Environmental policy development at the global level: Issues and prospects

Abstract

Due to the increased ecological crisis, there has been a corresponding spread of awareness and concern for environmental protection and conservation all over the world. There has been a growing recognition that many environmental problems, in particular, those of a trans-boundary nature, cannot be successfully tackled solely at the national level. Nation-states can no longer act alone to solve many of the environmental problems that they face. States, along with other international actors, have responded by creating international ‘regimes’ in an attempt to tackle problems ranging from ozone depletion and climate change to biodiversity loss and toxic waste exports (Connelly, J., Smith, G., Benson, D., & Saunders, C., 2012, p.250). The idea of global environmental governance took place to address the environmental challenges at the global platform. The idea of environmental governance is to govern the environment through a range of nation-states and non-state actors such as national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international organizations such as UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). Environmental governance is the answer to calls for new forms of environmental challenges and complexities. It is perceived to be an effective form of multilateral management and essential to the global community in meeting goals of mitigation and the possible reversal of the human impacts on the global environment. The present article discusses the global response to environmental issues. DOI: 10.5958/2347-6869.2019.00002.