ABSTRACT
One of the most significant trends in both food systems and environment is the increasing importance of private sector and non-governmental actors in governance – the formal and informal rules, institutions and practices that guide the management of food and environment within a complex network of governments, organizations and citizens (Biermann, 2007). Rather than a shift from public oversight and investment to the purely private sphere, emerging forms of governance are often a hybrid that combines government action with that of business and non-government organizations (NGOs). Examples of this occur when the private sector develops emission reduction projects within a trading framework established by UN intergovernmental processes, or when corporations adopt certification systems for sustainable or fair trade foods that have been developed in collaboration with NGOs.
