ABSTRACT

This handbook brings together leading international academic experts to provide a comprehensive and authoritative survey of global environmental politics.

Fully revised, updated and expanded to 45 chapters, the book:

  • Describes the history of global environmental politics as a discipline and explains the various theories and perspectives used by scholars and students to understand it
  • Examines the key actors and institutions in global environmental politics, explaining the roles of states, international organizations, regimes, international law, foreign policy institutions, domestic politics, corporations and transnational actors
  • Addresses the ideas and themes shaping the practice and study of global environmental politics, including sustainability, consumption, expertise, uncertainty, security, diplomacy, North-South relations, globalization, justice, ethics, public participation and citizenship
  • Assesses the key issues and policies within global environmental politics, including energy, climate change, ozone depletion, air pollution, acid rain, transport, persistent organic pollutants, hazardous wastes, rivers, wetlands, oceans, fisheries, marine mammals, biodiversity, migratory species, natural heritage, forests, desertification, food and agriculture

This second edition includes new chapters on plastics, climate change, energy, earth system governance and the Anthropocene. It is an invaluable resource for students, scholars, researchers and practitioners of environmental politics, environmental studies, environmental science, geography, globalization, international relations and political science.

Chapter 19 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com

part I|15 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|13 pages

Global environmental politics

Charting the domain

part II|71 pages

Explaining and understanding global environmental politics

chapter 3|13 pages

Mainstream theories

Realism, rationalism and revolutionism

chapter 4|14 pages

Alternative theories

Constructivism, Marxism, critical theory and feminism

chapter 5|14 pages

The study of global environmental politics

Strategies for research and learning

chapter 6|14 pages

Advanced scholarship

Interdisciplinary research at the science–policy interface

part III|111 pages

Actors and institutions in global environmental politics

chapter 7|14 pages

States

Nations, sovereignty and the international system

chapter 8|13 pages

International organizations

Global and regional environmental cooperation

chapter 9|14 pages

International environmental regimes

Formation, effectiveness, trends and challenges

chapter 10|15 pages

International environmental law

Sources, principles and innovations

chapter 11|14 pages

Environmental foreign policy

Crossovers among levels of governance

chapter 12|14 pages

Comparative environmental politics

Contributions from an emerging field

chapter 13|12 pages

Corporations

Business and industrial influence

chapter 14|13 pages

Transnational actors

Nongovernmental organizations, civil society and individuals

part IV|201 pages

Ideas and themes in global environmental politics

chapter 15|14 pages

The Anthropocene

Rethinking humanity's role in the earth system

chapter 16|11 pages

Sustainability

From ideas to action in international relations

chapter 17|11 pages

Consumption

Institutions and actors

chapter 18|14 pages

Expertise

Specialized knowledge in environmental politics and sustainability

chapter 19|16 pages

Uncertainty

Risk, technology and the future

chapter 20|14 pages

Environmental security

International scope, national regimes and the human dimension

chapter 21|12 pages

Earth system governance

World politics in the post-environmental age

chapter 22|14 pages

Environmental diplomacy

International conferences and negotiations

chapter 23|13 pages

North–South relations

Colonialism, empire and international order

chapter 24|14 pages

Globalization and the environment

Economic changes and challenges

chapter 25|12 pages

International justice

Rights and obligations of states

chapter 26|14 pages

Environmental justice

Pollution, poverty and marginalized communities

chapter 27|13 pages

Environmental ethics

Philosophy, ecology and other species

chapter 28|14 pages

Participation

Public opinion and environmental action

chapter 29|13 pages

Environmental citizenship

De-politicizing or re-politicizing environmental politics?

part V|203 pages

Key issues and policies in global environmental politics

chapter 30|13 pages

Air pollution and acid rain

Early action and slowing progress

chapter 31|14 pages

Stratospheric ozone depletion

Elements of success in global environmental politics

chapter 32|13 pages

Climate change

International diplomacy and governance from top to bottom

chapter 33|14 pages

Energy

Political–economic strategies

chapter 34|12 pages

Transport and infrastructure

Toward sustainable mobility

chapter 35|14 pages

Persistent organic pollutants

Managing threats to human health and the environment

chapter 36|13 pages

Hazardous waste

Fragmented governance and aspirations for environmental justice

chapter 37|14 pages

Plastics

From resources to waste and back again

chapter 38|14 pages

Water, rivers and wetlands

Governance paradigms and principles

chapter 39|13 pages

Pollution and management of oceans and seas

Challenges in an unresponsive international system

chapter 40|13 pages

Fisheries and marine mammals

The complexities of collective management

chapter 42|13 pages

Forests

The political ecology of international environmental governance

chapter 43|14 pages

Desertification

Competing knowledge claims and land-management agendas

chapter 44|13 pages

Food and agriculture

Global dynamics and environmental consequences

part VI|11 pages

Conclusion

chapter 45|9 pages

The promises of global environmental politics

Prospects for study and practice