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Hostage to Norms: States, Institutions and Global Forest Politics

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  • Radoslav S. Dimitrov

Abstract

Global forest politics reveal surprising impacts of environmental norms on state behavior at the international level. Negotiations regarding deforestation have repeatedly failed to produce a policy agreement. Instead of abandoning the deadlocked talks, governments created the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), a hollow entity deliberately deprived of decision-making powers. Various theoretical perspectives fail to explain why states create blank international institutions without policy mandates. Several arguments are advanced here. First, a global norm of environmental multilateralism (NEM) helps explain the creation of the UNFF as well as universal state participation in it. Second, such "good" norms can have negative consequences in world politics. NEM prohibits states from disengaging from failed political initiatives, and fosters the creation of hollow institutions that nourish skepticism about the effectiveness of global governance. Finally, global forestry defies the widespread academic notion that norms, institutions and governance are coterminous. Sometimes states design "decoy" institutions whose function is to preempt governance. Copyright (c) 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Radoslav S. Dimitrov, 2005. "Hostage to Norms: States, Institutions and Global Forest Politics," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 5(4), pages 1-24, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:5:y:2005:i:4:p:1-24
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    Cited by:

    1. Beland Lindahl, Karin & Sandström, Camilla & Sténs, Anna, 2017. "Alternative pathways to sustainability? Comparing forest governance models," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 69-78.
    2. McDermott, Constance L. & Sotirov, Metodi, 2018. "A political economy of the European Union's timber regulation: Which member states would, should or could support and implement EU rules on the import of illegal wood?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 180-190.
    3. Carmen Rodríguez Fernández-Blanco & Sarah L. Burns & Lukas Giessen, 2019. "Mapping the fragmentation of the international forest regime complex: institutional elements, conflicts and synergies," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 187-205, April.
    4. Marjanneke Vijge, 2013. "The promise of new institutionalism: explaining the absence of a World or United Nations Environment Organisation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 153-176, May.
    5. Magnus Benzie & Åsa Persson, 2019. "Governing borderless climate risks: moving beyond the territorial framing of adaptation," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 369-393, October.
    6. Georg Winkel & Metodi Sotirov, 2016. "Whose integration is this? European forest policy between the gospel of coordination, institutional competition, and a new spirit of integration," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(3), pages 496-514, May.
    7. Singer, Benjamin & Giessen, Lukas, 2017. "Towards a donut regime? Domestic actors, climatization, and the hollowing-out of the international forests regime in the Anthropocene," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 69-79.
    8. Sarker, Pradip Kumar & Rahman, Md Saifur & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "Regional governance by the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP)? Institutional design and customizable regime policy offering flexible political options," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 454-470.
    9. Dieguez, Laura & Sotirov, Metodi, 2021. "FSC sustainability certification as green-lane for legality verification under the EUTR? Changes and policy learning at the interplay of private governance and public policy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    10. Yunita, Sekar A.W. & Soraya, Emma & Maryudi, Ahmad, 2018. "“We are just cheerleaders”: Youth's views on their participation in international forest-related decision-making fora," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 52-58.
    11. Metodi Sotirov & Benno Pokorny & Daniela Kleinschmit & Peter Kanowski, 2020. "International Forest Governance and Policy: Institutional Architecture and Pathways of Influence in Global Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, August.
    12. Dang, Thi Kim Phung & Turnhout, Esther & Arts, Bas, 2012. "Changing forestry discourses in Vietnam in the past 20years," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 31-41.
    13. Lambini, Cosmas Kombat & Nguyen, Trung Thanh, 2014. "A comparative analysis of the effects of institutional property rights on forest livelihoods and forest conditions: Evidence from Ghana and Vietnam," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 178-190.
    14. Lindstad, Berit H. & Solberg, Birger, 2010. "Challenges in determining national effects of international policy processes: Forest protection in Norway as a case," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(7), pages 489-496, September.
    15. Joana Carlos Bezerra & Jan Sindt & Lukas Giessen, 2018. "The rational design of regional regimes: contrasting Amazonian, Central African and Pan-European Forest Governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 635-656, October.
    16. A. Mikulková & M. Hájek & M. Štěpánková & M. Ševčík, 2015. "Forest certification as a tool to support sustainable development in forest management," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 61(8), pages 359-368.
    17. van Heeswijk, Laura & Turnhout, Esther, 2013. "The discursive structure of FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade): The negotiation and interpretation of legality in the EU and Indonesia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 6-13.
    18. Brajaraja Mishra, 2019. "Households’ attitude about ecosystem conservation after implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, in Lakhari Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, India," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 21(1), pages 1-23, June.
    19. Mitchell, Ronald B., 2011. "Transparency for governance: The mechanisms and effectiveness of disclosure-based and education-based transparency policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1882-1890, September.
    20. Inga Jacobs, 2012. "A community in the Orange: the development of a multi-level water governance framework in the Orange-Senqu River basin in Southern Africa," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 187-210, May.
    21. Cashore, Benjamin & Nathan, Iben, 2020. "Can finance and market driven (FMD) interventions make “weak states” stronger? Lessons from the good governance norm complex in Cambodia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).

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