Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap

Susan Park, Aarti Gupta

"This book examines how accountability is central to how governments, the private sector, non-government organizations, and hybrid associations have different understandings of how to protect and govern the environment, and how this shapes how they hold themselves to account for doing so. The volume's contributions examine how accountability is being used, in what is termed an accountability trap: those with the authority for governing the environment devise accountability mechanisms to hold themselves to account while not necessarily improving their outcomes and therefore impact on the environment. The scope of the book is wide-ranging, covering climate change, biodiversity, global value chains, fisheries, and trade in illegal wildlife. The book is unique in looking beyond public accountability for states and inter-governmental organizations, to advance the debate on whether private...