ABSTRACT
The contemporary international political system faces two new geopolitical realities that challenge the old geographical principles of national sovereignty. Consequently there is the potential for replacing the traditional dichotomous concepts of global governance organized hierarchically or anarchically with a network model of decentralized global governance. Indeed many nongovernmental organizations, such as the World Resources Institute, Greenpeace and TRAFFIC have assumed some of the functions of global governance, including environmental monitoring and policy verification. We live in a new world. By taking advantage of a decentralized network of governance functions, global governance may be improved, and the prospects for achieving sustainable development advanced. Redundancy provides for more contact and linkage between institutions. If the governance deficit is due to performance gaps then responses should be addressed through capacity building. If the governance deficit is simply a problem of United Nations Environment Program’s resources, then it should be elevated to United Nations Specialized Agency status and given more money.
