Benefit-sharing in Environmental Governance: Local Experiences of a Global Concept (Earthscan Studies in Natural Resource Management)

This book examines benefit-sharing in environmental governance from a local perspective. Using case studies from South Africa, Namibia, Greece, Argentina, and Malaysia, it explores how benefit-sharing is understood and experienced at the community level rather than through international definitions alone. The cases cover diverse contexts including agriculture, land and plant access, wildlife management, and extractive industries. The book investigates how local voices are represented in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which is considered a relatively open forum for non-state actors in global environmental governance. It analyzes CBD party decisions to understand how this arena creates and restricts spaces for local community participation, including through community protocols. The findings are situated within broader discussions of global civil society and deliberative democracy in environmental governance. The book addresses students, scholars, and practitioners working in environmental politics, environmental law, political ecology, global governance, and multilateral environmental agreements.