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Equity Norms in Global Environmental Governance

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  • Chukwumerije Okereke

    (Chukwumerije Okereke is Senior Research Associate at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK. His research addresses the links between ethics, political economic ideas and the governance structures of international institutions within the context of global sustainable development. He is the author of Global Justice and Neoliberal Environmental Governance (2008) and the editor of The Politics of the Environment (2007).)

Abstract

Contestations over justice and equity in international environmental regimes present striking evidence of the struggle to create institutions for global environmental governance that are based on widely shared ethical standards of responsibility and accountability. Focusing on two key equity norms-the common heritage of mankind (CHM) and common but differentiated responsibility (CDR)-this paper highlights four factors that affect the influence of moral responsibility norms in global environmental regimes: (i) source and force of articulation; (ii) nature of issue-area; (iii) "moral temper" of the international community; and (iv) "fitness" of norms with the prevailing neoliberal economic idea and structure. Consequent upon the argument that the most important of all these factors is the "fitness" with the extant neoliberal order, the paper questions the assumptions of the burgeoning constructivist scholarship that tends to overemphasize the independent role of intersubjective beliefs in international politics. Further, it is suggested that the abiding "responsibility deficit" in institutions for global environmental governance is due mostly to the successful co-optation of equity norms for neoliberal ends. (c) 2008 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Chukwumerije Okereke, 2008. "Equity Norms in Global Environmental Governance," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 25-50, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:8:y:2008:i:3:p:25-50
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Chapman & Timothy Fraser & Melanie Dennis, 2019. "Investigating Ties between Energy Policy and Social Equity Research: A Citation Network Analysis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Mathieu Blondeel & Jeff Colgan & Thijs Van deGraaf, 2019. "What Drives Norm Success? Evidence from Anti–Fossil FuelCampaigns," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(4), pages 63-84, November.
    3. Hermine Van Coppenolle & Mathieu Blondeel & Thijs Van de Graaf, 2023. "Reframing the climate debate: The origins and diffusion of net zero pledges," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(1), pages 48-60, February.
    4. Agni Kalfagianni & Simon Meisch, 2020. "Epistemological and ethical understandings of access and allocation in Earth System Governance: a 10-year review of the literature," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 203-221, June.
    5. Michelle Scobie, 2021. "Treaty Preambles and The Environmental Justice Gap," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(3), pages 273-285, May.
    6. Marco Grasso, 2011. "The role of justice in the North–South conflict in climate change: the case of negotiations on the Adaptation Fund," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 361-377, November.
    7. Teresa Kramarz & Susan Park, 2016. "Accountability in Global Environmental Governance: A Meaningful Tool for Action?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(2), pages 1-21, May.
    8. Agni Kalfagianni, 2014. "Addressing the Global Sustainability Challenge: The Potential and Pitfalls of Private Governance from the Perspective of Human Capabilities," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(2), pages 307-320, June.
    9. Lisa Vanhala & Cecilie Hestbaek, 2016. "Framing Climate Change Loss and Damage in UNFCCC Negotiations," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(4), pages 111-129, November.
    10. Peter Dauvergne & Jennifer Clapp, 2016. "Researching Global Environmental Politics in the 21st Century," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-12, February.

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