Agency in a Multiscalar World

Scobie, Michelle; Betsill, Michele M.; Park, Hyeyoon

doi:10.1017/9781108688277.009

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Agency can be defined as the dynamic and fluctuating capacity of actors to "act in the face of earth system transformation or to produce effects that ultimately shape natural processes" either to solve problems or to cause problems (Dellas et al, 2011, 89). Agency is multi-layered, interlinked, shared, contested and exercised by a range of actors (Biermann & Siebenhüner, 2009;Scobie, Benney et al, 2020;Scobie, Betsill et al, 2020). Furthermore, there is a lively debate on the nature, identity, exercise, and evaluation of agency in the environmental governance literature (Betsill et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agency dynamics of International Environmental Agreements: actors, contexts, and drivers

Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen

Rietig

Scobie

2022

Int Environ Agreements

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The structural elements of global environmental governance are notoriously difficult to change and align with the needs of a rapidly deteriorating earth system. This, however, only increases the need to focus on the role of agency in this context. This paper does so by taking stock of what we know about agency in relation to International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) and suggests directions for future research. We contribute a conceptual framework to enable the mapping of research on agency related to IEAs and advance more systematic study of agency in this context. The framework differentiates between the negotiation of IEAs, their implementation and outcomes, and includes agency-related and context-related drivers of agency in these processes. We subsequently review articles published between 2003 and 2020 in the journal International Environmental Agreements (as one of the few journals exclusively focusing on IEAs) dealing with actors’ agency and analyse how these articles address agency in the context of IEAs. We conclude firstly by identifying avenues for how further research can fill important gaps, including a need for increased transparency on the methods and theories used in articles, and more comparative research particularly on agency dynamics in implementation; and secondly by highlighting important pointers for policy-makers including the need to re-evaluate the role of national sovereignty and address the forces that counteract equality and justice. Key lessons include the need to improve global south countries' capacity to influence IEA negotiations (input legitimacy), the central role of public and peer pressure on countries to implement commitments, the impact of multilevel governance dynamics and the importance of ensuring that IEAs benefit local communities (output legitimacy).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%