Today, many human rights norms are promoted and reinforced as transnational law in transnational settings involving a multiplicity of state and non‐state actors. Over the last few years, debates about constitutionalising a human right to an adequate environment as a legal instrument to confront the devastating consequences of climate change have steadily grown. While the role of states and non‐state actors from civil society in promoting human rights legislation is widely acknowledged, the role of cities remains largely unexplored. Cities are major greenhouse gas emitters, profoundly affected by the various consequences of climate change, with more than half of the world population living in urban environments. By providing a brief overview of the principal activities of the largest city networks on climate action, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the C40 Climate Action Leadership Group – the article argues that cities have turned into crucial actors in shaping and promoting environmental rights, essentially a human right to an adequate environment.

Robotics and autonomous systems are reshaping the world, changing healthcare, food production and biodiversity management. While they will play a fundamental role in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals, associated opportunities and threats are yet to be considered systematically. We report on a horizon scan evaluating robotics and autonomous systems impact on all Sustainable Development Goals, involving 102 experts from around the world. Robotics and autonomous systems are likely to transform how the Sustainable Development Goals are achieved, through replacing and supporting human activities, fostering innovation, enhancing remote access and improving monitoring. Emerging threats relate to reinforcing inequalities, exacerbating environmental change, diverting resources from tried-and-tested solutions and reducing freedom and privacy through inadequate governance. Although predicting future impacts of robotics and autonomous systems on the Sustainable Development Goals is difficult, thoroughly examining technological developments early is essential to prevent unintended detrimental consequences. Additionally, robotics and autonomous systems should be considered explicitly when developing future iterations of the Sustainable Development Goals to avoid reversing progress or exacerbating inequalities.

In the context of Brazil's rising energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we develop a forwardlooking analysis of the domestic renewable energy policy framework. We probe the overall effectiveness of this framework by focusing on instrument design (in terms of stringency and predictability) as well as policy coherence. We analyze the development of solar, wind and hydropower, as well as biodiesel and ethanol, in the period between 2003 and 2018. We find strong increases in stringency for biodiesel, solar and wind power, marginal ones for ethanol, and decreasing ones for hydropower. Predictability presents a consistent challenge for policy effectiveness, with the exception of biodiesel. Overall policy coherence improves with fossil fuel subsidy reductions after 2014, although the complex environmental licensing regime as well as ad hoc fiscal interventions and price controls in the fuel markets create tensions for biofuels expansion. The policy framework as it has evolved through the period under consideration is neither likely to slow down/reverse the growth trend in natural gas consumption for power generation, nor to significantly alter the fuel mix in light-vehicle transportation. Considering that improvements in the policy framework are partially driven by non-climate rationales, we conclude that rising energyrelated GHG emissions will increasingly challenge Brazil's contribution to international temperature targets while diminishing its stature in global climate diplomacy. Key policy insights• Renewable energy policies in Brazil suffer from a lack of predictability.• While recent reductions in fossil fuel subsidies have improved policy coherence, significant incoherencies between policy instruments impede renewable energy expansion.• Increasingly ambitious expansion targets for solar and wind power will need to close the supply gap resulting from the relative decline of hydropower in order to avoid further increases in natural gas consumption.• Although the Bolsonaro administration has not created substantial policy changes so far, it introduces additional uncertainties regarding long-term decarbonization, while also diminishing Brazil's diplomatic stature in international negotiations.

Brazil's Zero Hunger Strategy is nowadays regarded as an international model in the global fight against hunger and poverty. I will analyse the mechanisms Brazil created to allow other governments and international organisations to benefit from the experience Brazil collected in the Zero Hunger Strategy. Based on the theoretical concept of "nodal governance" I will describe four of these global governance mechanisms (the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth, the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger, the IBSA Trust Fund and the FAO-Brazil Trust Fund) as essential nodes which helped to 1) strengthen Brazil's exercise of influence in its international fight against hunger and poverty and 2) reinforced the global governance of food security. This analysis demonstrates how Brazil has been able to raise its profile as a leader in fighting hunger and poverty in the global South.

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The response to the Covid‐19 pandemic in 2020–21 was dominated by the Westphalian primacy of national territory and sovereignty, significantly worsening and prolonging this crisis. Global platforms for cross‐border coordination and cooperation were constrained by national self‐interest. Arguably, the lack of a worldwide supranational (or post‐Westphalian) authority in health governance is one important structural reason for the fragmented, chaotic, and ineffective response to Covid‐19. The failure of Westphalian governance responses to the pandemic provides a unique opportunity for post‐Westphalian governance structures to be established and contribute to reforming international pandemic preparedness. While this is unlikely to happen soon at the global level, a comprehensive framework is emerging at the European Union level in the form of a European Health Union. Through a combined conceptualisation of supranational governance and the securitisation process of international health crises, Covid‐19 has opened the door to post‐Westphalian health governance coordinated by the European Commission.

In 2011, on the initiative of US President Barack Obama 8 governments and 9 civil society organizations (CSOs) came together to create the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP was proclaimed as a new paradigm in promoting open government and democratic principles through the creation of participatory mechanisms involving governments and CSOs. This article aims to examine in more detail if the OGP, after 5 years in existence, has lived up to the initial proclamations as a new model of democracy-promotion at the global level. Departing from theoretical considerations on the potential of participatory mechanisms for the promotion of democratic processes, the article analyzes the OGP processes of 3 founding members, Brazil, the US and the UK. Although the structure of the OGP is highly innovative in many respects, the findings suggest that the governments of the 3 countries examined have used the OGP as a smoke screen to distract from ongoing corruption, lacking transparency and government secrecy. This article contributes to research on the possibilities and challenges of effectively democratizing global governance mechanisms through the involvement of governments and civil society actors.

The Ebola epidemic in 2014 in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone demonstrated for the first time that in an interdependent and interconnected world the Ebola virus is no longer a negligible threat limited in its lethal impact to a few isolated African villages. By linking Carol Gould's concept of transnational solidarity with the concept of transnational advocacy networks, this article argues that a variety of actors from governments, academia, civil society and the private sector must join forces to establish a mechanism with the potential to considerably accelerate research and development (R&D) on Ebola. By presenting the key logic underlying three existing public-private partnerships on neglected diseases, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), the TB Alliance and the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), the article tries to identify the principal characteristics of such a new mechanism to successfully pool resources, knowledge and expertise for the development of tested and effective Ebola treatment. The article concludes by emphasising that the present atmosphere of transnational solidarity with those African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic represents a unique window of opportunity to create such a mechanism. Policy Implications• To prevent a future Ebola outbreak with potentially disastrous consequences actors from governments, civil society and the private sector should join forces and launch a public-private partnership with the objective of developing effective treatments for Ebola.• This public-private partnership should develop the potential to significantly accelerate R&D on Ebola by pooling the knowledge, expertise and compound libraries of all relevant actors involved and thus creating a virtual and global laboratory on Ebola drug development.• The partnership should be modelled on similar existing partnerships on neglected diseases, such as the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, the TB Alliance or the Medicines for Malaria Venture, which achieved to significantly accelerate and dynamise R&D on a range of neglected diseases.• The inherent logic of this partnership should be based on the production of Ebola vaccines as global public goods for patients in need rather than a market-based approach favouring the commercial interests of pharmaceutical companies.