Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Environmental Sociology pp 59–78Cite as

Earth System Governance and the Social Sciences

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

In 2001, the four global change research programs ‘urgently’ called for ‘an ethical framework for global stewardship and strategies for Earth System management’. Yet this notion of ‘earth system management’ remains vaguely defined: It is too elusive for natural scientists, and too ambitious or too normative for social scientists. In this chapter, I develop an alternative concept that is better grounded in social science theory: ‘earth system governance’. I introduce, first, the concept of earth system governance as a new social phenomenon, a political program and a crosscutting theme of research in the field of global environmental change. I then sketch the five key problem structures that complicate earth system governance, and derive from these four overarching principles for earth system governance as political practice, namely credibility, stability, adaptiveness, and inclusiveness. In the last part of the chapter, I identify five research and governance challenges that lie at the core of earth system governance as a crosscutting theme in global change research. These are the problems of the overall architecture of earth system governance, of agency beyond the state, of the adaptiveness of governance mechanisms and of their accountability and legitimacy, and of the modes of allocation in earth system governance – in short, the five A’s of earth system governance research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    See the mission statement of the Earth System Science Partnership http://www.essp.org/about_essp.html. The text draws on the 2001 Amsterdam Declaration on Global Change. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from http://www.sciconf.igbp.kva.se/fr.html. For a comprehensive scientific treatment, see Steffen et al. 2004.

  2. 2.

    The rest of this chapter is based on Biermann (2007), with permission of the publisher.

  3. 3.

    See www.earthsystemgovernance.org, retrieved July 6, 2009, on details.

  4. 4.

    Key texts are retrieved July 6, 2009, from http://sustsci.harvard.edu/. See also Clark et al. 2005; Schellnhuber et al. 2004; as well as the reports of the Friibergh Workshop on Sustainability Science, held 11–14 October 2000 in Friibergh Manor, Örsundsbro, Sweden.

  5. 5.

    See the Partnership’s mission statement. Retrieved July 6, 2009 from www.essp.org.

  6. 6.

    Information and links to all project websites retrieved July 6, 2009, at www.essp.org.

  7. 7.

    This definition is the same used in the Science and Implementation Plan of the IHDP Earth System Governance Project (Biermann et al. 2009a). See www.earthsystemgovernance.org, retrieved July 6, 2009, for details.

  8. 8.

    See here the special issue of Global Environmental Politics, 4(1), 2004, Global Environmental Change and the Nation State., and in particular the introduction to the issue by Biermann and Dingwerth (2004).

References

  • Adger WN, Paavola J, Huq S, Mace MJ (eds) (2006) Fairness in adaptation to climate change. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Agrawala S (1998a) Context and early origins of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Clim Change 39:605–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawala S (1998b) Structural and process history of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Clim Change 39:621–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arts B (1998) The political influence of global NGOs. Case studies on the climate change and biodiversity conventions. International Books, Utrecht

    Google Scholar 

  • Arts B (2002) Green alliances of business and NGOs. New styles of self-regulation or dead-end roads? Corp Soc Responsibility Environ Manag 9:26–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Betsill MM, Corell E (2001) NGO influence in international environmental negotiations: A framework for analysis. Glob Environ Polit 1(4):65–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F (2001) Big science, small impacts – in the South? The influence of global environmental assessments on expert communities in India. Glob Environ Change 11:297–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F (2002) Institutions for scientific advice: Global environmental assessments and their influence in developing countries. Glob Gov 8(2):195–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F (2005a) Between the United States and the South. Strategic choices for European climate governance. Climate Policy 5:273–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F (2005b) Earth system governance: the challenge for social science. Inaugural Lecture, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F (2007) ‘Earth system governance’ as a crosscutting theme of global change research. Glob Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 17:326–337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F, Bauer S (eds) (2005) A World Environment Organization. Solution or threat for effective international environmental governance? Ashgate, Aldershot, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F, Dingwerth K (2004) Global environmental change and the nation state. Glob Environ Polit 4(1):1–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F, Siebenhüner B (2009) Managers of global change. The influence of international environmental bureaucracies. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Biermann F, Betsill MM, Gupta J, Kanie N, Lebel L, Liverman D, Schroeder H, Siebenhüner B with contributions from Conca K, da Costa Ferreira L, Desai B, Tay S, Zondervan R (2009a) Earth system governance: people, places and the planet. Science and implementation plan of the Earth System Governance Project. ESG Report 1. Bonn, IHDP: The Earth System Governance Project. Retrieved June 16, 2009, from www.earthsystemgovernance.org

  • Biermann F, Pattberg P, Van Asselt H, Zelli F (2009b) The fragmentation of global governance architectures: a framework for analysis. Glob Environ Polit 9:14–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chambers WB (ed) (2001) Inter-linkages: the Kyoto Protocol and the international trade and investment regimes. United Nations University Press, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Social Learning Group – Clark WC, Jäger J, van Eijndhoven J, Dickson N (eds) (2001) Learning to manage global environmental risks, 2 vols. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark WC, Crutzen PJ, Schellnhuber HJ (2005) Science for global sustainability. Toward a new paradigm. Center for International Development Working Paper no. 120. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission on Global Governance (1995) Our global neighbourhood: the report of the Commission on Global Governance. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Conca K (1995) Greening the United Nations: Environmental organizations and the UN system. Third World Q 16(3):441–457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dingwerth K (2005) The democratic legitimacy of public–private rule-making. What can we learn from the World Commission on Dams? Glob Gov 11(1):65–83

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingwerth K, Pattberg P (2006) Global governance as a perspective on world politics. Glob Gov 12(2):185–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Dryzek JS (1999) Transnational democracy. J Pol Philos 7(1):30–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisenack K (2003) Qualitative viability analysis of a bio-socio-economic system. In: Salles P, Bredeweg B (eds) Working papers of 17th workshop on qualitative reasoning, pp 63–70. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from http://www.pik-potsdam.de/%7Eeisenack/downloads/QR-2003.pdf

  • Eisenack K, Kropp J, Welsch H (2006) A qualitative dynamical modelling approach to capital accumulation in unregulated fisheries. J Econ Dyn Control 30:2613–2636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkner R (2003) Private environmental governance and international relations: Exploring the links. Glob Environ Polit 3:72–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finkelstein LS (1995) What is global governance? Glob Gov 1(3):367–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Glasbergen P, Biermann F, Mol A (eds) (2007) Partnerships, governance and sustainable development. Reflections on theory and practice. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

    Google Scholar 

  • Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Project (1999) Science plan. By O. R. Young with contributions from A. Agrawal, L.A. King, P.H. Sand, A. Underdal, M. Wasson (= IHDP Report No. 9). Bonn, IHDP. Retrieved July 6, 2009, from www.ihdp.org

  • Gupta J (1997) The climate change convention and developing countries – from conflict to consensus? Kluwer, Dordrecht

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta J (2003) The role of non-state actors in international environmental affairs. Heidelb J Int Law 63(2):459–486

    Google Scholar 

  • Gupta A, Falkner R (2006) The influence of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: comparing Mexico, China and South Africa. Glob Environ Polit 6(4):23–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haas PM, Keohane RO, Levy MA (eds) (1993) Institutions for the earth: sources of effective international environmental protection. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Held D (1997) Democracy and globalization. Glob Gov 3(3):251–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Held D (1999) The transformation of political community. In: Shapiro I, Hacker-Cordon C (eds) Democracy’s edges. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Helm C, Sprinz DF (2000) Measuring the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. J Conflict Resol 44(5):630–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanie N, Haas PM (eds) (2004) Emerging forces in environmental governance. United Nations University Press, Tokyo

    Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW, Clark WC, Corell R, Hall JM, Jaeger CC, Lowe I, McCarthy J, Schellnhuber H-J, Bolin B, Dickson NM, Faucheux S, Gallopin GC, Grübler A, Huntley B, Jäger J, Jodha NS, Kasperson RE, Mabogunje A, Matson P, Mooney H, Moore B III, O’Riordan T, Svedin U (2001) Sustainability science. Science 292:641–642

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keohane RO, Levy MA (eds) (1996) Institutions for environmental aid: pitfalls and promise. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Keohane RO, Nye JS (1977) Power and interdependence: world politics in transition. Little Brown, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy DL, Newell PJ (2004) The business of global environmental governance. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Litfin KT (1994) Ozone discourses: science and politics in global environmental cooperation. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles EL, Underdal A, Andresen S, Wettestad J, Skjaerseth JB, Carlin EM (eds) (2002) Environmental regime effectiveness. Confronting theory with evidence. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell RB (2003) International environmental agreements. A survey of their features, formation and effects. Ann Rev Environ Res 28:429–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberthür S, Gehring T (eds) (2006) Institutional interaction in global environmental governance. Synergy and conflict among international and EU policies. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Overbeek H (2005) Class, hegemony and global governance: a historical materialist perspective. In: Hoffmann M, Ba A (eds) Contending perspectives on global governance: coherence, contestation, and world order. Routledge, London, pp 39–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattberg P (2005) The institutionalization of private governance: How business and non-profits agree on transnational rules. Govern Int J Policy Adm Inst 18(4):589–610

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattberg P (2006a) Private governance and the South: lessons from global forest politics. Third World Q 27(4):579–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pattberg P (2006b) The influence of global business regulation: beyond good corporate conduct. Bussiness Soc Rev 111(3):241–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Princen T, Finger M, Manno J (1995) Nongovernmental organizations in world environmental politics. Int Environ Aff 7(1):42–58

    Google Scholar 

  • Raustiala K (1997) States, NGOs, and international environmental institutions. Int Stud Q 42(4):719–740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenau JN (1995) Governance in the twenty-first century. Glob Gov 1(1):13–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosendal GK (2001a) Impacts of overlapping international regimes: the case of biodiversity. Glob Gov 7(1):95–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosendal GK (2001b) Overlapping international regimes: The case of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) between climate change and biodiversity. Int Environ Agreements Polit Law Econ 1(4):447–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J (1998) Earth system analysis: the scope of the challenge. In: Schellnhuber H-J, Wenzel V (eds) Earth system analysis: Integrating science for sustainability. Springer, Berlin, pp 3–195

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J (1999) Earth system analysis and the second Copernican revolution. Nature, 402 (= Millennium Supplement, 2 December 1999), C19–C23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J, Biermann F (2000) Eine ökologische Weltordnungspolitik: Globales Umweltmanagement statt Untergangskultur. Internationale Politik 55(12):9–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J, Sahagian D (2002) The twenty-three GAIM questions. Glob Change Newsletter (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme) 49:20–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J, Wenzel V (1998) Preface. In: Schellnhuber H-J, Wenzel V (eds) Earth system analysis: integrating science for sustainability. Springer, Berlin, pp vii–xvi

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schellnhuber H-J, Crutzen P, Clark WC, Claussen M, Held H (2004) Earth system analysis for sustainability. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholte JA (2002) Civil society and democracy in global governance. Glob Gov 8(3):281–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Siebenhüner B (2002) How do scientific assessments learn? Part 1. Conceptual framework and case study of the IPCC. Environ Sci Policy 5:411–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebenhüner B (2003) The changing role of nation states in international environmental assessments. The case of the IPCC. Glob Environ Change 13:113–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siebenhüner B (2004) Social learning and sustainability science. Which role can stakeholder participation play? Int J Sustainable Dev 7(2):146–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smouts M-C (1998) The proper use of the governance in international relations. Int Soc Sci J 155:81–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • South Centre (1996) For a strong and democratic United Nations: a South perspective on UN Reform. South Centre, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  • Steffen W, Sanderson A, Tyson PD, Jäger J, Matson PM, Moore III B, Oldfield F, Richardson K, Schellnhuber H-J, Turner II BL, Wasson RJ (2004)Global change and the earth system: A planet under pressure. New York: Springer

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokke OS (2000) Managing straddling stocks: the interplay of global and regional regimes. Ocean Coastal Manage 43(2–3):205–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Grijp NM, Brander L (2004) The role of the business community and civil society. In: Campins Eritja M (ed) Sustainability labelling and certification. Marcial Pons, Barcelona, pp 223–243

    Google Scholar 

  • van Kersbergen K, van Waarden F (2004) “Governance” as a bridge between disciplines: cross-disciplinary inspiration regarding shifts in governance and problems of governability, accountability and legitimacy. Eur J Polit Res 43:143–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velasquez J (2000) Prospects for Rio+10: the need for an inter-linkages approach to global environmental governance. Glob Environ Change 10(4):307–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Victor DG, Raustiala K, Skolnikoff EB (eds) (1998) The implementation and effectiveness of international environmental commitments. Theory and practice. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • von Moltke K (2005) Clustering International Environmental Agreements as an alternative to a World Environment Organization. In: Biermann F, Bauer S (eds) A World Environment Organization. Solution or threat for effective international environmental governance? Ashgate, Aldershot, UK, pp 175–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Wapner P (1996) Environmental activism and world civic politics. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR (1994) International Governance. Protecting the environment in a stateless society. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR (ed) (1997) Global governance. Drawing insights from the environmental experience. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR (2001) Inferences and indices: evaluating the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. Glob Environ Polit 1(1):99–121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young OR (2002) The institutional dimension of environmental change: fit, interplay and scale. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR, Levy MA, Osherenko G (eds) (1999) Effectiveness of international environmental regimes: causal connections and behavioral mechanisms. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR, Lambin EF, Alcock F, Haberl H, Karlsson SI, McConnell WJ, Myint T, Pahl-Wostl C, Polsky C, Ramakrishnan PS, Scouvart M, Schröder H, Verburg PH (2005) Beyond regression. Methods for analyzing complex human-environment interactions. Unpublished manuscript (on file with author)

    Google Scholar 

  • Young OR, King LA, Schroeder H (eds) (2008) Institutions and environmental change: principal findings, applications, and research frontiers. MIT, Cambridge, MA

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Policy Analysis, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081, HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Frank Biermann

Authors
  1. Frank Biermann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Biermann .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Umweltforschung GmbH (UFZ), Dept. Stadt- und Umweltsoziologie, Helmholtz-Zentrum für, Permoserstr. 15, Leipzig, 04318, Germany

    Matthias Gross

  2. Inst. Umweltkommunikation, Universität Lüneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, Lüneburg, 21335, Germany

    Harald Heinrichs

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Biermann, F. (2010). Earth System Governance and the Social Sciences. In: Gross, M., Heinrichs, H. (eds) Environmental Sociology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8730-0_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation