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Advances in International Environmental Politics pp 356–380Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Transparency and International Environmental Politics

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Abstract

Transparency is increasingly the subject of scrutiny and controversy in the social sciences (Florini, 2007; Graham, 2002; Gupta, 2008; Langley, 2001; Mol, 2008). The concept is linked to the most politically charged debates of our times, relating to due process and good governance, human rights, global security, and the need for oversight of markets in an era of unfettered globalization (Grigorescu, 2007; Lord, 2006; Roberts, 2004). In this chapter, we analyze the rise and effects of what we posit to be a ‘transparency turn’ in international environmental politics (IEP) as well.1 A call for transparency increasingly informs actor expectations in a diverse array of environmental issue areas. Both state and non-state actors embrace transparency as a necessary feature of decision-making and/or regulatory action to address transboundary environmental problems. Diverse actors are championing transparency as a means to enhance efficiency, accountability, and/or effectiveness of international environmental policy outcomes. Furthermore, a wide range of governance modalities (informal, formal, voluntary, mandatory) call for disclosure, suggesting a malleability between transparency norms and diverse institutional forms of environmental governance that deserves more sustained theoretical and empirical attention.

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Authors
  1. Aarti Gupta
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  2. Michael Mason
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Colorado State University, USA

    Michele M. Betsill (Professor) & Dimitris Stevis (Professor) (Professor) &  (Professor)

  2. University of Waterloo, Canada

    Kathryn Hochstetler (Professor) (Professor)

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© 2014 Aarti Gupta and Michael Mason

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Gupta, A., Mason, M. (2014). Transparency and International Environmental Politics. In: Betsill, M.M., Hochstetler, K., Stevis, D. (eds) Advances in International Environmental Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137338976_14

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