Abstract
Chapter 1 started off by explaining that Integrative Sustainability Governance is a specific form of sustainability governance and defines it as ‘a collective enterprise which aims to address sustainability problems adequately through fostering fundamental change’. This final chapter aims to draw together the Integrative Sustainability Governance framework in an effort to answer the main question that this book addresses (‘What are the essential elements and the organizing logic of an integrative framework that is suitable for analysing governance for the SDGs from a global perspective and for implementing the related transitions?’). As such, this chapter summarizes the main findings of this book. In addition, this chapter suggests promising avenues for future practice and research on the SDGs.
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Notes
- 1.
Second modernity (Beck 1992; Giddens 2009) is the insight that change is taking place increasingly along contradictions (e.g. glocalisation) that need to be harmonized instead of oversimplified and polarized. One example here is the claim that the state is retreating. However, when looking into the details, the role of the state is changing (e.g. from implementation towards facilitating cooperation between multiple actors such as city governments) rather than disappearing.
- 2.
Scale sensitivity is ‘the capability to observe and address cross-scale and cross-level issues’ (Termeer and Dewulf 2014: 2).
- 3.
Hanley (2014) sees science and religion as complementary approaches to understanding reality which can jointly foster human progress in ways neither could alone. Science is linear, minimalist, precise, applicable, systemic, ‘objective', verifiable and exact. However, it often lacks a global vision and is less suitable for answering normative ‘why?’ questions. Religion on the other hand takes general, universal principles as a starting point and moves towards specific applications that can foster collective action for the common good. Religion according to Hanley is nonlinear, maximalist, provides vision and offers moral direction, but is complex and lacks clarity and exactness.
- 4.
Religions have (collectively) become active in the field of climate governance by signing statements and bringing out declarations, as they take note of the scientific evidence around climate change and also realize that there are many moral and ethical issues related to climate change. In June 2015, Pope Francis issued an encyclical on climate change which is available at:
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html Also see http://www.arcworld.org/ for cooperation between religions on environmental conservation.
- 5.
Representative democracy as the dominant political concept in Western countries may be in decay (In ‘t Veld, 2013: 276; Gore 2013), but as Zane notes in the International New York Times of 14 September 2015 (p. 7): ‘Western democracy always seems to be in crisis—which may be its greatest strength. When the dizzying velocity of change seems to be the only constant in the world, democracy has proved supple and stable enough to respond, adapt and evolve and, thereby, endure’.
- 6.
In some cases, governments seek for policy-based evidence making. This means that policy-makers demand or select specific scientific evidence so that they can create legitimacy for their policies by making use of scientific authority (e.g. Pielke 2007). Also see footnote 540 below.
- 7.
In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas or values (Festinger 1957).
- 8.
For example, the German Government's decision to phase out nuclear power can have impacts on the stability of electricity grids and markets of its neighbouring countries.
- 9.
Dryzek and Stevenson (2012) give the example of market liberalism, which coordinates global economic governance.
- 10.
For Dryzek and Niemeyer (2006), there are three kinds of consensus:
-
1.
Normative consensus refers to agreement regarding values driving the decision process;
-
2.
Epistemic consensus refers to the judgmental aspect of preference formation and credibility of disputed beliefs; and
-
3.
Preference consensus pertains to the degree of agreement on the nature of disputed choices across alternatives.
Dryzek and Niemeyer further argue that deliberative democracy preserves pluralism at the normative level of consensus while achieving consensus on one or more of the metalevels.
-
1.
- 11.
Notable is the competition between Regional Development Banks and the World Bank, especially in the field of sustainability financing. Another notable example is the ILO which tends to frame climate change and green economy in the context of jobs, and lobbies hard in other fora to get issues related to labour integrated in other policies (including in climate change and environmental agreements). This is linked also to an attitude of mutuality and reciprocity: ILO hesitates to integrate sustainable development concerns in labour regulations, but it wants to see labour aspects reflected in sustainability outcomes. Within UNEP, for example, it was documented that one is supposed not to mention the term ‘climate change’ (which is considered to be within the exclusive remit of the UNFCCC and too much associated with the storyline of making mandatory emissions cuts) in the context of the green economy (which is the discourse that UNEP developed by itself and which is seen as taking voluntary action). The only way to avoid such separation is to justify one’s work at UNEP on climate change by placing it within the context of the green economy and calling it ‘low-carbon development’.
- 12.
Ideas are the substantive content of discourses. Political scientists see ideas at three levels: policies, programs and at the more basic level of (public) philosophies which underlie policies and programs. Philosophical ideas generally are at the background and only contested in terms of crisis (cf. Campbell 2004: 93–94).
- 13.
Often the term ‘consultation’ is used for processes of information-sharing, consultation (as in an enquiry) and concertation. Here, it is meant to be more encompassing as in equal participation, collaboration and empowerment.
- 14.
The Bellagio principles serve as guidelines for whole environmental assessment processes including the choice and design of indicators, their interpretation and communication of the result. The principles are interrelated and should be applied as a complete set. Also see https://www.iisd.org/pdf/bellagio.pdf.
This consultative process included a meeting of government representatives and scientists that Arthur Dahl organized in Ghent and a scientific workshop in Wuppertal, and his work in UN System-wide Earthwatch Coordination (also see http://yabaha.net/dahl/earthw/indicat.htm), as well as a Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) project and a Consultative Group on Sustainable Development Indicators under IISD.
- 15.
The European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) has been hosting platforms for peer learning on the SDGs between policy-makers: http://www.sd-network.eu/?k=ESDN%20peer%20learning.
- 16.
- 17.
Track II diplomacy refers to ‘non-governmental, informal and unofficial contacts and activities between private citizens or groups of individuals, sometimes called 'non-state actors’. (Diamond and McDonald 1991: 1).
- 18.
One example of a science diplomacy network is Swissnex, a network of science and technology outposts aimed at connecting Switzerland with the world's most innovative cities. Also see http://www.swissnex.org/.
- 19.
Categories of relevant data could be: global reporting systems and surveys; country reporting systems and surveys; open data from governments, the private sector, and institutions on ‘commitments to action’; dynamic social data; citizen-generated data; environmental and geospatial data; global indices, such as the Human Development Index, the Open Budget Index, etc.; and private corporate datasets connected to MNCs’ social responsibility and global compact programme (CSEND 2014).
- 20.
The High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) provides political leadership, guidance and recommendations, follow-ups and reviews the implementation of sustainable development commitments and, as of 2016, the post-2015 Development Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It addresses new and emerging challenges, promotes the science–policy interface and enhances the integration of economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.
- 21.
Submitted NDCs are available from an interim registry at http://www4.unfccc.int/ndcregistry/Pages/Home.aspx.
- 22.
The idea of a Climate Disclosure Task Force to which companies have to declare how much carbon they emit and how they are going to proceed to zero emissions in the future is proposed by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England and chairman of the G20 countries’ Financial Stability Board, who warned that climate change might make the world’s stock markets and banks unstable and lead to a financial crash because of stranded assets. Also see http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34396961.
- 23.
The Earth Atmospheric Trust, which would treat the atmosphere as a global common property asset managed as a trust for the benefit of current and future generations, would be one example of such an innovative initiative (also see Weston and Bollier 2013).
- 24.
‘Middle range theory’, developed by Merton (1968), is an approach to sociological theorizing aimed at integrating theory and empirical research. It is currently the de facto dominant approach to sociological theory construction.
- 25.
In this regard, it is interesting to note that incoming IPCC Chairman Lee stated that ‘I would like to be remembered as the chairman that shifted the IPCC’s focus to solutions’.
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Monkelbaan, J. (2019). Conclusions: The Integrative Sustainability Governance Framework and Ways Forward. In: Governance for the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0475-0_7
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