Category: The Essentials

The most important things you need to know to stay abreast of the latest developments in global governance.

By the global Posted on

Back from the Bonn Climate Change Conference. Can we still oppose science and equity?

In this blog, Kari De Pryck reflects on the Bonn Climate Change Conference organized in June 2023. While these intersessional meetings are less known than the Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), they constitute essential sites for the preparatory technical work of the COPs. With discussions about the implementation of the Paris Agreement becoming increasingly politicized, this year’s talks were particularly interesting to take the pulse of the negotiations for the next COP in Dubai (COP28). Disagreements about the conclusions provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were especially tense, revealing the growing divide between Parties over the need to consider equity when implementing climate action.

By the global Posted on

Infrastructural Clashes: Induced Scarcity and Governing Refugees through Depletion

By Martina Tazzioli – Asylum seekers stranded in refugee camps in Greece are exposed to multiple infrastructural breakdowns that contribute to the depletion of their lives. In this piece, Martina Tazzioli introduces the concept of “infrastructural clashes” to highlight the apparent clash between high-tech control systems, on the one hand, and, on the other, the failures and scarcity of basic infrastructures in camps – such as electricity, running water, and food. Infrastructural clashes are analyzed not as side effects but rather as constitutive components of modes of governing by debilitating refugees. 

photo of waves
By the global Posted on

Epistemic Orders and Global Governance

By Christian Bueger and Annabelle Littoz-Monnet – The authors argue to take note of the fundamental re-organization of knowledge production for global governance. Developing the concept of epistemic orders, they show how epistemic foundations have transformed in three waves. While wave 1 centered on the state, and wave 2 on international organization, wave 3 stands for the centrality of proprietary knowledge production by companies and their foundations. The authors argue that moving to such a macroscopic understanding helps us grasp why and how the problems of global governance come to be identified, delineated, and acted upon.

Image of people carrying hand written signs in a demonstration for climate action
By the global Posted on

Lone Wolves, Mobilizers, and Organizers: How Members Matter for Advocacy

By Nina Hall – Digital advocacy organizations like MoveOn in the United States and Campact in Germany are experts at rapid response mobilizing their millions of members. However, there are limits to a mass-mobilizing model. Here I build on my recent book, Transnational Advocacy in the Digital Era, alongside the works of Wendy Wong, Hahrie Han, Margaret Levi, and John Ahlquist, to examine how advocacy organizations can use their members to exercise influence.

By the global Posted on

Quenching the UN’s Data Thirst and Measuring the SDGs: An Impossible Feat?

By Monique J. Beerli – Is data the solution to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and fulfilling the 17 Global Goals? In this piece, Monique J. Beerli reflects on the practices and politics of measuring the Sustainable Development Goals, drawing insights from a high-level panel convened by the Global Governance Centre in November 2022.

By the global Posted on

The War in Ukraine and Institutional Complexity in European Security: Situating the EU’s New Strategic Compass

By Ueli Staeger and Moritz Neubert – The EU’s new security strategy, the Strategic Compass aims to expedite security and defence cooperation in Europe. To do so, it embraces a variable geometry of cooperation and a pragmatic approach to institutional overlap. But can the EU deliver on these ambitious goals? Connected to broader debates on multilateral decision-making, modalities of international cooperation, and institutional complexity, this blog post assesses the potential merits and pitfalls of the Strategic Compass.

By the global Posted on

A New International Treaty to End Plastic Pollution: From Ambition to Concrete Commitments, Meaningful Action and Effective Governance

By Frederic Bauer and Carolyn Deere Birkbeck – This post reflects on the new Plastic pollution resolution adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) on 2 March 2022.

By the global Posted on

Inequality in global health expertise – and steps toward a pragmatic critique: Advantages of a comparative perspective

Luis Aue discusses the possibility of a more pragmatic critique of expertise. When we think in a comparative manner, he argues, ‘we start to understand that there are different ways in which politics and expertise can interact’.

By the global Posted on

Re-establishing congruence: UN peacebuilding in a shifting world order

By Sara Hellmüller – The effectiveness of the UN as the guardian of international peace and security has been questioned in recent years over its failure to bring armed conflicts, such as in Syria or Libya, to a negotiated end. When analyzing these challenges, we need to pay particular attention to structural factors related to changes in world politics.

By the global Posted on

Global Experts in Local Contexts: Why Legitimation Strategies Matter?

By Sapna Reheem Shaila – International experts must rely on diverse strategies to legitimise their expert knowledge and its application in particular settings. I make a case as to why we need to pay more attention to such legitimation strategies undertaken by experts in local contexts and how and whether these strategies enable the pursuits of global governance and democratic governance.

UN security council
By the global Posted on

Why International Organizations Hate Politics: The case of the ILO and UNEP

By Marieke Louis and Lucile Maertens – “We don’t do politics!” is often heard within international organizations (IOs) from international bureaucrats, governmental delegates or civil society representatives engaged in multilateral action. Taking these apolitical claims seriously can unveil the politics of depoliticization within IOs, such as the ILO and UNEP, and sheds new light on the legitimacy of global governance institutions.

By the global Posted on

Migration, work and rights: the case for human rights due diligence

By Janelle M. Diller – Migration vulnerability stems from onerous terms of entry, stay, work and life based on migration status defined by law. While affirming broad state discretion, international law requires states to ensure human rights, which involves legal reform, business due diligence, and labour market coordination.

By the global Posted on

Proactive Governance and Citizen Engagement

By Nilanjan Raghunath – Social inequalities exacerbated by job losses due to automation and the pandemic can be mitigated by seeking collaborative and inclusive work policies.  This requires proactive governance, a model which includes multiple players providing feedback to create opportunities such as upskilling for people of all ages.  One such example is Singapore, where tripartite consensus plays a significant role in job creation and skills evolution.  Each country should create its own inclusive model.