Governing the Anthropocene: Novel Ecosystems, Transformation and Environmental Policy

367 Pages·2020·4.266 MB·English

by  Sarah Clement

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
AND REGULATION
Governing
the Anthropocene
Novel Ecosystems, Transformation and
Environmental Policy
Sarah Clement
Palgrave Studies in Environmental
Policy and Regulation
Series Editor
Justin Taberham
London, UK
The global environment sector is growing rapidly, as is the scale of the
issues that face the environment itself. The global population is estimated
to exceed 9 billion by 2050. New patterns of consumption threaten
natural resources, food and energy security and cause pollution and
climate change.
Policy makers and investors are responding to this in terms of support-
ing green technology as well as developing diverse regulatory and policy
measures which move society in a more ‘sustainable’ direction. More
recently, there have been moves to integrate environmental policy into
general policy areas rather than having separate environmental policy.
This approach is called Environmental Policy Integration (EPI).
The series will focus primarily on summarising present and emerging
policy and regulation in an integrated way with a focus on interdisciplin-
ary approaches, where it will fill a current gap in the literature.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15053
Sarah Clement
Governing the
Anthropocene
Novel Ecosystems, Transformation
and Environmental Policy
Sarah Clement
Department of Geography and Planning
University of Liverpool
Liverpool, UK
Palgrave Studies in Environmental Policy and Regulation
ISBN 978-3-030-60349-6 ISBN 978-3-030-60350-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60350-2
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and trans-
mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or
dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © Marko Poolamets
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
My motivation to write this book was fairly simple: human impacts are
transforming the planet, and changing governance could improve the
situation. I also realised that many different people working in biodiver-
sity conservation are concerned about the near-existential threat of these
changes on the work that they do, and many of them implicitly under-
stand governance challenges. Yet it seemed to me that there was a discon-
nect between the natural sciences literature on how ecosystems are
changing and the research on governance and transformation. While
there has certainly been a cross-fertilisation of ideas between governance
and ecological research, much of the governance literature remains
impenetrable for many natural scientists, practitioners, and policymak-
ers. There are many reasons for this, but one reason is perhaps that the
governance literature is, like so much academic literature, full of jargon.
There are many abstract and intertwined concepts that are not always
easy to untangle or even relevant for those working in other disciplines
and professions. Even though most conservationists can speak at length
about governance challenges and have many ideas about how they could
be overcome, sorting through the academic writing on the topic to find
some practical insights can be a formidable task, just as a foray into the
world of climate modelling might be daunting for many governance
researchers.
v
vi Preface
I learned this first-hand when I began my doctoral research. I was
asked to analyse the institutions and governance systems targeting biodi-
versity loss and explore ways that Australia could move beyond single-
species approaches to target whole landscapes and ecosystems. At that
point, I had worked in environmental management and policy for a
decade, where I gained a wealth of direct experience of governance, both
as an environmental scientist in the field and as a social scientist and
policy advisor for government agencies. Having assumed that developing
a project on institutions and governance would be an easy task, I quickly
learned that this would not be the case. I realised that there was no single
agreed definition of what governance is, how to study it, or even what
form it should take. I could spend months just trying to decipher a single
school of thought on what an institution is and how these elusive features
of our social world could be studied. As with most academic disciplines,
there are many different perspectives and approaches within the gover-
nance literature, each with their own specialist language and perspectives
that are important for communication within the discipline, but make it
difficult for outsiders to understand.
My interest in novel ecosystems was also piqued during this time, as it
seemed to me that this contested concept could benefit from some of the
insight I was gaining in my governance research. There was also a realisa-
tion about the subjectivity of nature conservation that arose from my
background and experience. I grew up in America and received my envi-
ronmental science degree there, before leaving to work in Australia with
a very particular idea of what wilderness looks like. Although I knew
there was no such thing as ‘pristine’ anymore, I still had a sense that
nature was something that could be studied as something separate from
culture. Those ideas were challenged by my work in biodiversity conser-
vation, as I saw people who strongly believed nature needed active human
intervention to survive in many landscapes. Moving to the UK trans-
formed those ideas again, providing a clear example of just how different
novelty can be viewed in different contexts.
This book draws on the lessons of the governance literature, but seeks
to simplify those messages and translate them into practical terms. This is
not always possible. The use of specialised concepts from both the natural
Preface vii
and social sciences is inevitable, but I try to distil these as much as pos-
sible and provide a glossary for reference. As you will see, there are also
many areas where the research findings are unclear, practical insights are
hard to pin down, and further work, across multiple disciplines, is des-
perately needed. In highlighting these deficiencies in our present under-
standing, my aim is to speak to a wider audience of individuals and
organisations who work in environmental conservation, both within and
outside of academia, about the scale of the task that lies ahead, and some
of the potential ways changing governance might help us more effectively
confront the ecological challenges of the Anthropocene.
A great deal has been written about how significant social, economic,
and political unrest can provide the conditions for positive policy change.
To take advantage of these windows of opportunity, it is important to
have a clear message about what the problem is, pragmatic ideas about
potential solutions, and a plan for leveraging political conditions in
favour of positive social change (Kingdon 1995). As I write this in 2020,
it feels as though the world could not be more tumultuous. The year that
started with Australia in flames has progressed through a series of remark-
able events, including global protests, further fires in the Arctic and
America, and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic that sent much of the
world (and its economies) into lockdown. The positive impacts on nature
and carbon emissions resulting from these lockdown measures have
inspired a proliferation of thought pieces about how this will change our
relationship to the natural world. There are currently conversations about
how to use this opportunity to transition to a more sustainable economy.
There has been talk of a ‘green recovery’ and the launching of the UK
government’s policy of ‘build back better’, both of which put climate
change at the heart of political promises. These declarations are being
made as yet another significant change looms—Britain’s impending exit
from the European Union, which requires Britain to develop its own
environmental governance principles and regulations to fill the gaps. It
remains to be seen whether these windows of opportunity and these
political promises will lead to a sustainable transformation. While many
of the conditions are right, and many people acknowledge the need,
intentional social and governance transformations are difficult to
viii Preface
engineer. There is also a sense that many people are desperate to return to
‘normal’—a desire that might well unravel the hopeful expressions and
dreams of a ‘green future’ that have been nurtured amidst the maelstrom
of the COVID-19 crisis. Should this reversal not occur, however, the
aforementioned need for an understanding of the problems we face—
and an appreciation of what is achievable and what is not in answer to
these problems—will be as pressing as ever. The chapters ahead present a
first step towards fulfilling that need and with it, ideas and provocations
that, hopefully, will inspire others to explore further in their own work.
Liverpool, UK
Reference
Kingdon, J. W. (1995) Agendas, alternatives, and public policies. 2nd ed.
New York: HarperCollins College Publishers.
Acknowledgements
All books are a collective effort, even if single authored. First and fore-
most, I need to thank all of the participants in my research. There are
hundreds of people who have participated in both large and small ways,
and I hope I did your views justice. In particular, I would like to thank
the experts who took the time to respond to my thorny questions about
scientific concepts, including Professor Richard Hobbs, Professor Chris
Thomas, Associate Professor Rachel Standish, Professor Pat Kennedy, Dr.
Joe Fontaine, Dr. Phil Zylstra, Professor Richard Bradshaw, and Professor
Rob Marrs. It is not an easy thing trying to marry governance and sci-
ence, and any failure to capture nuance is mine and not yours. To the
many colleagues who came to my various talks and seminars, particularly
those that heard about these thoughts in an embryonic stage, I appreciate
your thoughtful questions that help me develop my thinking. To Marko
for the photographs as well as the sort of inspiration that I didn’t even
know I needed; nothing is impossible. I appreciate the support of all of
my friends during this process, but a special thank you to Christina
Berry-Moorcroft for your indefatigable and helpful support. And to
Pandora, I cannot overstate your role as morale officer. Finally, to James
whose belief in my capacity never fades, and who encouraged me to do
this in the first place. As always, you offered support in every way, but
ix