Sustainable Development on a global level

In the next three blogs the three levels of governance (Global, Local and Grassroots) will be discussed.

Global

Climate change is a global phenomenon and threat and must be governed on a global level.  Given globalization, this balance of the three Ps will also be looked for on a global level, in and between Intergovernmental Organizations, International Non-Governmental Organizationsand Global Corporations (Stiglitz, 2006). This is the quest for transgovernance or metagovernance (in ‘t Veld, 2011).

The United Nations and UNESCO play a important role. The structure in regional organization is important to implement the global strategy towards governing the mitigation of the consequences of climate change. The Rio+20 conference is of immense importance.  But also the World Economic Forum in Davos.  There global CSR is forged.

The sustainability problems are wicked, interconnected, and require an interconnected approach.  The SIDS sign the international agreements but have not formulated regional policies. The result is a fragmented approach.

“The rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the more striking developments of recent decades in the global political economy. Calls for MNCs to demonstrate greater responsibility, transparency, and accountability are leading to the establishment of a variety of new governance structures…” (Levy and Kaplan, 2007)

MNCs have, de facto, become part of the fabric of global governance.