Efficient Governance of Environmental Resources - Case Study Example

Governance for Environmental Sustainability Topic 2: Values As Well As Beliefs That Are Associated With Environmental Governance Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Introduction Environmental governance is a concept that is entirely related to political ecology in addition to environmental policies. It advocates for sustainable development whereby it is regarded as the main determinant in the course of managing all activities that involve human beings. Environmental governance is wide spectrum topic that touches on economic, social, as well as political fields. Efficient governance of environmental resources requires mutual cooperation between the government of the day, civil society, business or the private sector, political parties, and the local community (Michael et al., 2006). Nonetheless, alternative governance systems need to be put in place in order to capture the elements’ diverse range. Government There are certain values as well as beliefs that guide a government system in its course of managing the natural resources. Values and beliefs of any government are based on the grounds that it is the sole responsibility of each and every individual to conserve the environment (Michael et al., 2006). It believes that the environmental resources are meant to benefit every person. For instance, everyone benefits from free oxygen and stable biodiversity. In addition, a person benefits from stable climatic condition (Michael et al., 2006). The scenario gives an impression that natural resources can be enjoyed by more than one person at the same time. Moreover, these resources are also referred to as non-excludable, meaning that it is not possible for someone to be blocked from using them. The government authorities have already attached some value to since they are considered to be beneficial to human beings. Conversely, this property leads into emergency of another notion that is of public goods in the wider global perspectives. Government(s) set up a non-rivalrous rule that is supposed to guide people on how they can use such resources optimally and sustainably. There is designing of a law that restricts private as well as the public actors from causing any form of destruction to these goods. Most governments have enacted laws that tend to portray environmental justice. South African government is one of the countries that have enacted laws that govern use of resources. The law is dubbed as “National Environmental Management Act Section 2(4) (Feris, 2010).” The law gives every person the right to ensure that environment is not polluted or degraded. The law also promotes conservation of the already untapped resources for the benefit of the future generation. Political Parties Beliefs and values that govern sustainable use of the natural environmental resources depend on the politics of the day. First, it is worth noting that environmental conservation depends partly on the government of the day. For instance, different government may apply different policies that are meant to govern use of natural environmental resources. Different government may have different views in matters pertaining to use of natural or environmental resources. This development can be attributed to the difference in political stands. The new government may have different political stand in matters pertaining to environmental conservation.. There is always a thematic and ideological shift when different government takes power. Some of the thematic shifts that are applied by the administration entail governance as well as “good governance” (Okereke, 2008). The theme of governance portrays formation as well as stewardship both informal and formal rules. These rules regulate and govern use of natural resources while one is still in an open realm. Moreover, the arena indicates the state in which state and the economic as well as societal players interact in the effort of trying to make decisions in life. On the other hand, “good governance” refers to the public sector package that is designed to carry out reforms in various sectors. Therefore, type of governance that different governments will apply will depend and determine the policies and mechanisms that will be put in place towards environmental conservation (Okereke, 2008). Type of governance in a particular state represents another form of politics that determine leadership methods. In such a situation, the government of the day will determine the kind of policies that will be applied towards environmental conservation. Private Sector Private sector is another highly critical body as far as efforts that are aimed towards environmental conservations are concerned. Private sectors in different countries have been heavily involved in activities that try to conserve the environment. For instance, their voluntary programs towards improving the environmental conditions grew rapidly over the last decade. The most fascinating thing is that they were not limited to specific countries but were run internationally. Presently, a lot of international initiatives dubbed as “green” initiative (Thistlethwaite, & Clapp, 2010). The initiative is usually available in different firms. These initiative programs are geared towards ensuring that there is climatic change mitigation. The voluntary climatic change mitigation programs come in different forms from the private sector. According to Thistlethwaite and Clapp (2010), some firms have programs that deal with issues such as forest and food, automobiles, and books production. Financial firms are considered to be the gatekeepers of capital that enables full realization of real economic growth. As such, they signify themselves as points of leverage whereby they act as the accelerators of economic growth in a given region. Different states and governments have realized the importance of private sector input in matters pertaining to the environmental conservation. Therefore, they are deemed as feasible means through which environment’s sustainable development can be realized. Nonetheless, private sector input in the fight against environmental degradation is still not clear to majority. Many do not really understand whether private firms lead to improvement of environmental performance. Environment Movement Environmental movements are practices that are meant to protect and conserve natural environment. This is done on individual, governmental, or organizational levels. Activities performed by the bioenvironmental groups are meant to benefit humans as well as the natural environment. The damage caused by technological advancements and population increase may at times become permanent (Post et al., 2011). Measures of protecting human activities’ impact have been enacted by various environmental movements. Initiatives that are meant to mitigate menaces that environment faces have been boosted through various initiatives. Academic institutions and environmental movements like advocating for initiatives that encourage environmental protection. These environmental protection initiatives are interested at include waste production, biodiversity loss, as well as air pollution. Environmental movements are greatly influenced by the education, ethics, and environmental legislation. The three factors are very important in influencing on how environmental decisions are made at the national level. These decisions are then compared to the ones that are made at the personal level. Environmental movements often develop the abovementioned areas in order to enable realization of the decisions that are related to the environment. One of these approaches used in environmental conservation is referred to as the “voluntary environmental agreement.” Business organizations from industrialized countries are recognized by various environmental movements for their exemplary performance in terms of using the best environmentally friendly practices (Post et al., 2011). The movements aim at ensuring that environmental protection as well as resource management is viewed as complex interrelationships. Therefore, they make collective decisions rather carrying out such decisions on personal level or basis. Apart from that, there are also other agreements that are made on the international basis. They may be at times done between countries or continents. Kyoto Protocol, “ Rio Declaration on Environment and Development” are just but examples of these agreements. Communities Communities that live next to key natural resources have developed their own myths as well as beliefs that connect them to these resources. Such communities have already attached some values to them because they depended on them as sources of their livelihood. Therefore, any decision that is to be made by any manager must involve the local community. For instance, a water manager ought to incorporate values as well as ideas that these communities hold. Therefore, any form of decision should take into consideration of the “non-economic value” that the local adjacent communities hold (Swaffield, 2012). There is need for good management to consider both monetary as well as non-monetary values that these communities hold (Swaffield, 2012). It is also very important to consult elders in case there any intended amendments on the natural resource given various communities’ religious values attached to these natural resources. Such a move reduces conflict in addition to ensuring that the long term solutions that are made are indeed sustainable. Conclusion The fight towards environmental sustainability should be made a collective responsibility for humanity. Nonetheless, government should be at the frontline. Other parties that should offer their support towards environmental conservation are the political parties and the private sector. Environmental movements come in as booster bodies where they help to keep the government on toes as far as the fight against environmental degradation is concerned. Nevertheless, any environmental restoration initiative should not lock out local communities living adjacent to a natural resource as majority of such communities’ rellie on these resources for their human wellbeing. The solution is to ensure an inclusive approach to resource management and governance. References Feris, L. (2010).The role of good environmental governance in the sustainable development of South Africa: Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town. 13(1), 1-7. Michael, A., Srikant, D., and John, F. (2006). Market-based Governance: Leveraging D&O Insurance to Drive Corporate Governance: International Journal of Disclosure and Governance. 3(2), 874-99 Okereke, C. (2008).Equity Norms in Global Environment Governance: Global Environmental Politics. 8(3), 25-50. Post, C., Rahman, N., and Ruboe, E. (2011). Green Governanace: Boards of Directors’ composition and Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility: Business and Society. 50(1), 189-223. Swaffield, S. (2012). Empowering Landscape Ecology-connecting Science to Governance through Design Values: Landscape Ecology. 28(17), 1193-1201 Thistlethwaite, J and Clapp, J. (2010). Private Voluntary Programs in Environmental Governance: Climate Change and the Financial Sector. 4(2), 161-100 Read More