Governance

SSEAC Stories Podcast: Addressing Environmental and Social Harm through Global Governance /  by University Bridge

As instruments of global governance, Multilateral Development Banks were created to lend developing states capital for economic growth and development that they could not access from private capital markets. Despite their positive aims, these international organisations have often come under fire and received harsh criticism for their lending practices on economic, political, environmental, and human rights grounds. In particular, the Banks have been the focus of attention for being unaccountable for their actions.

Professor Susan Park chats with Dr Natali Pearson about global governance and Multilateral Development Banks, with a specific focus on accountability mechanisms in the Asian Development Bank.

SSEAC Stories is a podcast series produced by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney. Experts join us in every episode to explore the latest research and share their insights on a wide range of topics pertaining to Southeast Asia.

Listen below!

As instruments of global governance, Multilateral Development Banks were created to lend developing states capital for economic growth and development that they could not access from private capital markets. Despite their positive aims, these international organisations have often come under fire and received harsh criticism for their lending practices on economic, political, environmental, and human rights grounds. In particular, the Banks have been the focus of attention for being unaccountable for their actions. Professor Susan Park chats with Dr Natali Pearson about global governance and Multilateral Development Banks, with a specific focus on accountability mechanisms in the Asian Development Bank. About Professor Susan Park: Susan Park is Professor of Global Governance at the University of Sydney. She focuses on how state and non-state actors use formal and informal influence to make the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) greener and more accountable. Susan has published in numerous journals, most recently in the Review of International Political Economy. Her forthcoming book is 'Addressing Environmental and Social Harm through the Independent Accountability Mechanisms of the Multilateral Development Banks' (Cambridge University Press, 2020). In 2018, Susan published 'International Organisations and Global Problems: Theories and Explanations (Cambridge University Press, 2018). In 2010, she published 'The World Bank Group and Environmentalists: Changing International Organisation Identities' (Manchester University Press). Susan has co-edited special editions and books including 'Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap' (MIT Press, 2019, with Teresa Kramarz) and 'Owning Development'(Cambridge, 2010, with Antje Vetterlein). Susan is an Associate Editor of the journal Global Environmental Politics and is Co-Convenor with Dr Teresa Kramarz (University of Toronto) of the Earth Systems Governance (ESG) Task Force ‘Accountability in Global Environmental Governance.’ Susan was the Chair of the Environmental Studies Section of the ISA from 2015 to 2017. You can follow Susan on Twitter @spark_syd.

Keynote Presentation for IWACP 2020 /  by University Bridge

On the 26th of May 2020, the Ninth International Workshop on Advances in Cleaner Production was held in Melbourne. You can listen to my keynote presentation, ‘Addressing Environmental and Social Harm through the Independent Accountability Mechanisms of the Multilateral Development Banks,’ which is part of my project on the independent accountability mechanisms.

The invited Keynote Speaker Susan Park presents her research, entitled 'Protecting Environmental Rights through International Grievance Mechanisms?', in the ...

Implications of the Narrabri Gas Project proposal /  by University Bridge

You can learn more about this project and its implications for the environment in NSW through these links:

The Conversation, ‘A contentious NSW gas project is weeks away from approval. Here are 3 reasons it should be rejected’, Aug 11 2020, written with Madeline Taylor.

In this piece, we outline three key claims made about the project, which we find have not been adequately substantiated. They are that the project:

  • will improve gas security for NSW

  • does not pose a significant risk to important water resources

  • will not cause significant impacts to people or the environment.

Read more on the Sydney Environment Institute Blog.

Submission to the Independent Planning Commission

In July, a group of leading experts and researchers convened by the Sydney Environment Institute have found serious inadequacies within the NSW Government Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) Assessment Report recommending approval of the proposed Santos Narrabri Gas Project.

The Independent Planning Commission has been asked to make a determination regarding the NGP, with a final hearing commencing this week, to determine whether the NGP is in the public interest.

This submission finds that the DPIE’s recommendation for approving the NGP is based on a systematic failure by the DPIE to provide robust evidence in effectively evaluating Santos’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The DPIE Assessment Report provides flawed evidence that the public will be guaranteed net community benefits, which constitute serious inadequacies in the planning and assessment process.

This project is led by Michelle St Anne, Deputy Director and Operations Manager – Programming, Impact and Engagement at the Sydney Environment Institute.

This report is co-authored by Greg Bourne, Matthew Currell, Tanya Fiedler, Rebecca Lawrence, Susan Park, Nathaniel Pelle, Madeline Taylor, Gemma Viney and Alison Ziller.

On Jul 23, the report was presented to the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s Narrabri Gas Project Hearing.

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Read the report here:

Teaching Earth System Governance: New approaches for learning and action - Conference in Mexico /  by University Bridge

Some action from the ESG conference in Mexico.

The conference was held from the 6th to the 8th November 2019 in Oaxaca, Mexico. The conference was hosted by the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Earth System Governance Project.

A panel of excellent presentations chaired by Dahlia Simangan

International Organisations and Global Problems: Theories and Explanations /  by University Bridge

How do international organizations (IOs) solve problems? In this theoretically driven book, Dr Susan Park examines how IOs tackle today’s complex global issues.

Read More

Our new book will be out Feburary 2019 /  by University Bridge

Global Environmental Governance and the Accountability Trap

Edited by Susan Park and Teresa Kramarz

An examination of whether accountability mechanisms in global environmental governance that focus on monitoring and enforcement necessarily lead to better governance and better environmental outcomes.

Find out more here.