Chapter 1: Environmental governance: Whose voice? Whose choice?

Who makes environmental decisions? Who should decide whether to build a road or a dam, or how much timber or fish to harvest? What difference does it make if the public is consulted? Do democratic rights and civil liberties contribute to better environmental management? Should local citizens or advocacy groups have the right to appeal a decision they believe harms an ecosystem or is unfair? What is the best way to fight corruption among those who manage our forests, water, parks, and mineral resources? These are all questions about how we make environmental decisions and who makes them – the process we call environmental governance.

Who decides the fate of ecosystems? Who manages nature?

Earth has no CEO. No Board of Directors. No management team charged with extracting resources responsibly or maintaining the living factories – the forests, farms, oceans, grasslands, and rivers – that underlie our wealth. No business plan for a sustainable future.

Of course, the biosphere is no standard corporation. But every day we make what amount to management decisions that affect the planet