« Regional environmental governance » : différence entre les versions

De Baripedia
Aucun résumé des modifications
Aucun résumé des modifications
 
(4 versions intermédiaires par le même utilisateur non affichées)
Ligne 1 : Ligne 1 :
Les incidences spatiales des faits politiques peuvent très bien démontrer dans la grande diversité de la gouvernance régionale de l’environnement. Le terme « gouvernance » relève d’une tendance actuelle, prescrite et analysé d’un système de coopération plutôt étatique et de coordination plus ouvert impliquant une multiplicité d’accords notamment non étatiques. La « région » est une notion qui s’alimente beaucoup de la construction sociale. Les régions ne sont pas des unités territoriales forcément évidentes, mais ce sont souvent des territoires et des unités spatiales autour desquels il y a des constructions sociales en concurrence. L’« environnement » est l’ensemble des conditions naturelles susceptibles d’agir sur les organismes vivants et les activités humaines étant quelque chose d’assez général et abstrait.
{{Infobox Lecture
| image =
| image_caption =
| faculté =
| département =
| professeurs = [[Jörg Balsiger|Balsiger, Jörg]]<ref>[https://www.unige.ch/gedt/membres/balsiger-joerg/ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de l'UNIGE]</ref><ref>[https://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowships/MaxWeberProgramme/People/MaxWeberFellows/Fellows2007-2008/Balsiger Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de European Univeristy Institute]</ref><ref>[https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=iq6LOksAAAAJ&hl=en Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Google Scholar]</ref><ref>[https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joerg_Balsiger Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Researchgate.net]</ref><ref>[http://unige.academia.edu/JoergBalsiger Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur academia.edu]</ref><ref>[https://www.britannica.com/contributor/Jorg-Balsiger/9312315 Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Britannica.com]</ref><ref>[http://caucasus-mt.net/resources/people/person/216 Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region ]</ref>
| assistants = 
| enregistrement =
| cours = [[Political Geography]]
| lectures =
*[[Introduction and origins of the (sub)discipline of political geography]]
*[[The origins and evolution of States]]
*[[Critical geopolitics]]
*[[Democracy, citizenship and elections]]
*[[Urban policy]]
*[[A political geography of the city: urban agriculture and public space]]
*[[Identity politics and social movements]]
*[[Nationalism and regionalism]]
*[[Imperialism and postcolonialism]]
*[[Regional environmental governance]]
}}
 
The spatial impacts of political developments can very well demonstrate in the great diversity of regional environmental governance. The term "governance" is part of a current trend, prescribed and analysed by a more open system of state cooperation and coordination involving a multiplicity of agreements, particularly non-state agreements. The "region" is a notion that feeds a lot on social construction. Regions are not necessarily obvious territorial units, but they are often territories and spatial units around which there are competing social constructions. The "environment" is the set of natural conditions likely to affect living organisms and human activities being something rather general and abstract.


{{Translations
{{Translations
| en = La gouvernance régionale de l’environnement
| fr = La gouvernance régionale de l’environnement
}}
}}


= La gouvernance régionale de l’environnement : enjeux =
= Regional environmental governance: challenges =
Aujourd’hui, lorsqu’on entend parler de la gouvernance de l’environnement, cela est dans le contexte des grands traités comme sur le changement climatique, la biodiversité, la désertification, mais pas beaucoup se sont produits dernièrement. Néanmoins, on constate qu’il y a une impasse au niveau global. Il y a eu le traité de Rio en 1992, des traités qui suivent le modèle de traité-cadre et protocole concrétisant le traité-cadre. Dans le cas du changement climatique, il n’y a eu qu’un protocole à savoir le protocole de Kyoto.  
Today, when we hear about environmental governance, it is in the context of major treaties such as those on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, but not many have happened recently. Nevertheless, there is an impasse at the global level. There was the Rio Treaty in 1992, treaties that follow the model of a framework treaty and protocol giving concrete form to the framework treaty. In the case of climate change, there was only one protocol, the Kyoto protocol.  


[[File:géopo gouvernance régionale environnement 1.png|thumb|]]
[[File:géopo gouvernance régionale environnement 1.png|thumb|]]


Derrière la notion de « global », il y a toute une histoire de coopération régionale qui a commencé déjà au XIXème siècle, mais qui a vraiment vu une explosion dans les années 1970 surtout après la création du programme des Nations Unies pour l’environnement (PNUE) suite à la conférence de Stockholm en 1972. Le PNUE a établi un programme pour les mers régionales, une série de traités internationaux pour la protection de fleuves, et la convention alpine pour la gouvernance en région de montagne, mais aussi la convention de Carpates. Dans la recherche, la plupart des travaux s’intéressent aux traités de type « global ». Derrière le « global » se cache une diversité de coopérations régionales qui sont différentes de toute une série de manières.
Behind the notion of "global", there is a whole history of regional cooperation which began already in the 19th century, but which really saw an explosion in the 1970s especially after the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) following the Stockholm Conference in 1972. UNEP has established a regional seas programme, a series of international treaties for river protection, and the Alpine Convention for governance in mountain regions, but also the Carpathian Convention. In research, most of the work focuses on "global" treaties. Behind the "global" lies a diversity of regional cooperation that is different in a variety of ways.  
 
Les régions ne sont pas des unités mutuellement exclusives dans l’espace, c’est-à-dire qu’il y a des régions qui se chevauchent. Ce chevauchement représente une série de problématiques qui sont qualitativement différentes s‘agissant de conflits entre traités globaux. L’intérêt aux régions a une longue histoire, mais il y a des approches différentes afin de définir une région. L’approche « traditionnelle » porte sur les études de politiques de sécurité et des études d’intégration régionale économique avec l’idée de la région comme collection d’États. Depuis les années 1980, le new regionalism a apporté une perspective plus fluide sur les régions qui est une approche qui était d’un côté une conséquence de la fin de la Guerre froide, mais aussi tout un renouvellement de la géographie politique pesant sur la construction sociale des régions. Une plus grande ouverture vers des unités régionales qui ne suivent pas les frontières étatiques, pouvant comprendre des écorégions.  


[[File:géopo asean map 1.jpg|thumb|center]]
Regions are not mutually exclusive units in space, that is, there are regions that overlap. This overlap represents a series of issues that are qualitatively different in terms of conflicts between global treaties. Interest in regions has a long history, but there are different approaches to defining a region. The "traditional" approach focuses on security policy studies and regional economic integration studies with the idea of the region as a collection of states. Since the 1980s, new regionalism has brought a more fluid perspective on regions which is an approach that was on the one hand a consequence of the end of the Cold War, but also a whole new political geography weighing on the social construction of regions. Greater openness towards regional units that do not follow state borders, which may include ecoregions.[[File:géopo asean map 1.jpg|thumb|center]]


Ce graphique montre les différentes régions telles que conçues par les travaux de sécurité. Ce sont des ordres régionaux constitués par une collection d’États.
This graph shows the different regions as designed by the safety works. These are regional orders constituted by a collection of states.
La gouvernance globale de l’environnement qui se constitue autour des grands traités a évolué. On a créé ces grands traités autour de la conférence de Rio en 1992. Il y en a eu d’autres, mais peu et tout une série dans la gouvernance globale de l’environnement. Il n’est pas surprenant que dans le contexte de la gouvernance régionale de l’environnement, il y a des tendances et des changements. Il y a eu une très grande diversité parce qu’il y a des conventions globales qui ont des composantes régionales comme la convention de Bâle sur le contrôle des mouvements transfrontaliers de déchets dangereux à des composantes régionales qui se concentrent sur l’Afrique. Il y a également des conventions régionales générales qui ont une composante environnementale comme le traité de la coopération en Amazonie, il y a des organisations d’intégration économique régionale comme l’Union européenne ou le NAFTA ayant des agendas environnementaux.  


[[File:géopo axes de gouvernance 1.png|thumb|]]
The global governance of the environment that is built around the major treaties has evolved. These major treaties were created around the Rio conference in 1992. There have been others, but few and a whole series in global environmental governance. It is not surprising that in the context of regional environmental governance, there are trends and changes. There has been great diversity because there are global conventions that have regional components such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes to regional components that focus on Africa. There are also general regional conventions that have an environmental component such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, there are regional economic integration organisations such as the European Union or NAFTA with environmental agendas.[[File:géopo axes de gouvernance 1.png|thumb|]]


On a essayé d’identifier trois axes qui n’est pas forcément une progression linéaire :
We have tried to identify three axes that are not necessarily a linear progression:
*territorialité – juridictionnel → écorégional : ce sont des instances de coopération qui se focalisent sur des pays ou ayant comme cibles des bassins naturels se définissant sur une base biophysique. On constate une tendance vers l’écorégionale et qu’on va voir augmenter parce que, de plus en plus, le changement climatique se comprend dans les conséquences qu’il a pour différents écosystèmes.
*territoriality - jurisdictional → ecoregional: these are cooperation bodies which focus on countries or which target natural basins defined on a biophysical basis. There is a trend towards the ecoregion and this will increase because climate change is increasingly understood in the consequences it has for different ecosystems.
*coordination – étatique → non-étatique : coopération où on a une forte implication des acteurs de la société civile. Il y a de plus en plus d’implication des acteurs non-étatique.
*coordination - state → non-state: cooperation where there is strong involvement of civil society actors. There is more and more involvement of non-state actors.
*substance – monothématique → multithématique : avec l’idée du développement durable, il y a une tendance vers le multiétatique. Le grand défi reste la gouvernance écorégional qui implique une multiplicité d’acteur et qui est multithématique.
*substance - monothematic → multi-thematic: with the idea of sustainable development, there is a trend towards multistate. The great challenge remains ecoregional governance, which involves a multiplicity of actors and is multi-thematic.


= La coopération régionale : une typologie =
= Regional cooperation: a typology =
Selon le PNUE, dans les années 1990, près de 60% des traités internationaux sont des traités régionaux. Pour ce qui concerne la gouvernance globale de l’environnement, il n’y a qu’un seul globe. L’objectif territorial est toujours le global pendant que pour la coopération régionale, cela n’est pas forcément le cas. Pour ce qui concernant l’adhésion, ce n’est pas forcement le cas que ceux qui adhèrent à un traité sont les mêmes pays où s’applique le traité. On va créer une autre typologie donnant quatre cas de figure très généraux. On a différencié entre deux variables à savoir l’ « adhésion » et la « cible » et on a différence le « contigu » et le « non contigu ». Souvent, les traités régionaux sont préféré aux traité globaux parce que ce sont des acteurs de terrain, mais aussi des voisins.  
According to UNEP, in the 1990s, nearly 60% of international treaties were regional treaties. As far as global environmental governance is concerned, there is only one globe. The territorial objective is always the global one, while for regional cooperation this is not necessarily the case. As far as accession is concerned, it is not necessarily the case that those who accede to a treaty are the same countries where the treaty applies. We will create another typology giving four very general cases. We differentiated between two variables, namely "adherence" and "target", and we differentiated "contiguous" and "non-contiguous". Often, regional treaties are preferred to global treaties because they are actors on the ground, but also neighbours.  


[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 1.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]
[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 1.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]


Prés de 52% des traités, on a trouvé que l’adhésion et la cible étaient contiguës. C’est par exemple le cas de la convention alpine qui implique des voisins et s’appliquant à l’intérieur des pays l’ayant signé.  
Nearly 52% of the treaties were found to have contiguous membership and target. This is the case, for example, of the Alpine Convention, which involves neighbours and applies within the countries that have signed it.  


[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 2.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]
[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 2.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]


Il y a un grand nombre de discontinuités. Il peut y avoir un grand nombre de traités qui portent sur des objets communs, mais pas forcément ayant la même priorité de traitement.  
There are a large number of discontinuities. There may be a large number of treaties that deal with common objects, but not necessarily with the same priority of treatment.  


[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 3.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]
[[File:Balsiger et al. 2012 3.png|thumb|center|Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.]]


Si on regarde la différence entre les traités, 60% des traités ont une cible contiguë, mais 40% des traités ont des cibles non contiguës, c’est-à-dire ayant encore des discontinuités spatiales.
If we look at the difference between the treaties, 60% of the treaties have a contiguous target, but 40% of the treaties have non-contiguous targets, i.e. still having spatial discontinuities.
 
Comme il y a beaucoup plus de traités régionaux que de traités globaux, les catégories conventionnelles ne sont pas suffisantes. En d’autres termes, la coopération internationale dans le domaine de l’environnement est un phénomène hétérogène, c’est-à-dire que les catégories conventionnelles sont inadéquates. Presque deux tiers des accords internationaux sont bilatéraux et parmi eux, quelque 60 % sont des accords régionaux. La plupart des thématiques sont plus susceptibles d’être traitées sous un accord régional. La divergence entre adhésion et cible entraîne des enjeux de pouvoir (politique, économique, discursive)


<gallery mode="packed">
Since there are many more regional treaties than global treaties, the conventional categories are not sufficient. In other words, international cooperation in the field of the environment is a heterogeneous phenomenon, i.e. the conventional categories are inadequate. Almost two thirds of international agreements are bilateral and of these, some 60% are regional agreements. Most themes are more likely to be dealt with under a regional agreement. The divergence between membership and target leads to power issues (political, economic, discursive).<gallery mode="packed">
File:Balsiger et al. 2012 4.png
File:Balsiger et al. 2012 4.png
File:Balsiger et al. 2012 5.png
File:Balsiger et al. 2012 5.png
</gallery>
</gallery>


Depuis les années 1990, il y a eu une chute de négociations des nouveaux traités environnementaux et dans le contexte régional et dans le contexte global. Il est devenu de plus en plus difficile, aussi avec le document importante, de traiter les données et aussi parce qu’il y a une saturation, d’autre part, la transformation de gouvernement à gouvernance signifie qu’il y a de moins en moins de coopération étatique.
Since the 1990s, there has been a fall in negotiations of new environmental treaties both in the regional and global context. It has become more and more difficult, also with the important document, to process the data and also because there is a saturation, on the other hand, the transformation from government to governance means that there is less and less state cooperation.


= Le développement durable régional =
= Regional sustainable development =
L’exemple des Alpes montre que de plus en plus il y aune différence entre les régions physiques et les régions fonctionnelles. Les régions fonctionnelles se définissent sur la base de l’échange ou de services, mais il y a aussi des régions qui se définissent sur la base de migrations, de faunes ou de flux de migrations. La convention alpine comprend des thématiques fonctionnelles, alors on peut parler d’un système de régions fonctionnelles qui se chevauchent. La question pour la gouvernance régionale de l’environnement et de savoir dans quelle manière l’environnement s’inscrit dans le développement durable à savoir en se focalisant sur l’environnement cassant la logique du développement durable qui veut intégrer l’économique, le sociale et l’environnementale ou est-ce qu’avec la focalisation sur l’environnement qui fait partie intégrale du développement durable, on arrive à une conceptualisation différente de la gouvernance. Il y a une tension entre des hétérarchie et des polycentricité.  
The example of the Alps shows that increasingly there is a difference between physical and functional regions. Functional regions are defined on the basis of exchange or services, but there are also regions that are defined on the basis of migration, fauna or migration flows. The Alpine Convention includes functional themes, so we can speak of a system of overlapping functional regions. The question for regional environmental governance and to know in which way the environment fits into sustainable development, namely by focusing on the environment, breaking the logic of sustainable development that wants to integrate the economic, social and environmental, or does focusing on the environment, which is an integral part of sustainable development, lead to a different conceptualization of governance. There is a tension between heterarchy and polycentricity.  


[[File:géopo perspective hétérarchique 1.png|thumb|center|Perspective hétérarchique.]]
[[File:géopo perspective hétérarchique 1.png|thumb|center|Perspective hétérarchique.]]


La perspective hétérarchique, c’est comprendre l’« hétérarchie » comme une structure organisationnelle sous la forme d'un réseau de coopération sans subordination, où chaque élément partage la même position « horizontale » de pouvoir et d’autorité. Dans cette gouvernance, il y a un chevauchement et entrecroisement d’espaces fonctionnels.
The heterarchical perspective understands "heterarchy" as an organizational structure in the form of a network of cooperation without subordination, where each element shares the same "horizontal" position of power and authority. In this governance, there is an overlap and interweaving of functional spaces.


[[File:géopo perspective polycentrique 2.png|thumb|center|Perspective polycentrique.]]
[[File:géopo perspective polycentrique 2.png|thumb|center|Perspective polycentrique.]]


La perspective polycentrique est comprendre la « polycentricité » dans le domaine de l’aménagement du territoire, un principe d'organisation d'un territoire autour de plusieurs centres. Dans la gouvernance, il y a un chevauchement à l’intérieur d’un pays, coordination à travers les frontières.
The polycentric perspective is to understand "polycentricity" in the field of spatial planning, a principle of organizing a territory around several centres. In governance, there is overlap within a country, coordination across borders.


Ces deux systèmes d’organisation coexistent et dans le temps, il y a des changements.
These two systems of organization coexist and over time, there are changes.


= Les parcs transfrontaliers en Afrique =
= Transboundary parks in Africa =


[[File:parcs transfrontaliers en Afrique.jpg|thumb|]]
[[File:parcs transfrontaliers en Afrique.jpg|thumb|]]


Selon Guyot dans ''Géopolitique des parcs (trans) frontaliers en Afrique Australe'' publié en 2006, « il n’y a pas de parc qui soit véritablement ‘naturel’ [...] il n’y a pas de frontière naturelle ». Les parcs en Afrique Australe sont une création coloniale britannique qui articulent trois types de frontières à savoir des frontières intercoloniales, intracoloniales, et « raciales ». Dans le temps, la fonction de ces parcs a changé avec la Guerre froide notamment. Les parcs ont souvent continués à servir de « zone tampon ». Les parcs liés à l’Afrique du sud ont été considérés comme « zone tampon » vers les colonies africaines qui ont subi des révolutions marxistes et prosoviétiques. Des parcs ont été utilisés comme base militaire. Dans ces zones, se sont développés des flux commerciaux.
According to Guyot in Géopolitique des parcs (trans) frontaliers en Afrique Australe published in 2006, "there is no park that is truly'natural' [...] there is no natural border". The parks in Southern Africa are a British colonial creation that articulates three types of borders: intercolonial, intra-colonial, and "racial". Over time, the function of these parks changed with the Cold War in particular. Parks have often continued to serve as "buffer zones". Parks linked to South Africa were considered as "buffer zones" to African colonies that underwent Marxist and pro-Soviet revolutions. Parks were used as military bases. In these areas, trade flows have developed.


Avec la fin de l’apartheid, la fonction de ces parcs va être redéfinie, il y a un renversement de fonctions de ces parcs. Émerge la notion de parcs transfrontaliers de la paix. L’idée est de remettre en cause la notion de frontière comme {{citation|symbole de guerre, de ségrégation et de contrôle territorial}}. C’était surtout un outil d’intégration politique et économique, mais aussi une façon d’augmenter la participation d’acteurs non étatiques et internationaux. À travers la nature, il peut y avoir des liens transfrontaliers qui servent à la consolidation de la nature et à l’établissement de relations de paix.
With the end of apartheid, the function of these parks will be redefined, there is a reversal of functions of these parks. The notion of cross-border peace parks emerges. The idea is to question the notion of borders as "symbols of war, segregation and territorial control". It was primarily a tool for political and economic integration, but also a way to increase the participation of non-state and international actors. Through nature, there can be cross-border links that serve to consolidate nature and establish peaceful relationships.


En termes de droit foncier, souvent, dans ces projets de parc, on voit un transfert de propriété vers les paysans avec des contraintes d’usage comme l’obligation de protection selon les normes internationales ou encore l’ouverture aux touristes.
In terms of land rights, often, in these park projects, one sees a transfer of property to the peasants with constraints of use such as the obligation of protection according to international standards or the opening to tourists.


Il y a une forme de domination géopolitique. L’ouverture postapartheid rend possible le développement d’une hégémonie sud-africaine politique, économique, touristique, mais aussi « environnementale » à l’échelle de l’Afrique Australe.
There is a form of geopolitical domination. The post-apartheid opening makes possible the development of a South African political, economic, tourist, but also "environmental" hegemony on the scale of Southern Africa.


La domination discursive est une continuation de la définition de l’Afrique comme « the greatest animal kingdom » où le touriste Blanc peut contempler une nature « intacte » et des Africains en « habitat ». C’est une représentation qui se perpétue dans les parcs transfrontaliers de paix en Afrique.  
Discursive domination is a continuation of the definition of Africa as "the greatest animal kingdom" where the white tourist can contemplate an "intact" nature and Africans as "habitat". It is a representation that continues in cross-border peace parks in Africa.


Pour Bram Büscher dans ''Transforming the Frontier. Peace Parks and the Politics of Neoliberal Conservation in Southern Africa'' publié en 2013, les TPP sont la manifestation d’une économie politique néolibérale qui s’étend à travers des stratégies comme l’écotourisme et les paiements pour les services écosystémiques.
For Bram Büscher in Transforming the Frontier. Peace Parks and the Politics of Neoliberal Conservation in Southern Africa, published in 2013, TPPs are the manifestation of a neoliberal political economy that extends through strategies such as ecotourism and payments for ecosystem services.


= Résumé =
= Summary =
La gouvernance régionale dans le domaine de l’environnement rassemble beaucoup de termes. C’est une alternative aux approches globales. La gouvernance à l’échelle régionale souligne la construction de ce qui est « régional »
Regional governance in the field of the environment gathers many terms. It is an alternative to global approaches. Governance at the regional level underlines the construction of what is "regional


Les tendances d’aujourd’hui sont d’aller vers une territorialité fluide, vers des coopérations multiacteurs, vers l’intégration de thématiques. Derrière le terme « global environmental politics » se cache le fait que presque deux tiers des accords internationaux sont des accords régionaux. Les perspectives hétérarchiques et polycentriques révèlent différentes relations entre pouvoir et espace. La gouvernance régionale de l’environnement en Afrique Australe pose la question de « the global solution » ou d’une nouvelle logique de domination ?  
Today's trends are to move towards a fluid territoriality, towards multi-actor cooperation, towards the integration of themes. Behind the term "global environmental politics" lies the fact that almost two thirds of international agreements are regional agreements. Heterarchical and polycentric perspectives reveal different relationships between power and space. Regional environmental governance in Southern Africa raises the question of "the global solution" or a new logic of domination?


= Annexes =
= Annexes =


= References =
= References =
<references/>
<references />


[[Category:Jörg Balsiger]]
[[Category:Jörg Balsiger]]

Version actuelle datée du 4 février 2019 à 00:01

Regional environmental governance
Professeur(s) Balsiger, Jörg[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
Cours Political Geography

Lectures


The spatial impacts of political developments can very well demonstrate in the great diversity of regional environmental governance. The term "governance" is part of a current trend, prescribed and analysed by a more open system of state cooperation and coordination involving a multiplicity of agreements, particularly non-state agreements. The "region" is a notion that feeds a lot on social construction. Regions are not necessarily obvious territorial units, but they are often territories and spatial units around which there are competing social constructions. The "environment" is the set of natural conditions likely to affect living organisms and human activities being something rather general and abstract.

Languages



Français



Regional environmental governance: challenges[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

Today, when we hear about environmental governance, it is in the context of major treaties such as those on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, but not many have happened recently. Nevertheless, there is an impasse at the global level. There was the Rio Treaty in 1992, treaties that follow the model of a framework treaty and protocol giving concrete form to the framework treaty. In the case of climate change, there was only one protocol, the Kyoto protocol.

Géopo gouvernance régionale environnement 1.png

Behind the notion of "global", there is a whole history of regional cooperation which began already in the 19th century, but which really saw an explosion in the 1970s especially after the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) following the Stockholm Conference in 1972. UNEP has established a regional seas programme, a series of international treaties for river protection, and the Alpine Convention for governance in mountain regions, but also the Carpathian Convention. In research, most of the work focuses on "global" treaties. Behind the "global" lies a diversity of regional cooperation that is different in a variety of ways.

Regions are not mutually exclusive units in space, that is, there are regions that overlap. This overlap represents a series of issues that are qualitatively different in terms of conflicts between global treaties. Interest in regions has a long history, but there are different approaches to defining a region. The "traditional" approach focuses on security policy studies and regional economic integration studies with the idea of the region as a collection of states. Since the 1980s, new regionalism has brought a more fluid perspective on regions which is an approach that was on the one hand a consequence of the end of the Cold War, but also a whole new political geography weighing on the social construction of regions. Greater openness towards regional units that do not follow state borders, which may include ecoregions.

Géopo asean map 1.jpg

This graph shows the different regions as designed by the safety works. These are regional orders constituted by a collection of states.

The global governance of the environment that is built around the major treaties has evolved. These major treaties were created around the Rio conference in 1992. There have been others, but few and a whole series in global environmental governance. It is not surprising that in the context of regional environmental governance, there are trends and changes. There has been great diversity because there are global conventions that have regional components such as the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes to regional components that focus on Africa. There are also general regional conventions that have an environmental component such as the Amazon Cooperation Treaty, there are regional economic integration organisations such as the European Union or NAFTA with environmental agendas.

Géopo axes de gouvernance 1.png

We have tried to identify three axes that are not necessarily a linear progression:

  • territoriality - jurisdictional → ecoregional: these are cooperation bodies which focus on countries or which target natural basins defined on a biophysical basis. There is a trend towards the ecoregion and this will increase because climate change is increasingly understood in the consequences it has for different ecosystems.
  • coordination - state → non-state: cooperation where there is strong involvement of civil society actors. There is more and more involvement of non-state actors.
  • substance - monothematic → multi-thematic: with the idea of sustainable development, there is a trend towards multistate. The great challenge remains ecoregional governance, which involves a multiplicity of actors and is multi-thematic.

Regional cooperation: a typology[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

According to UNEP, in the 1990s, nearly 60% of international treaties were regional treaties. As far as global environmental governance is concerned, there is only one globe. The territorial objective is always the global one, while for regional cooperation this is not necessarily the case. As far as accession is concerned, it is not necessarily the case that those who accede to a treaty are the same countries where the treaty applies. We will create another typology giving four very general cases. We differentiated between two variables, namely "adherence" and "target", and we differentiated "contiguous" and "non-contiguous". Often, regional treaties are preferred to global treaties because they are actors on the ground, but also neighbours.

Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.

Nearly 52% of the treaties were found to have contiguous membership and target. This is the case, for example, of the Alpine Convention, which involves neighbours and applies within the countries that have signed it.

Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.

There are a large number of discontinuities. There may be a large number of treaties that deal with common objects, but not necessarily with the same priority of treatment.

Source : Balsiger et al. 2012.

If we look at the difference between the treaties, 60% of the treaties have a contiguous target, but 40% of the treaties have non-contiguous targets, i.e. still having spatial discontinuities.

Since there are many more regional treaties than global treaties, the conventional categories are not sufficient. In other words, international cooperation in the field of the environment is a heterogeneous phenomenon, i.e. the conventional categories are inadequate. Almost two thirds of international agreements are bilateral and of these, some 60% are regional agreements. Most themes are more likely to be dealt with under a regional agreement. The divergence between membership and target leads to power issues (political, economic, discursive).

  • Balsiger et al. 2012 4.png
  • Balsiger et al. 2012 5.png

Since the 1990s, there has been a fall in negotiations of new environmental treaties both in the regional and global context. It has become more and more difficult, also with the important document, to process the data and also because there is a saturation, on the other hand, the transformation from government to governance means that there is less and less state cooperation.

Regional sustainable development[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

The example of the Alps shows that increasingly there is a difference between physical and functional regions. Functional regions are defined on the basis of exchange or services, but there are also regions that are defined on the basis of migration, fauna or migration flows. The Alpine Convention includes functional themes, so we can speak of a system of overlapping functional regions. The question for regional environmental governance and to know in which way the environment fits into sustainable development, namely by focusing on the environment, breaking the logic of sustainable development that wants to integrate the economic, social and environmental, or does focusing on the environment, which is an integral part of sustainable development, lead to a different conceptualization of governance. There is a tension between heterarchy and polycentricity.

Perspective hétérarchique.

The heterarchical perspective understands "heterarchy" as an organizational structure in the form of a network of cooperation without subordination, where each element shares the same "horizontal" position of power and authority. In this governance, there is an overlap and interweaving of functional spaces.

Perspective polycentrique.

The polycentric perspective is to understand "polycentricity" in the field of spatial planning, a principle of organizing a territory around several centres. In governance, there is overlap within a country, coordination across borders.

These two systems of organization coexist and over time, there are changes.

Transboundary parks in Africa[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

Parcs transfrontaliers en Afrique.jpg

According to Guyot in Géopolitique des parcs (trans) frontaliers en Afrique Australe published in 2006, "there is no park that is truly'natural' [...] there is no natural border". The parks in Southern Africa are a British colonial creation that articulates three types of borders: intercolonial, intra-colonial, and "racial". Over time, the function of these parks changed with the Cold War in particular. Parks have often continued to serve as "buffer zones". Parks linked to South Africa were considered as "buffer zones" to African colonies that underwent Marxist and pro-Soviet revolutions. Parks were used as military bases. In these areas, trade flows have developed.

With the end of apartheid, the function of these parks will be redefined, there is a reversal of functions of these parks. The notion of cross-border peace parks emerges. The idea is to question the notion of borders as "symbols of war, segregation and territorial control". It was primarily a tool for political and economic integration, but also a way to increase the participation of non-state and international actors. Through nature, there can be cross-border links that serve to consolidate nature and establish peaceful relationships.

In terms of land rights, often, in these park projects, one sees a transfer of property to the peasants with constraints of use such as the obligation of protection according to international standards or the opening to tourists.

There is a form of geopolitical domination. The post-apartheid opening makes possible the development of a South African political, economic, tourist, but also "environmental" hegemony on the scale of Southern Africa.

Discursive domination is a continuation of the definition of Africa as "the greatest animal kingdom" where the white tourist can contemplate an "intact" nature and Africans as "habitat". It is a representation that continues in cross-border peace parks in Africa.

For Bram Büscher in Transforming the Frontier. Peace Parks and the Politics of Neoliberal Conservation in Southern Africa, published in 2013, TPPs are the manifestation of a neoliberal political economy that extends through strategies such as ecotourism and payments for ecosystem services.

Summary[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

Regional governance in the field of the environment gathers many terms. It is an alternative to global approaches. Governance at the regional level underlines the construction of what is "regional

Today's trends are to move towards a fluid territoriality, towards multi-actor cooperation, towards the integration of themes. Behind the term "global environmental politics" lies the fact that almost two thirds of international agreements are regional agreements. Heterarchical and polycentric perspectives reveal different relationships between power and space. Regional environmental governance in Southern Africa raises the question of "the global solution" or a new logic of domination?

Annexes[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

References[modifier | modifier le wikicode]

  1. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de l'UNIGE
  2. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de European Univeristy Institute
  3. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Google Scholar
  4. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Researchgate.net
  5. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur academia.edu
  6. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur Britannica.com
  7. ↑ Profile de Jörg Balsiger sur le site de Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region
Récupérée de « https://baripedia.org/index.php?title=Regional_environmental_governance&oldid=38745 »