The role of expert assessments in international environmental affairs

1
The role of expert assessments in international
environmental affairs

• William Clark
• Global Environmental Assessment Project
• Harvard University
• http//environment.harvard.edu/gea

2
The Problem

• gt 200 international environmental treaties
• most requiring periodic assessments of
• scientific information on causes, prospects
• evaluations of impacts
• efficacy of response strategies.
• Through complex processes engaging 000s
• How are we doing? How to improve?

3
The broader context

• If the information age is changing
  relationships of power interdependence in the
  international arena (Keohane Nye 98)
• Just how does it do so?
• What kinds of information, produced in what kinds
  of institutions, have what kinds of impacts on
  international affairs?
• What does this mean for practice of analysis
  assessment in international contexts?

4
The Global Environmental Assessment (GEA) Project

• 5 yr research and training program to address
  these issues for environmental info
• international, interdisciplinary team
• Clark, Parson, Jasanoff, Holdren, Dickson
• Keohane, McCarthy, Schrag, Jaeger
• Doctoral and postdoctoral fellows (23 5)
• research papers, seminar, workshops, web

5
What is an Assessment?

• A technical report produced by a suitably
  sanctioned international committee?
• A social process conducted within a framework of
  international institutions?
• A distributed information and decision support
  system linking knowledge and action across
  scales?

6
What are the effects of assessments on action?

• Potentially, contributing to change across a
  spectrum covering
• contents of the global garbage can
• issue frames and agendas
• strategies of actors
• policy commitments
• In practice, more on upper end of spectrum

7
What distinguishes effective assessments?

• Saliency
• responsive to changing needs of specific users
• avoiding the pitfalls of universalism
• Credibility
• to specific audiences, not necessarily the user
• avoiding the pitfall of making only the
  consensual credible.

8
On what do saliency and credibility most depend?

• Historical context
• position in the issue cycle influences audience,
  thus what is salient, credible to whom
• avoid pitfall of anachronistic assessment
• Characteristics of the assessment
• Characteristics of the user

9
Characteristics of assessments that affect
saliency, credibility

• Structure
• embeddedness in decision making institutions
• provision for linking knowledge, users x-scales
• Participation
• universal vs. local knowledge
• scholarly vs. political credentials
• Scope of content causes, effects, options
• Treatment of dissent, technical uncertainty

10
Characteristics of audience that affect saliency,
credibility

• Interests
• Political openness / amplification channels
• Technical capacity

11
Implications for practice

• Many details of design...
• Reconceptualize international assessment as
  process of co-production through which
  interactions of experts and users define, shape,
  validate a shared body of usable knowledge.
• Work for international system of research and
  assessment, coupling global knowledge and local
  use through national institutions.