Stockholm and the Rise of Global Environmental Governance
The Human Environment

A unique history of global environmental governance, viewed through the lens of Stockholm's outsized role in shaping its trajectory.

Sverker Sörlin (Author), Eric Paglia (Author)

9781009177801, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2024

362 pages
23.6 x 16.1 x 2.7 cm, 0.688 kg

'In this fine-grained analysis, Sörlin and Paglia explore the rise of the discourse of global environmental governance through the prism of an account of the work of a constellation of individuals and organizations associated with the city of Stockholm. The result is not only a new perspective on the evolution of thinking about global environmental governance but also a powerful argument for paying close attention to the geography of knowledge more generally.' Oran Young, University of California Santa Barbara

This unique history examines global environmental governance through the lens of Stockholm, which has played an outsized role in shaping its development. Fifty years before Greta Thunberg started her School Strike for Climate, Swedish diplomats initiated the seminal 1972 U.N. Conference on the Human Environment that propelled Stockholm to the forefront of international environmental affairs. Stockholm has since become a hub for scientific and political approaches to managing the environmental and climate crisis. Utilizing archival materials and oral histories, Sörlin and Paglia recount how, over seventy years, Stockholm-based actors helped construct the architecture of environmental governance through convening decisive meetings, developing scientific concepts and establishing influential institutions at the intersection of science and politics. Focusing on this specific yet crucial location, the authors provide a broad overview of global events and detailed account of Stockholm's extraordinary impact. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Prologue
1. The Stockholm story – a progressive counter-narrative
2. Sweden and Nature – the Model Country Paradox
3. Stockholm – a Climate Science Node
4. The Swedish UN Initiative
5. Twelve Days in Stockholm, June 1972
6. Enter the Earth System
7. Planetary Boundaries and Big Tent Science
8. 'Listen to the Scientists' – yes, but what is the message?
9. Conclusion – An Environmentalism of the Rich?
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: The environment [RN]