Transnational environmental governance

Transnational environmental governance is the collective steering of societal processes by public and private actors in order to prevent, mitigate, and adapt to environmental change, involving two or more countries. Such processes typically involve a variety of actors. In addition to the traditional role of states, environmentalist groups, science networks, business associations, and intergovernmental organizations also play an increasing role in complex systems of multilevel governance. Major instruments of transnational environmental governance are international treaties and novel types of institutions concluded by nonstate actors. Problems of equity and legitimacy are becoming increasingly crucial. Importantly, the overall effectiveness of transnational environmental governance does not appear to be sufficient to prevent large-scale long-term transformations of the Earth system.