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Philipp Pattberg joins us to discuss global environmental governance and the future of the Paris Agreement.
With the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, fast approaching, we take stock of the evolving governance landscape under the Paris Agreement. A decade after its adoption, the Paris framework continues to define global climate efforts – but does it still hold promise as an effective governance mechanism? In this episode, Pattberg explores the tensions between ambition and implementation, the growing role of private authority and climate clubs, and the need for transformative governance approaches to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. He also reflects on the broader implications of environmental governance beyond climate, from biodiversity loss to planetary boundaries, and what lessons can be drawn for possible futures of multilateralism. Throughout, he challenges us to consider how governance itself is shaped by ideological assumptions, questioning the analytical ‘boxes’ that define the field.
Philipp is Professor of Transnational Environmental Governance at VU Amsterdam and Director of the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute. His research focuses on climate governance, biodiversity policy, and institutional change in global sustainability governance. He has published extensively in leading journals, including Global Governance, Global Environmental Politics and Environmental Policy and Governance, and is the author of Private Institutions and Global Governance and Environmental Politics and Governance in the Anthropocene (with Frank Biermann).
Philipp’s VU Amsterdam profile can be found here.
We discussed:
- ’20 Years of global climate change governance research: taking stock and moving forward’, International Environment Agreements (2022). With Cille Kaiser, Oscar Widerberg and Johannes Stripple.
- ‘Forum: Global Governance: Decline or Maturation of an Academic Concept?’ International Studies Review (2010). With Hans Overbeek, Klaus Dingwerth and Daniel Compagnon.
- ‘The Fragmentation of Global Governance Architectures: A Framework for Analysis’, Global Environmental Politics (2009). With Frank Biermann, Harro van Asselt and Fariborz Zelli.
- ‘Global Governance as a Perspective on World Politics’, Global Governance (2006). With Klaus Dingwerth.
