World Environment Organization

Frank Biermann is Professor of Political Science and Environmental Policy Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He also heads the Department of Environmental Policy Analysis at the university's Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), and is the Director of the Global Governance Project (GLOGOV.ORG). Steffen Bauer is the coordinator of the MANUS research group ('Managers of Global Change: Effectiveness and Learning of International Organizations') within the Global Governance Project (GLOGOV.ORG), and a doctoral candidate in political science at the Freie Universität Berlin.

'Until now, we have been without a solid, authoritative and comprehensive book, covering the pros and cons of the various streams of ideas [on a world environment organization]. So I thank the editors and writers of "A World Environment Organization". I believe it will make an important contribution to informing a wider audience on where we need to go.' Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme [from the Foreword] 'This book exemplifies policy analysis at its best. It addresses an issue of obvious importance, explores it from a variety of perspectives, and avoids simplistic conclusions. Whatever your view of the idea of creating a World Environment Organization, this book will sharpen your thinking.' Professor Oran Young, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Co-Director, Bren Program on Governance for Sustainable Development, University of California (Santa Barbara), USA and Chair of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change research programme 'The debate reflected in this collection is instructive in revealing just how difficult and multi-dimensional the subject is. It is also interesting that the debate has matured over the years, such that the view of some authors, including Biermann himself, have evolved.' International Affairs '...it is a challenging, if at times rather saddening, collection of essays and repays time invested in its study.' Environmental Law & Management 'Frank Biermann and Steffen Bauer have taken a splendid initiative to bring together some leading scholars in this debate...This book gives a very good insight into the ongoing debate...It is a must in every environmental library, and I believe it will contribute to the debate on environmental governance in the future.' International Journal of Sustainable Development '...a timely if not overdue assembly, in one handy volume, of some of the diverse key reform proposals for a world environment organisation, and the criticisms against these proposals...This book will no doubt be a welcome reference for current and prospective scholars and practitioners with an interest in the ongoing debate.' Environmental Law Review 'Biermann and Bauer's contribution to the debate is ultimately of great value because it offers a succinct and impartial state of the art map of international environmental governance, thereby filling a void in the literature...Other strengths of the book are the timeliness and comprehensiveness of the reference of each chapter and the clarity of the index...' International Environmental Agreements

• Contents: About the authors; Foreword, Klaus Töpfer; Preface; The debate on a world environment organization: an introduction, Steffen Bauer and Frank Biermann. Global Environmental Governance Assessing the Need for Reform: The United Nations' record on environmental governance: an assessment, Lorraine Elliott; Global environmental governance: challenges for the South from a theoretical perspective, Joyeeta Gupta. The Case for a World Environment Organization: Toward a world environment organization: reflections upon a vital debate, Steve Charnovitz; The rationale for a world environment organization, Frank Biermann; Generating effective global environmental governance: the North's need for a world environment organization, John J. Kirton. The Case Against a World Environment Organization: Clustering international environmental agreements as an alternative to a world environment organization, Konrad von Moltke; Reforming international environmental governance: an institutional perspective on proposals for a world environment organization, Sebastian Oberthür and Thomas Gehring; Neither necessary, nor sufficient: why organizational tinkering will not improve environmental governance, Adil Najam; Conclusion, Frank Biermann and Steffen Bauer; Index.