Gas exploration and production at sea and on land is a recent phenomenon in South Africa. The reason for the sudden interest in gas exploration and production on land is that it may prove to be a solution to the need for cleaner forms of energy and provides the possibility for South Africa to move away from coal-based energy. In order to achieve this transition while keeping economic development intact, South Africa is in need of a “greener” option. Gas is considered the most environmentally friendly fossil fuel and therefore provides South Africa with this much needed “greener” option. The uncertainty about the nature and extent of the environmental impacts regarding gas exploration and production suggests that an efficient and effective energy and environmental law and policy framework is still needed to regulate onshore and offshore gas exploration and production during all phases of its life cycle. It furthermore requires of the authorities that they establish and enhance environmental protection and sustainability during all gas exploration and production operations in order to ensure that the environmental impacts that may occur during such operations are addressed in a holistic and integrated manner. This study focuses on conventional gas. South Africa’s energy and environmental law and policy framework that regulates gas exploration does not cover the entire life cycle of onshore and offshore gas activities. It is of paramount importance that the current fragmentation in the country’s existing energy and environmental regulatory framework be addressed and that a sufficient environmental governance regime, as envisaged in this study, is established. This will enable the administering agents to actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people, the ecosystems, the essential ecological processes and the biodiversity of South Africa, while promoting the utilisation of living natural resources on a sustainable basis to the benefit of all South Africans, present and future, as pledged in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

A policy mechanism known as REDD+ (‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks and conservation’) is designed to contribute to climate change mitigation efforts and simultaneously support developing countries’ national development agendas. This is effected by providing REDD+ host countries with financial incentives to produce measurable reductions in carbon emissions beyond what would have occurred without REDD+. Indonesia is a key target of the REDD+ mechanism for several reasons, eg: (i) its forests support 10% of the world's remaining tropical rain forests and represent the fourth largest forest carbon stock globally, (ii) 80% of its GHG emissions result from deforestation and forest degradation, and (iii) it has the potential to reduce up to 120 million tons of CO2 per year. Consequently, to date Indonesia has received donor’s commitments of nearly US$2 billion for REDD+ development. Given this profile, Indonesia’s success in implementing REDD+ can contribute significantly to the efficacy of REDD+ globally. However, achieving this potential is undermined by a set of long-standing problems inherent within Indonesia’s forest institutions, including issues of corruption, coordination, uncertainty in the forests’ legal system, capacity to manage forests at multiple levels of government, and the use of forest concessions to consolidate political power. This thesis asks the primary research question: <b>“How do REDD+ institutions effect governance reform within Indonesia’s existing national and sub-national forest institutions?”</b> 'Institutionalism', in particular the concept of 'institutional interplay' is the main conceptual framework deployed and grounded in the context of the vertical interplay between the internationally-formulated REDD+ mechanism and Indonesia's forest institutions. Guided by the themes that emerged from the data collected, this research explored and expanded certain analytical approaches within the perspectives of institutionalism and governance, namely ‘historical institutionalism’, ‘clientelism’, 'critical juncture', ‘policy networks’ and ‘social learning’. This thesis adopted the ‘four paper route’ and employed mixed methods of data collection (ie interview, shadowing, and policy document review). It found that during the process of institutional interplay as REDD+ institutions deployed the principles of good governance, advanced a robust system of measurement, reporting and verification of reductions in carbon emission, attracted large funding, and involved a broad range and multi-scale of actors, the REDD+ mechanism produced 'collateral benefits'. The tangible form of these benefits was the production of new policy instruments, eg the 'national REDD+ strategy' (paper 2), 'one map initiative' (paper 3), and ‘village agreement’ (paper 4) through which a significant body of evidence showed the capability of REDD+ to effect governance reform within and beyond Indonesia's forestry sector. Paper 1, revealed how policy actors perceived REDD+ and as such provides the basis of these three papers. The positive results of institutional interplay that occurred were determined not only by the characteristic of REDD+ institutions themselves but also by the existence of domestic reformists and the national reform agenda.

O meio ambiente se apresenta como um dos desafios da governança global no que se refere às abordagens de Relações Internacionais e Ciência Política. Isso se deve ao fato de que os recursos naturais não se submetem à soberania direta do Estado e/ou das organizações internacionais formais como fonte de autoridade devido à transnacionalidade que o tema enseja. Neste sentido, os diferentes atores das relações internacionais, estatais e não estatais, precisam construir arenas de atuação, criar regulamentações onde os Estados (eventualmente) não estão presentes, e criar instrumentos de enforcement e compliance. No entanto, a centralidade das questões ambientais é colocada em xeque por teorias racionalistas de relações internacionais baseadas na autoridade do Estado e de sua capacidade de enforcement top-down. O meio ambiente é um assunto melhor considerado por arenas transnacionais em um contexto multinível e policêntrico. Neste sentido, a análise em nível local e a capacidade de organização de grupos sociais na constituição dos arranjos institucionais através da ação coletiva para solucionar a possível \"tragédia dos comuns\" tem atraído estudiosos que procuram demonstrar a sua efetividade e, consequentemente, a sua contribuição para a resolução das contendas ambientais globais. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é demonstrar como a relação entre a governança dos recursos de uso comum em âmbito local vincula-se aos instrumentos de governança global definidos por governos e organizações internacionais formais para o uso da biodiversidade. Inicialmente, realiza-se revisão bibliográfica da literatura de Relações Internacionais e Ciência Política para articular as questões ambientais entre o local e o global para, posteriormente, revelar como a governança ambiental multinível e policêntrica é estabelecida para o caso do uso da biodiversidade em comunidades locais na Amazônia brasileira, como apresentado no trabalho empírico. / The environment is presented as one of the challenges of global governance with regard to the approaches of International Relations and Political Science. This is due to the fact that natural resources are not subjected to the direct sovereignty of the State and/or formal international organizations as a source of authority because of the transnationality that the subject entails. In this sense, the different actors of International Relations, State and non-State, need to build action arenas, create regulations where States (eventually) are not present, and create instruments of enforcement and compliance. However, the centrality of environmental issues is kept in check by rationalist theories of International Relations based on States\' authority and ability to top-down enforcement. The environment is a subject better considered in transnational arenas in a multilevel and polycentric context. In this sense, the analysis at the local level and the organizational ability of social groups in the constitution of institutional arrangements through collective action to address the possible \"tragedy of the commons\" has attracted scholars seeking to demonstrate its effectiveness and, consequently, their contribution for the resolution of global environmental issues. Thus, the aim of this study is to demonstrate how the relationship between the governance of the common-pool resources at the local level is linked to the global governance instruments set by governments and formal international organizations for the use of biodiversity. Initially, a literature review of International Relations and Political Science literature is carried out to articulate environmental issues between the local and the global to reveal how the multilevel and polycentric environmental governance is established in the case of the use of biodiversity in local communities in the Brazilian Amazon, as shown in the empirical work.

Today, one of the most compelling issues facing students of environmental politics is global environmental governance’s democratic legitimacy. Critics of multilateral and transnational sustainable development negotiations and implementations perceive these as democratically deficient, due to non-state actors deciding over nation-state politics. Multilateralism is then seen as a governance structure which sacrifices state sovereignty, which is the pillar of modern democratic theory together with the concept of national demos. Yet, other theorists consider global environmental governance and multilateralism to foster democratization beyond the concept of the nation-state – something which by them is understood as necessary in a world with ever-increasing supranational environmental and developmental issues. Since 1992, the United Nations has implemented stakeholder models, meaning multi-stakeholder partnership and civil society involvement in sustainable development negotiations, as a way of raising democratic legitimacy and accountability. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals is the culmination of these efforts and the globally guiding document on the subject. The Agenda is a result of the broadest deliberation strategy ever employed by the UN. Via typological content analysis and viewing the Agenda through our theoretical framework, we understand that the UN applying stakeholder models does not necessarily mean evoking stakeholder democracy. Furthermore, democracy is largely construed as a tool for sustainable development and less as an end per se, even if the two are sometimes communicated as equal objectives. All in all, whether one interprets sustainable development negotiations as democratically legitimate or deficient depends on one’s view of democracy beyond the nation- state, as either a possible and necessary notion or a directly undemocratic one. / Idag är global miljöstyrnings demokratiska legitimitet ett av de mest åtråvärda forskningsproblemen inom miljöpolitiska studier. Kritiker av multilaterala och transnationella förhandlingar rörande hållbar utveckling och implementering uppfattar dessa som demokratiskt bristfälliga, då icke-statliga aktörer bestämmer över nationalstaters politik. Multilateralism ses då som en styrelseskicksstruktur som offrar nationalstaters suveränitet, vilket tillsammans med konceptet nationellt demos är kärnan i modern demokratisk teori. Dock anser andra teoretiker att global miljöstyrning och multilateralism kan befrämja demokratisering bortom nationalstater - något som av dessa anses som nödvändigt i en värld med ständig ökning av överstatliga miljö- och utvecklingsproblem. Sedan 1992 har Förenta Nationerna verkställt intressentmodeller, alltså multi- intressentpartnerskap och civilsamhällsinvolvering i hållbar utvecklings-förhandlingar, som ett sätt att höja demokratisk legitimitet och ansvarsskyldighet. Agenda 2030 och dess 17 globala mål för hållbar utveckling är kulmineringen av dessa satsningar, och det globalt ledande dokumentet gällande ämnet. Agendan och dess grundarbete är resultatet av den till dagsdatum största och mest omfattande överläggningsstrategi som FN någonsin använt sig av. Via typologisk innehållsanalys, och granskning av Agendan genom vårt teoretiska ramverk, så tolkar vi att FN:s genomförande av intressentmodeller inte nödvändigtvis innebär en frammaning av ett uteslutande intressentdemokratiskt ideal. I tillägg så kommuniceras demokrati mestadels som ett verktyg för hållbar utveckling, även om dessa två koncept delvis beskrivs som likvärdi ga mål. Huruvida förhandlingar kring hållbar utveckling uppfattas som demokratiskt legitima eller bristfälliga beror på tolkarens syn på demokrati utanför nationalstaten, som antingen en möjlig och nödvändig uppfattning, eller som en direkt odemokratisk sådan.

Este trabalho se insere nas discussões sobre governança global ambiental e debate o papel dos líderes burocráticos nas organizações para o meio ambiente, em face à condições externas que desafiem o exercício de sua função política, sob a hipótese exploratória de a despeito de um ambiente desafiador, o tipo de liderança e características pessoais e de formação do líder podem contribuir para a criação e fortalecimento do poder de agenda de uma organização. O caso a ser estudado é o do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente, no qual se analisa a liderança de três Diretores Executivos (Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba e Achim Steiner) durante três marcos históricos (Conferência de Estocolmo, Rio 92 e Rio+20). A forma de liderança empregada é estudada através da tipologia de Oran Young. Características pessoais serão analisadas através do conceito de liderança transformacional. Neste estudo, a formação profissional destes líderes também serão consideradas a fim de compreender sua contribuição para o fortalecimento da função politica ou técnica desta organização. A análise tem como base produções acadêmicas sobre o tema, materiais oficiais e relatórios acerca dos momentos históricos, declarações públicas e percepções de personalidades acerca da atuação e formação dos líderes, além de entrevistas realizadas exclusivamente para esta dissertação. / This dissertation is inserted in the discussions on global environmental governance and it debates the role of international leadership in international organizations for the environment, under the assumption that in face of challenge external conditions, the kind of leadership and the leaders\' personal characteristics and background can positively impact the power of agency of an organization. The case of study is the United Nations Environment Program, analyzing the leadership of three Executive Directors (Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba and Achim Steiner) over three historical milestones (Stockholm Conference, Rio 92 and Rio + 20). The kind of leadership performed by individuals is studied using Oran Young\'s typology. Personal characteristics will be analyzed through the concept of transformational leadership. Besides, in this study, leader\'s professional experiences will, also, be considered in order to understand their contribution in strengthening organizations political or technical function organization. The analysis is based on academic contributions on the subject, official materials and reports on the milestones, public statements and perceptions of individuals about leaders\' performance and professional background, as well as interviews conducted exclusively for this dissertation.

Este trabalho se insere nas discussões sobre governança global ambiental e debate o papel dos líderes burocráticos nas organizações para o meio ambiente, em face à condições externas que desafiem o exercício de sua função política, sob a hipótese exploratória de a despeito de um ambiente desafiador, o tipo de liderança e características pessoais e de formação do líder podem contribuir para a criação e fortalecimento do poder de agenda de uma organização. O caso a ser estudado é o do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Meio Ambiente, no qual se analisa a liderança de três Diretores Executivos (Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba e Achim Steiner) durante três marcos históricos (Conferência de Estocolmo, Rio 92 e Rio+20). A forma de liderança empregada é estudada através da tipologia de Oran Young. Características pessoais serão analisadas através do conceito de liderança transformacional. Neste estudo, a formação profissional destes líderes também serão consideradas a fim de compreender sua contribuição para o fortalecimento da função politica ou técnica desta organização. A análise tem como base produções acadêmicas sobre o tema, materiais oficiais e relatórios acerca dos momentos históricos, declarações públicas e percepções de personalidades acerca da atuação e formação dos líderes, além de entrevistas realizadas exclusivamente para esta dissertação. / This dissertation is inserted in the discussions on global environmental governance and it debates the role of international leadership in international organizations for the environment, under the assumption that in face of challenge external conditions, the kind of leadership and the leaders\' personal characteristics and background can positively impact the power of agency of an organization. The case of study is the United Nations Environment Program, analyzing the leadership of three Executive Directors (Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba and Achim Steiner) over three historical milestones (Stockholm Conference, Rio 92 and Rio + 20). The kind of leadership performed by individuals is studied using Oran Young\'s typology. Personal characteristics will be analyzed through the concept of transformational leadership. Besides, in this study, leader\'s professional experiences will, also, be considered in order to understand their contribution in strengthening organizations political or technical function organization. The analysis is based on academic contributions on the subject, official materials and reports on the milestones, public statements and perceptions of individuals about leaders\' performance and professional background, as well as interviews conducted exclusively for this dissertation.

La Grande muraille verte est le nom d’un programme régional de lutte contre la désertification au Sahel lancé en 2007 sous l’égide de l’Union africaine et des organisations régionales. Il consiste à favoriser le reboisement des territoires semi-arides le long d’un tracé reliant Dakar à Djibouti et traversant onze États, afin de créer un « bandeau végétal dressé face à l’avancée du désert ». Cette thèse a pour but de proposer une lecture géographique et critique de ce projet insolite, appréhendé ici comme une utopie environnementale. À partir d’enquêtes de terrain principalement menées au Sénégal (région du Ferlo) et enrichies par les apports de la political ecology, elle met en lumière la tension qui existe entre d’un côté, la formulation d’un projet de territoire au nom du développement des zones semi-arides et de la gestion des ressources naturelles et, de l’autre, la promotion d’un instrument d’extraversion politique et économique permettant de capter de nouvelles rentes environnementales : en quoi la territorialisation du projet est-elle subordonnée à une quête de visibilité globale ? La première partie montre comment la Grande muraille verte recycle dans un moment historique favorable des pratiques anciennes en matièr ede lutte contre la désertification. La deuxième partie décrit le déficit d’ancrage territorial de ses aménagements à l’échelle locale. La troisième partie montre que l’appropriation globale du projet est la source principale de sa grande résilience. / The Great Green Wall is a regional initiative to combat desertification in the Sahel. It was launched in2007 under the leadership of the African Union and other regional organisations. The program supports reforestation of drylands from Dakar to Djibouti, and aims to form a line of trees protecting against desert encroachment. In a geographical and critical perspective, it can regarded as a green utopia. This thesis, based essentially on field research carried out in Senegal (Ferlo region) supplemented by political ecology insights sheds light on the existing tension between two approaches to the project : one, the objectives of this local project are to develop drylands and better manage natural resources, and two, it can also be seen as promoting an instrument of political and economic extraversion, producing newrent-seeking opportunities. To what extent can the territorialization process of the local project be impaired by the search for global visibility ? The first part shows how the Great Green Wall, at a historical moment, is reactivating traditional techniques to combat desertification. The second partdescribes the lack of territorial anchorage and its local applications. The third part shows that the project derives its great resilience mainly from global ownership.

Title: Upsetting Offsets - A case study of Colombia and their legislation of biodiversity offsetting Authors: Linda Levin and Linda Olsson Supervisor: Åsa-Karin Engstrand Background: The global loss of biodiversity is a very timely debate, and experts are actively working on finding new ways to lessen and reverse the negative impacts placed on the environment. One such way is biodiversity offsetting and it is a methodology that is becoming more prevalent within national environmental legislations. Colombia enforced a legislation regarding biodiversity offsetting in 2012, and it quickly became apparent that the process would not progress without its issues. Aim: The aim of this study is to research the government, NGOs and companies in relation to the legislation of biodiversity offsetting in Colombia established in 2012, to acquire knowledge regarding their roles, relationships and the challenges they are experiencing. Methodology: The empirical data was collected during a two months field study in Colombia. The data was collected in a qualitative manner, through interviews with employees at governmental entities, NGOs and companies. While conducting the empirical research, theoretical information was gathered, which implies an iterative approach. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, there are various issues to be found in the implementation process of the legislation, both in regards to practical difficulties, as well as in the relationships between the different actors. Some of these problems could be mitigated with a national habitat banking system, where the offsetting activities are managed by an external part.  Key words: Biodiversity offsetting, environmental governance, Colombia, NGOs, the government, companies, roles, relationships, challenges. / Bakgrund: Den globala negativa påverkan på den biologiska mångfalden är en högst aktuell debatt, och experter arbetar ständigt med att hitta nya sätt att vända de negativa effekterna på miljön. En metod som ämnar göra detta är ekologisk kompensering, vilken blir allt vanligare inom nationell miljölagstiftning. I Colombia trädde en lagstiftning gällande ekologisk kompensering i kraft under 2012, och det blev snart uppenbart att processen inte skulle fortskrida utan sina problem. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att i Colombia, undersöka regeringen, ideella organisationer och företag i relation till lagstiftningen om ekologisk kompensering som trädde i kraft 2012, för att förvärva oss kunskap om deras roller, relationer och utmaningar. Metod: Det empiriska datamaterialet samlades in under en två månader lång fältstudie i Colombia. Detta skedde kvalitativt, genom intervjuer med anställda på regeringsorgan, ideella organisationer och företag. Samtidigt som vi genomförde den empiriska undersökningen, samlade vi även in teoretisk information, vilket visar på användningen av en iterativ metod. Slutsats: Resultaten av denna studie visar att det finns vissa svårigheter i implementeringsprocessen av lagstiftningen, såväl gällande praktiska svårigheter, som i relationerna mellan de olika aktörerna. Några av dessa problem skulle kunna lösas med ett nationellt habitat banking system, där kompenseringsaktiviteterna hanteras av en extern part. Nyckelord: Ekologisk kompensering, miljöstyrning, Colombia, ideella organisationer, regeringen, företag, roller, förhållanden, utmaningar.

Contemporary research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) highlights its disputed effect on firm profitability and the determinants of environmental disclosure. Largely missing from these accounts is a critical look at stakeholders — particularly agents in the public, market, and voluntary sectors — and how they influence corporate investment in environmental management systems (EMS). This study explores CSR trends in Taiwan’s private-sector steel industry, focusing on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with electric arc furnaces and contrasting them with the nation’s flagship industry conglomerate, China Steel. The research suggests that without a crisis of legitimacy or significant stakeholder pressure — particularly government pressure and pressure to retain ISO 14000 certification — SMEs see little incentive (and high costs) to build an effective EMS. Also, contextual factors in Taiwan pose both problems and opportunities for sustainable initiatives. Specifically, environmental laws are modern and strict, but administrative capacity to implement laws is not uniform island-wide. Also, activists and localized self-help groups pay less attention to SME steel firms and spend more effort over controversial industries like nuclear power, high-tech manufacturers and petrochemical companies. Still, government and cross-sector alliances sometimes take an active role in subsidizing EMS and promoting research and development. Using a mixed methods approach within the critical field of political ecology, the research concludes that economic concerns drive SME steel firm behavior, with changes in the scale of EMS development coming into play only in favorable cost-benefit scenarios and typically with substantial pressure emanating from the private and public sectors.

This study addresses a conceptual gap in collaborative environmental governance pertaining to the role of Indigenous peoples. Conventional collaborative approaches to environmental governance include input and resource-pooling by two or more stakeholders. This approach becomes conceptually problematic when the stakeholder view is extended to Indigenous peoples. While experiences vary widely around the world, it is common for Indigenous peoples to assert themselves as existing within self-determining nations within their traditional homelands – rather than as stakeholders or interest groups. This perspective is reflected in the Indigenous governance literature, which provides a window into how Indigenous peoples view themselves. The purpose of this doctoral research was to critically evaluate the extent to which principles and practices of collaborative environmental governance are compatible with the main tenets and advances in Indigenous governance related to self-determination. This was done through an extensive literature review and empirical study in the context of British Columbia, Canada. Through a multi-case study analysis of three regional scale cases, complemented by analysis of a single case at the provincial scale, this research analyzed assumptions and perspectives existing at the intersection of Indigenous governance and collaborative environmental governance. The regional, multi-case study concentrated on the practice of collaboration around governance for water, while the provincial case examined a water policy reform process. The key findings of this research were that non-Indigenous entities and personnel initiating or practicing collaborative environmental governance and engaged in water policy reform tended to hold a stakeholder-view of Indigenous peoples. In contrast, Indigenous peoples and leaders tended to view themselves as existing within self-determining Indigenous nations. These conflicting assumptions led to dissatisfaction for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples with regard to collaboration for water governance and water reform, in terms of both processes and outcomes. This research makes contributions to both scholarship and practice. Conceptually, the research identifies how the assumptions and approaches to collaboration within mainstream collaborative environmental governance scholarship should shift fundamentally in ways that incorporate concepts related to Indigenous governance. This conceptual shift could be applied to the breadth of empirical contexts that are discussed in existing collaborative environmental governance scholarship. The empirical findings of this research provide a robust rationale for the importance of a conceptual bridge between the collaborative environmental governance and Indigenous governance literatures. This bridge would involve creation of a body of collaborative scholarship that addresses self-determination and nationhood when theorizing on collaboration with Indigenous peoples. Additionally, it makes a practical contribution by highlighting ways in which those engaged in collaborative environmental governance and water policy reform can draw on some of the tenets of Indigenous governance scholarship. These recommendations include the following: (1) approach or involve Indigenous peoples as self-determining nations rather than one of many collaborative stakeholders or participants; (2) Identify and clarify any existing or intended (a) environmental governance processes and (b) assertions to self-determination by the Indigenous nation; (3) Create opportunities for relationship building between Indigenous peoples and policy or governance practitioners; (4) Choose venues and processes of decision making that reflect Indigenous rather than Eurocentric venues and processes; and (5) Provide resources to Indigenous nations to level the playing field in terms of capacity for collaboration or for policy reform decision making. Finally, this research suggests that positive outcomes are possible where water governance is carried out in ways that meaningfully recognize and address the perspectives of Indigenous peoples.