Which statement best describes environmental governance, per Lemos and Agrawal?

Which statement best describes environmental governance, per Lemos and Agrawal?

• A. It is solely state-led regulation.
• B. It is a simple market-driven process.
• C. It is a hybrid, multi-scalar process involving multiple actors.
• D. It is independent of power relations.

Answer: (C)

Environmental governance, in Lemos and Agrawal’s view, is about how environmental decisions are made through a mix of actors across multiple places and levels. It isn’t limited to government agencies alone, nor does it rely only on markets or private interests. Instead, it brings together states, communities, businesses, NGOs, and researchers in a web of rules, norms, and practices that operate at local, national, and global scales. This hybrid, multi-scalar nature matters because power, knowledge, and whose preferences count shape which solutions get taken up and how effective they are. Decisions emerge from negotiation, collaboration, and contestation among diverse actors, across different levels of governance. So describing environmental governance as a process that involves multiple actors across scales best captures what Lemos and Agrawal emphasize.

Environmental governance, in Lemos and Agrawal’s view, is about how environmental decisions are made through a mix of actors across multiple places and levels. It isn’t limited to government agencies alone, nor does it rely only on markets or private interests. Instead, it brings together states, communities, businesses, NGOs, and researchers in a web of rules, norms, and practices that operate at local, national, and global scales.

This hybrid, multi-scalar nature matters because power, knowledge, and whose preferences count shape which solutions get taken up and how effective they are. Decisions emerge from negotiation, collaboration, and contestation among diverse actors, across different levels of governance. So describing environmental governance as a process that involves multiple actors across scales best captures what Lemos and Agrawal emphasize.