Global Governance in the Age of the Anthropocene

Acknowledgements
Contents
Acronyms and Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Boxes
Rewinding the Crisis
1 Introduction
1.1 Planetary Challenges: Interconnected, Simultaneous and Instantaneous
1.2 What Is Global Governance?
1.3 Expressions of the Anthropocene
1.4 Global Governance and the Anthropocene
1.5 Organisation of the Book
References
2 Global Governance and the Anthropocene: An Entangled History
2.1 A Very Brief History of the Anthropocene
2.1.1 The Geological Dimension
2.1.2 The Earth-System Dimension
2.1.3 The Civilisational Dimension
2.2 A Very Brief History of Global Governance
2.2.1 The Emergence of International and Transnational Authority
2.2.1.1 Shades of International Authority: States and International Organisations
2.2.1.2 Shades of Transnational Authority: Cities, Social Movements, Companies, Philanthropic Foundations and Multistakeholder Organisations
2.2.1.3 A Fragmented, Gridlocked and Overcrowded Architecture
2.2.2 The Political Economy of Global Governance
2.2.3 Entanglements Between Geological Time and World Time
2.3 Summary
2.3.1 The Anthropocene
2.3.2 International and Transnational Authority
2.3.3 The Political Economy of Global Governance
2.3.4 Geological Time and World Time
References
3 Conceptual Toolbox
3.1 Authority in Global Governance
3.1.1 Einstein’s Conundrum
3.1.2 Disaggregated Authority in a Fragmented and Polycentric System
3.1.3 Liquid and Reflexive Authority
3.2 Legitimacy in Global Governance
3.2.1 Institutional and Structural Sources of Legitimacy
3.2.2 (De)legitimation Practices
3.3 Democracy in Global Governance
3.3.1 People Power
3.3.2 Expanding the Community of Rights Holders
3.3.3 Participation
3.3.4 Accountability
3.4 Networks and Nodes in Global Governance
3.4.1 Networks as the Glue in Global Governance
3.4.2 Nodes as Concentrations of Power in Global Governance
3.5 Summary
3.5.1 Authority and Legitimacy in Global Governance
3.5.2 Democracy in Global Governance
3.5.3 Networks and Nodes in Global Governance
References
4 Global Governance of Infectious Disease Outbreaks
4.1 Infectious Diseases in the Anthropocene
4.2 Infectious Diseases and the Global Health Governance Architecture
4.3 Responding to Pandemics in the Twenty-First Century
4.3.1 CASE STUDY 1: SARS—Bending and Twisting the State-Centric Logic
4.3.1.1 The Virus
4.3.1.2 Transnational Monitoring and Surveillance Networks
4.3.1.3 China’s Westphalian Mentality
4.3.1.4 The Boosted International Authority of the WHO
4.3.1.5 The Resilience of the Westphalian Order
4.3.2 CASE STUDY 2: EBOLA—Refracting Deep-Seated Structures of Inequality and Injustice
4.3.2.1 The Virus
4.3.2.2 Ebola and Its Various Meanings
4.3.2.3 The Role of Médecins Sans Frontières
4.3.2.4 The Response of the WHO and the UN
4.3.2.5 Transnational Vaccine Development Efforts
4.3.3 CASE STUDY 3: COVID-19—Global Cooperation at Its Limits
4.3.3.1 The Virus and Its Origins
4.3.3.2 Westphalian Mentalities
4.3.3.3 The Biomedical Response
4.4 Summary
4.4.1 The Consolidation of Authority Beyond the State
4.4.2 The Resilience of the Westphalian Logic
4.4.3 Biomedical Solutions
References
5 Global Food Production
5.1 Global Food Production in the Anthropocene
5.1.1 The Emergence of Industrialised and Globalised Agricultural Production …
5.1.2 … And Its Devastating Consequences for the Earth-System
5.2 The Global Food System
5.2.1 Its Colonial Roots
5.2.2 International Cooperation on Agriculture
5.2.3 The Globalisation of Livestock and Soybean Production
5.2.3.1 The Environmental Impact of Meat
5.2.3.2 The Growth and Globalisation of the Meat Trade
5.2.3.3 The Soybean: The Meat Trade’s Best Friend
5.3 Alternatives to the Dominant Dynamics of the Global Food System
5.3.1 Case Study 1: Food Security, Food Sovereignty and Food Justice
5.3.1.1 Food Security
5.3.1.2 Food Sovereignty
5.3.1.3 Food Justice
5.3.2 Case Study 2: The Role of the State: Brazil’s Zero Hunger Strategy
5.3.3 Case Study 3: The Committee on World Food Security
5.4 Summary
5.4.1 The Resilient Legacy of Colonialism and the Westphalian Logic
5.4.2 The False Promise of the Techno-Productivist Logic
5.4.3 The Promise of the Logic of Democracy and Inclusion
References
6 Transboundary Water Governance
6.1 Freshwater in the Anthropocene
6.2 The Global Freshwater Governance Architecture
6.3 Protecting Our Planet’s Rivers and River Basins
6.3.1 Case Study 1: Transboundary Governance in the Rio de La Plata River Basin and the Guarani Aquifer System
6.3.1.1 The River Basin
6.3.1.2 A Fragmented and Conflict-Driven Governance Architecture
6.3.1.3 Governing the Guarani Aquifer
6.3.1.4 Governing the Exploitation of the Basin’s Resources
6.3.2 Case Study 2: Water Conflicts in the Nile River Basin
6.3.2.1 Power Struggles in the River Basin
6.3.2.2 The Failures in Establishing a Transboundary River Governance Architecture
6.3.3 Case Study 3: Granting Legal Personhood to Rivers
6.3.3.1 A Radically New Argument
6.3.3.2 The Whanganui River in New Zealand
6.3.3.3 The Reverberation of the New Zealand Decision in India and Colombia
6.4 Summary
6.4.1 A Fragmented, Weak and Ill-Equipped Freshwater Governance Architecture
6.4.2 The Resilience of the Westphalian Logic
6.4.3 A Break with Conventional Water Governance
References
7 Global Energy Governance
7.1 Energy in the Anthropocene
7.1.1 Coal—Carbonising, Transforming and Revolutionising Human Societies
7.1.2 Oil—Raising the Game, Pushing Us Further to the Brink
7.1.3 Fossil Fuel Alternatives—No Salvation in Sight
7.2 The Global Energy Governance Architecture
7.2.1 Visionary Beginnings
7.2.2 The Emergence of the Fossil-Fuelled Global Energy Architecture
7.2.3 The Institutional Push for Renewables
7.2.4 A Scattered Architectural Landscape
7.3 The Global Push for Renewable Energies
7.3.1 Case Study 1: The Global Smart City Movement
7.3.1.1 Masdar City: Smart in the Desert
7.3.1.2 The Indian Smart Cities Mission: A Nation-Wide Development Initiative
7.3.2 Case Study 2: National Energy Transitions and Germany’s Energiewende
7.3.2.1 The Entanglements between Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energies
7.3.2.2 Energy Democracy in Germany
7.3.2.3 Challenges, Dilemmas and Contradictions
7.4 Summary
7.4.1 Fragmentation and Westphalian Legacies
7.4.2 The Resilience of Fossil Fuels
7.4.3 The Fossilisation of Renewable Energies: Corporatist vs Citizen-Based Visions
References
8 Global Environmental Governance
8.1 The Environment in the Anthropocene
8.2 The Global Environmental Governance Architecture
8.2.1 A Maze with no Centre
8.2.2 The Montreal Protocol: Phasing Out Ozone-Depleting Substances
8.2.3 The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol: Phasing Out CO2 Emissions?
8.2.4 Forest Governance—Too Little, Too Late
8.3 Alternative Transnational Governance Approaches
8.3.1 Case Study 1: The Climate Action of Transnational City Networks
8.3.1.1 Megacities and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
8.3.1.2 The Role of the City of Sāo Paulo in the C40 Group
8.3.1.3 The Limitations of Transnational City Networks
8.3.2 Case Study 2: The Global Voice of Indigenous Peoples
8.3.2.1 The Centuries-Long Plight of Indigenous Peoples
8.3.2.2 The Transnational Mobilisation of Indigenous Peoples
8.3.2.3 Achievements and Limitations
8.4 Summary
8.4.1 The Resilience of the Westphalian Logic
8.4.2 The Dominance of Market-Driven and Technocratic Approaches
8.4.3 The Marginalisation of Ecological Approaches
References
9 Conclusion
9.1 The Tragic Entanglements Between Global Governance and the Anthropocene
9.1.1 A Fragmented Global Architecture and Weak International and Transnational Authorities
9.1.2 The Resilience of State-Centric and Colonial Legacies
9.1.3 Capitalist Structures and the Commodification of Nature
9.2 Breaking the Vicious Circle of Global Governance
References
Index