

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the UN which would help the global community to evaluate their performance. Many developed,
developing and least developed countries could change their lot to a great extent by maintaining a
targeted developments with year-wise progress.

Both MDGs and SDGs adopted by the UN and signed by the global community were important
milestones in ensuring environmental governance at a national and global level. In order to
implement the second World Development Agenda goes by the name Agenda 2030 or Sustainable
Development Agenda (2016-2030), popularly known as the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), many countries undertook mapping exercises with various Ministries by targets in the
implementation of SDGs aligning with their existing short and long-term plans. It is understood
that the development approach underlying the existing plans would be in consistent with the global
agenda for higher growth with appropriate measures for protection of the environment. Special
significance of this mapping exercise was the consultative process involving the NGOs, civil
society and the development partners.

3.0 Environmental Governance: Institutions

At a national level, the parliament enacts legislation on environment. Parliament also approves
annual budget on various development projects, including that on the conservation of environment
and natural resources management. There is a dedicated “Parliamentary Committee on
Environment” composed of members of the parliament, entrusted with the responsibility to
monitor progress of implementation of environmental plans, policies and projects of the
government. Various ministries and departments of the government are responsible for running
environmental governance. The Cabinet of Ministers headed by the head of the government is
primary responsible in providing overall guidance and ensuring implementation of various plans,
policies and enforcement of laws on environment. In some countries, there is a National Economic
Council (NEC) and Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) headed by
the Head of the Government approving and monitoring various development projects including
that on environment and forests. In some countries, there is a “National Environment Council”-
headed by the Head of Government overseeing implementation of plans, policies and projects on
environment and also coordination of inter-sectoral issues. The decisions taken by the committee

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are executed by an Executive Committee of National Environment Council- headed by the
Minister of Environment and Forests.

Generally, there is a dedicated ministry named the Ministry of Environment and Forests, headed
by a Minister, who looks into issues related to conservation of the environment and forests. All
plans and policies are implemented by a group of professional executives and bureaucrats at the
ministry. The Department of Environment (DOE) headed by a Director General looks into day to
day enforcement of laws. DOE is the technical arm of the Ministry, providing technical advices to
the ministry and enforcement of laws. In some countries, there is a separate ministry dedicated for
environmental conservation. There is also a “Department of Forests” headed by the Chief
Conservator of Forests, tagged with the Ministry of Environment and Forests looking into
biodiversity and forest conservation.

Environment being a cross-sectoral issue, a number of sectoral Ministries and Departments are
engaged in addressing issues related to environment. The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock and
its subordinate organ, the Department of Fisheries are for the conservation of fisheries biodiversity
and enforcement of laws halting depletion of fisheries. Similarly, the Ministry of Water Resources
headed by a Minister is responsible for sustainable water management, the Ministry of Industry is
responsible for promoting pollution-free industries and so on. Other organizations engaged in
guiding the government in environmental governance are the media (both print and electronic),
civil society bodies, academia, advocacy groups, and right-based groups. They are the watchdog
groups in putting pressure on the government for ensuring good environmental governance.

4.0 Environmental Governance: Processes

Environmental governance could be both centralized and decentralized. In a centralized, “top-

down” approach, the policies and plans are adopted and decisions are taken by the government
following a centralized way of consultations among the technocrats and bureaucrats of different
government ministries and departments. On the other hand, “decentralized environmental
governance” ensures that decisions are taken, plans and policies are adopted through grassroots
consultation. It is also known as “participatory environmental governance” following a “bottom”

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process. In other words, development planning follows a Multi-Stakeholder Integrated
Sustainability Planning (MISP) model. The innovative concept of MISP is a departure from
conventional development planning. It is an integrated approach of planning in pursuit of
sustainable development, involving various sectors and components of the ecosystem, meaning
the stakeholders. MISP is multi-disciplinary. It integrates economic, social, ecological, political,
cultural and spiritual concerns towards a holistic and sustainable development. For effective
running of environmental governance, participatory planning involving the grassroots people is
necessary, which would ensure “ownership” of the affected people, project victims- the
stakeholders in the planning process. Such a participatory planning process would ensure that
views and concerns of the grassroots people on environmental degradation, depletion of
biodiversity, industrial pollution are reflected through governance of a country.

5.0 Environmental Governance: Challenges

Some of the obstacles and challenges facing the environmental governance are: a) how to
implement the Multilateral Environmental Agreements at the national, regional and global levels,
as numerous such agreements were signed by the global community since Stockholm Conference
held in 1972; b) how to develop the national plans, policies and enactment of environmental
legislations in line with the MEAs for natural resource management; c) how to resolve conflict of
interests among some of the MEAs (e.g., Article 27.3 (b) of Trade Related Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPs) goes against the principles of Articles 8 and 15 of the UN Convention of Biological
Diversity); d) how to ensure long term budget allocation by the respective national governments
for halting environmental degradation, biodiversity conservation and disaster risk reduction; e)
how to ensure effective coordination and collaboration between the government, various sectors
of the government, non-government organizations, private sector and the civil society bodies in
arresting environmental pollution and environmental conservation; f) how to prioritize
environment over other sectors of development, like agriculture, health, education and security; g)
how to ensure continued political commitment and consensus in the parliament on natural resource
management irrespective of changes of the government; and h) how to raise environmental
awareness among members of public and develop a “green constituency” , who would speak
against pollution, degradation and encroachment.

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6.0 How to overcome the challenges

In order to overcome these challenges, the role and responsibilities of the government; parliament;
judiciary; civil society bodies; academia; media (both print and electronic); and social network (e-
mail, face book, tweeter, whats app) are noteworthy to mention. Their involvement in overcoming
the challenges are narrated below:
a) Government: Macro and micro level sectoral plans and policies are developed, updated
and implemented by respective government ministries and departments depending on
priorities and commitments of the central government. Implementation of MEAs by
respective government ministries/departments also depends on the commitment of the
government. As a signatory to various multilateral environmental agreements, government
has to translate them in national plans, policies, projects and laws. Political commitment
irrespective of changes of the government is necessary for implementation of long-term
plans like Five Year Plan, Strategic Plan, Perspective Plan, sectoral Master Plans and
policies, allocation of budget etc. In this regard, establishment of a “green constituency” is
necessary, who would play a pivotal role in electing political parties speaking for the
environmental conservation.
b) Parliament: Finalization of plans and policies without legislation is like a “toothless tiger”.
Laws are enacted in the national parliament and the parliamentary committee on
environment is entrusted with the responsibilities to oversee enforcement of environmental
projects and laws. Members of the Parliament (MPs) play an important role in enacting
laws in line with natural resource management and constraints. Awareness and training of
the MPs are noteworthy to mention.
c) Judiciary: Judiciary, another organ of the state, plays a significant role in environmental
governance. It is often seen that the judges are issuing suo motu rules on the government
for halting environmental degradations like river pollution, air pollution, land grabbing,
encroachment of forest lands etc. Establishment of “Environmental Courts” by the
government and proper awareness raising and training of the judiciary could help effective
enforcement of environmental laws.

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 d) Civil Society and Media: Civil society bodies and print and electronic media continue to
play an important role in natural resource conservation in general and halting pollution,
encroachment and land grabbing in particular. They help the government in ensuring
proper environmental governance. They are to be allowed to perform their responsibilities
without any censorship, hindrance and obstacle. Awareness and training of media persons
are necessary in this regard.
e) Social Network: These days, social media like facebook, linkedin, whatsapp have become
very popular among the general mass in general and young people in particular. Social
network so far has been able to halt many environmental degradations through mass
campaign, procession and advocacy. Uninterrupted social media without interference is
necessary for the safeguard of the environment.

7.0 Conclusion

Environmental governance continue to face many challenges locally, nationally and globally.
Although, the global community endorsed the view that global warming is taking place and gave
emphasis on promotion of renewable energy discarding fossil-fuel based energies, many
developed countries continue to use fossil fuels in a big way for their energy use. Group interests,
regional interests take priority over global interests. Unanimous support to “Paris Agreement” at
Paris in 2015 faces new challenges with the change of government (e.g., recent change in US
government). Petty local interests getting priority over national and global interests. At a national
level, new regime refuses to honor global commitments made by the past regimes, some
governments are found to be serving the interests of some coterie groups and putting more
emphasis on fossil fuels, like coal and petroleum at the cost of environment-friendly renewable
energy. Some global leaders are taking benefit of scientific disagreements and continue to harness
natural resources to a point of no return.

The crises caused by accelerated and probably irrevocable impact of human activities on the
nature, society and economy calls for collective responses by international institutions,
governments and citizens. Governance, considered as the pluralist management of policies and
social and environmental actors, has to meet this crisis by pooling the experience and knowledge

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 of each of the social agents and institutions concerned. Through continuous and concerted efforts
with strong political will and commitment, one could overcome such crises. Public awareness
through media advocacy and education, can help develop a strong constituency in order to establish
the desired political will for a change.

References
Asefa, S. (2005). The Concept of Sustainable Development: An Introduction. Michigan:
Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
FAO (1997). Code of Responsible Fisheries Practice, Rome.
Haque, M. (2013). Environmental Governance: Emerging Challenges for Bangladesh. Dhaka: AH
Development Publishing House.
The World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future, Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press.
US National Research Council (1999), Our Common Journey: A Transition Towards
Sustainability.

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