Globalization’s limits to the environmental state? Integrating telecoupling into global environmental governance

Abstract

Globalization entails increased interdependence and interconnectivities among distal regions and social-ecological systems. This global interregional connectednesstelecouplinggives rise to specific sustainability challenges, which require new governance solutions. Moving beyond 'scalingup' governance to address global environmental problems, and exploring the implications of telecoupling for state-led environmental governance, ways the state can effectively address telecoupled environmental issues both within and beyond national borders are addressed, drawing on the example of soy trade between Brazil and Germany. This builds on recent contributions to the literature on governance of interregional ecological challenges to elaborate potential policy and governance options, ranging from classical bilateral, multilateral, and international agreements, to information-based, economic, and hybrid governance modes. While telecoupled environmental problems create governance challenges related to scale, knowledge gaps, coordination, and state capacity, the state has an important role to play. To explore this further, interdisciplinary inquiry is required that includes but moves beyond the state.

Polycentric governance in telecoupled resource systems

“…A polycentric approach can support scientists and policymakers in using their "understanding [of land systems change] to design sustainable transformations through stakeholder engagement and through the concept of land governance" (Verburg et al 2015:29). This is particularly true for land systems that are telecoupled, because the interconnected and multiscalar nature of telecoupled systems has important implications for land governance (Lenschow et al 2016). Governance mechanisms embedded in a single decision-making arena, such as a central government or a local community, fail to provide effective solutions if they disregard the autonomy of actors who affect land change in connected arenas (Nagendra and Ostrom 2012).…”

“…A telecoupled system may require governance solutions that are neither local nor global: local institutions with clear boundaries may be overwhelmed by interactions with systems to which they are distantly connected. By contrast, global institutions, such as agreements between UN member states, may be too unspecific to address telecoupling, which is often characterized by key interactions in a small number of countries (Challies et al 2014, Lenschow et al 2016. Even though institutional analysis has long taken note of the globalization of social-ecological systems (Young et al 2006) and their connectivity (Brondizio et al 2009), institutional theories remain far less developed to explain sustainability in telecoupled resource systems compared to small-or large-scale resource systems.…”

International progress and evaluation on interactive coupling effects between urbanization and the eco-environment

“…On the other hand, interactions between humans and nature through such things as trade and animal migration transcend political or ecosystem boundaries. Markets and governments can make decisions that affect people and ecosystems in faraway places (Lenschow et al, 2015).…”

On the System. Boundary Choices, Implications, and Solutions in Telecoupling Land Use Change Research

“…In particular, it has been noted that telecouplings are prone to creating landscapes of extraction and exploitation [14], and a number of recent studies indicate how telecouplings increase existing or create new livelihood vulnerabilities [15,16], as well as accentuate inequalities in the access to, control over, and benefits from land and other natural resources [17][18][19]. As a result, discussions on the need for a better understanding of the differentiated effects of telecoupling have arisen, as has the recognition of the need to identify leverage points for intervention towards more sustainable land outcomes [8,9,12,20].…”

“…A prominent feature of these processes is the intensified interconnectedness between the places that supply land-based products and the places that demand them. Recently, conceptualised as telecouplings in the field of coupled human-environment systems research and Land System Science (LSS) [6,7], the socioeconomic and environmental interactions creating this connectedness have been recognised as a substantial sustainability and equity challenge [8][9][10][11][12][13]. In particular, it has been noted that telecouplings are prone to creating landscapes of extraction and exploitation [14], and a number of recent studies indicate how telecouplings increase existing or create new livelihood vulnerabilities [15,16], as well as accentuate inequalities in the access to, control over, and benefits from land and other natural resources [17][18][19].…”