Transformative Novel Technologies and Global Environmental Governance

Transformative novel technologies are potential game changers for confronting climate change, biodiversity loss, and many other elements of the global environmental crisis, possibly allowing us to achieve a more sustainable future, but raising numerous social, political and environmental challenges. The contemporary and future international governance of these technologies has crucial implications for managing the global transition towards sustainability. This book is the first to present a comprehensive assessment of the impact of these technologies on international politics. The author examines the responses of international institutions to the emergence of these technologies in three broad domains: biotechnology, climate engineering, and mineral extraction in areas beyond national jurisdiction. This book is aimed at a generalist audience with interest in the international and environmental politics of sustainability and technology. This title is part of the Flip it Open programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website – Cambridge Core – for details.

Florian Rabitz is a chief researcher in the Research Group Civil Society and Sustainability at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. He holds a PhD in political science from the Free University of Brussels and has previously taught at the Institute of International Relations of the University of São Paulo. His work explores the role of new and emerging technologies in the global politics of environmental sustainability. He is the author of The Global Governance of Genetic Resources (2017).