Disclosing or obscuring? the politics of transparency in climate governance

Gupta, Aarti and Mason, Michael (2016) Disclosing or obscuring? the politics of transparency in climate governance. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 18 . pp. 82-90. ISSN 1877-3435

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Abstract

Transparency is increasingly evoked within public and private climate governance arrangements as a key means to enhance accountability and improve environmental outcomes. We review assumed links between transparency, accountability and environmental sustainability here, by identifying four rationales underpinning uptake of transparency in governance. We label these democratization, technocratization, marketization and privatization, and assess how they shape the scope and practices of climate disclosure, and to what effect. We find that all four are discernible in climate governance, yet the technocratic and privatization rationales tend to overtake the originally intended (more inclusive, and more public-good oriented) democratization and marketization rationales for transparency, particularly during institutionalization of disclosure systems. This reduces transparency’s potential to enhance accountability or trigger more environmentally sustainable outcomes.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-opinion-i...
Additional Information:	© 2015 Elsevier
Library of Congress subject classification:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography J Political Science > JF Political institutions (General)
Sets:	Departments > Geography and Environment
Date Deposited:	18 Dec 2015 12:58
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/64752/

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