Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance: Expert Institutions and the Implementation of International Environmental Treaties

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Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance examines expert committees advising multilateral environmental agreements on ozone layer depletion, persistent organic pollutants and land degradation. This work argues the co-production arising in these committees warrants recognizing their contribution to an emerging global environmental constitutionalism.

This book examines expert committees established to provide advice on science to multilateral environmental agreements. By focusing on how these institutions are sites of coproduction of knowledge and policy, it brings to light the politics of science advice and details how these committees are contributing to an emerging global environmental constitutionalism. Grounded in participant observation, elite interviews and document analysis, this book uses the lenses of the body of experts, body of knowledge and institutional body to focus on three treaties: the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

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The research that Pia Kohler gathered in this book is a timely reminder of the importance of how scientific expertise is incorporated in global environmental law. This is relevant today, as expertise needs to adapt to the current post-normal context where facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high and decisions urgent. The book explores how scientific expert bodies advise international environmental treaties and influence their implementation. Kohlers interdisciplinary background combines environmental sciences and international relations, which are key to analyse the dynamics within scientific expert bodies. Mara R. Wendebourg,https://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12357, first published 17 July, 2020

This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how science advisory committees shape multilateral environmental agreements. The author provides a compelling blend of historical and empirical insights on both global environmental politics and in science-policy interfaces and advances these field in important ways.
Silke Beck, Deputy Head, Department of Environmental Politics, Leipzig University, Germany

Science Advice and Global Environmental Governance takes the reader behind the scenes of multilateral environmental agreements on ozone, chemicals and desertification, and into the advisory committees where the actions of experts and scientists help shape treaty implementation. Prof. Kohler draws on two decades of studying these committees to provide a unique and fascinating look at how their actions influence efforts to govern the global environment.
Noelle Eckley Selin, Associate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Author Bio

Pia M. Kohler is an interdisciplinary social scientist who specializes in international environmental negotiations. She teaches environmental studies at Williams College, USA, and has taught international relations at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA. In addition to her research on institutions providing science advice to multilateral environmental agreements, Kohler publishes on global chemicals governance.