In recent years a wide range of non-state certification programs have emerged to address environmental and social problems associated with the extraction of natural resources.
Transnational Environmental Governance provides a general analytical framework for assessing the emergence and effectiveness of voluntary certification programs. It focuses on certification in the forest and fisheries sectors, as initiatives in these sectors are among the most advanced cases of non-state standard setting and governance in the environmental realm. Paying particular attention to the Forest Stewardship Council and the Marine Stewardship Council, the author examines how certification initiatives emerged, the politics that underlie their development, their ability to influence producer and consumer behavior, and the broader consequences of their formation and spread. The analysis of the certification of forests and fisheries offers a wealth of insights from which to better understand the capacity of non-state governance programs to ameliorate global environmental problems.
Containing a detailed review of the direct effects and broader consequences of forest and fisheries certification, Transnational Environmental Governance will be warmly welcomed by scholars of environmental politics and corporate social responsibility, as well as practitioners involved in non-state certification programs throughout the world.
1. Introduction
2. Non-state Governance: An Analytical Framework
3. The Emergence of Forest Certification
4. The Adoption and Impact of Forest Certification
5. Forest Certification in Sweden and Norway
6. Spillover to the Fisheries Sector: The Marine Stewardship Council
7. The Adoption and Impact of Fisheries Certification
8. The Spread and Institutionalization of Certification Programs
9. Conclusions
References
Index
"This book provides a timely contribution to both academic and policy debates by examining the processes and mechanisms of the emergence and proliferation of non-state governance schemes, specifically comparing forest and fisheries certification. The empirical evidence challenges conventional wisdom by showing that political and public regulatory frameworks are essential in the implementation of certification programs. This is highly recommended reading when discussing to what extent – and how – non-state transnational governance schemes can solve the problems they were intended for."
– Katarina Eckerberg, Ume# University and Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden