Climate Change and Global Environmental Governance

Abstract

Global environmental governance has emerged as a hot topic in scholarly circles. The manifest inadequacy of international policy cooperation in response to transboundary pollution problems and the need for better management of shared natural resources has led to a flurry of academic writing. Scholars in environmental studies, political science, international relations, and law are now critically analyzing the structure and effectiveness of the international environmental regime and efforts to address climate change, declining fisheries, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, the spread of toxic chemicals, and other issues. These problems have also captured attention in the public arena. Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to focus the public on the "climate crisis." His book An Inconvenient Truth and related movie have won numerous awards. Adding to this arc of interest, a number of scholarly books that seek to illuminate the institutions, legal structures, and politics that shape global-scale environmental policymaking have been released over the past several years.