Rethinking Global Environmental Governance to Deal with Climate Change: The Multiple Logics of Global Collective Action

Abstract

But a successful response to climate change and other international environmental problems requires more than good economic theory. Legal, policy, ethical, and institutional underpinnings must also be established for effective global environmental governance. In this paper, necessary elements together with economic logic. I spell out the legal and policy issues related to global environmental governance that must be addressed to mitigate climate change. And I highlight the need for agreed “burden-sharing” principles that balance a common approach to shared problems with a recognition that diversity in environmental circumstances, values, and levels of development must be accommodated. And I lay out the case for a global-scale institutional architecture to respond to climate change and other supranational environmental challenges. In building a case for a Global Environmental Organization (GEO), this article identifies: • Problems with the existing international environmental regime; • Institutional elements that should underpin global environmental governance; • Core functions that a GEO needs to be able to perform; and • A path forward in response to climate change