Publications

The Politics and Governance of Decarbonization.The Interplay between State and Non-state Actors in Sweden. Cambridge University Press (2024, in press).

Global Governance: Fit for Purpose. SNS Democracy Council Stockholm: SNS - Center for Business and Policy Studies (2023)

Governing the Climate Energy Nexus: Challenges to Coherence, Legitimacy and Effectiveness, Cambridge University Press (2020)

Legitimacy in Global Governance. Sources, Processes, and Consequences. Oxford University Press (2018)

Research Handbook on Climate Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2015) 

Rethinking the Green State: Environmental Governance toward Climate and Sustainability Transitions. London: Routledge (2015)

Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy. Examining the Promises of New Modes of Governance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (2010)

Books, edited volumes and textbooks

K. Bäckstrand, J. Marquardt,  N. Nasiritousi and O. Widerberg (eds.)(2024). The Politics and Governance of De-carbonization.The Interplay between State and Non-state actors in Sweden. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (in press).

J. Tallberg, K. Bäckstrand, T. Sommerer and J. Scholte (2023) Global Governance: Fit for Purpose. SNS Democracy Council Stockholm: SNS - Center for Business and Policy Studies. 

F. Zelli, K. Bäckstrand, N. Nasiritousi, J. Skovgaard and O. Widerberg (eds.) (2020) Governing the Climate Energy Nexus: Challenges to Coherence, Legitimacy and Effectiveness, Cambridge University Press.

J. Tallberg, K. Bäckstrand and J. Scholte (eds.) (2018) Legitimacy in Global Governance. Sources, Processes, and Consequences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

K. Bäckstrand and A. Kronsell (eds.) (2015). Rethinking the Green State: Environmental Governance toward Climate and Sustainability Transitions. London: Routledge. 

K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (eds.) (2015) Research Handbook on Climate Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand, J. Khan, A. Kronsell and E. Lövbrand (eds.)  (2010) Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy. Examining the Promises of New Modes of Governance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand (2001) What Can Nature Withstand? Science, Politics and Discourses in Transboundary Air Pollution Diplomacy, Lund Political Studies 116, PhD Dissertation, Department of Political Science.ISBN 91-88306-35-6.

Peer-reviewed articles

P. Pattberg and K. Bäckstrand (2023). ”Enhancing the achievement of the SDGs: lessons learned at the half-way point of the 2030 Agenda”. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 23(2), 107-114.

J. Pickering, T. Hickmann, K. Bäckstrand, A. Kalfagianni, M. Bloomfield, A. Mert, H. Ransan-Cooper and A.Y. Lo (2022) “Democratising sustainability transformations: Assessing the transformative potential of democratic practices in environmental governance”, Earth System Governance, 11. 

K. Bäckstrand, J. Kuyper and N. Nasiritousi (2021) “From collaboration to contestation? Perceptions of legitimacy and effectiveness in post-Paris climate governance”, Earth System Governance, 9. 

J. Pickering, K. Bäckstrand and D. Schlossberg (2020) “Between environmental and ecological democracy: theory and practice at the democracy-environment nexus”, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 22(1):1-15.

N. Nasiritousi and K. Bäckstrand (2019) ”International Climate Policy in the Post-Paris Era. Nordic Economic Policy Review, Nordic Council of Ministers.

D. Schlossberg, K. Bäckstrand, J. Pickering (2019) “Reconciling Ecological and Democratic Values. Recent Perspectives on Ecological Democracy”. Environmental Values 28(1): 1-9.

K. Bäckstrand K, J. Kuyper, B-0 Linnér, E. Lövbrand (2017) “Non-state actors in global climate governance: from Copenhagen to Paris and beyond.” Environmental Politics 26(4):561-579.

K. Bäckstrand and J. Kuyper (2017) ”The democratic legitimacy of orchestration: the UNFCCC, non-state actors, and transnational climate governance”, Environmental Politics, 26:(4):764-788. 

K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (2016) “The Road to Paris: contending climate governance discourses in the post-Copenhagen era”, Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 21(5): 519-532. 

J. Kuyper, K. Bäckstrand and H. Schroeder (2016) ”Institutional Accountability of Nonstate Actors in the UNFCCC: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty”, Review of Policy Research, 34(1): 88-109.

J. Kuyper and K. Bäckstrand (2016) “Accountability and Representation: Non-state actors in UN climate diplomacy”, Global Environmental Politics 16 (2).

N. Nasiritousi, M. Hjerpe and K. Bäckstrand (2016) “Normative arguments for non-state actor participation in international policymaking processes: Functionalism, neocorporativism or democratic pluralism”, European Journal of International Relations, 22(4): 930-943. 

K. Bäckstrand and M. Kylsäter (2014) “Old Wine in New Bottles? The Legitimation and De-legitimation of UN Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development from the Johannesburg to the Rio+20 Summit”, Globalizations 11(3):331-347.

K. Bäckstrand and O. Elgström (2013) ”The EU’s role in climate change negotiations. From Leader to Leadiator”, Journal of European Public Policy, 20(10):1369-1386.

F. Biermann, K. Abbot, S. Andresen, K. Bäckstrand  et al (2012) ”Towards Effective Earth System Governance: Navigating the Anthropocene”, Science 335: 1306-1307. 

F. Biermann, K. Abbot, S. Andresen, K. Bäckstrand, et al. (2012) ”Transforming Governance and Institutions for Global Sustainability. Key Insights from the Earth System Governance Project”, Current Opinion for Sustainability  4: 1-10.

H. Bulkeley, L. Andonova, K. Bäckstrand et. al (2012) “Governing Climate Change Transnationally: Assessing the Evidence from a Database of 60 Initiatives”, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 30:591-612.

K. Bäckstrand, J. Meadowcroft and M. Oppenheimer (2011) “The Politics and Policy of Carbon Capture and Storage: An Emergent Technology” in K. Bäckstrand, J. Meadowcroft and M. Oppenheimer (eds.) Special Issue of Global Environmental Change. 21(2):275-281.

H. De Coninck and K. Bäckstrand (2011) “An International Relations Perspective on the Global Politics of Carbon Capture and Storage” in K. Bäckstrand, J. Meadowcroft and M. Oppenheimer (eds.) Special Issue of Global Environmental Change  21(2): 3678-378.

P. Schlyter, K. Bäckstrand and I. Stjernquist (2009) ”Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees? The Environmental Effectiveness of Forest Certification in Sweden”, Forest Policy and Economics, 11(5-6): 375-382.

K. Bäckstrand (2008) ”Accountability of Networked Climate Governance: The Rise of Transnational Climate Partnerships, Global Environmental Politics 8 (3):74-104.

K. Bäckstrand (2006) “Democratising Global Environmental Governance. Stakeholder Democracy after the World Summit on Sustainable Development”, European Journal of International Relations 12(4): 467-498.

K. Bäckstrand (2006) ”Multi-stakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development. Rethinking Legitimacy, Accountability and Effectiveness”, European Environment 16(5): 290-306. 

K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (2006) “Planting Trees to Mitigate Climate Change. Contested Discourses of Ecological Modernization, Green Governmentality and Civic Environmentalism”, Global Environmental Politics 6 (1)51-71.

K. Bäckstrand (2003) “Civic Science for Sustainability. Reframing the Role of Experts, Policymakers and Citizens in Environmental Governance”, Global Environmental Politics, 3 (4):24-41.

K. Bäckstrand (2004) “Scientisation vs. Civic Expertise in Environmental Governance. Ecofeminist, Ecomodernist and Postmodernist Responses”, Environmental Politics, 13(4): 695-714.

G. Öberg and K. Bäckstrand (1997) “Conceptualization of the Acidification Theory in Swedish Environmental Research’, Environmental Reviews,  4: 123-132.

G. Öberg and K. Bäckstrand (1997) “Praktik och ideal i försurningsforskningen-en studie av vetenskapens självförståelse.” VEST--tidskrift för vetenskapsstudier, 10 (1):23-39.

K. Bäckstrand, A. Kronsell and P. Söderholm (1996) “Organizational Challenges to Sustainable Development” Environmental Politics 5(2):209-230.

Chapters in edited volumes

K. Bäckstrand and J. Kuyper (2024). “The Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action: Democratic Legitimacy, Orchestration, and the Role of International Secretariats”, in H. Jörgens, N, Kolleck and M. Well (eds.) International Public Administrations in Environmental Governance: The Role of Autonomy, Agency and the Quest for Attention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

F. Fritzsche and K. Bäckstrand (2023). “Global Diplomacy and Multi-stakeholderism: Does the Promise of the 2030 Agenda Hold?” In P.W Hare, J.L Manfredi-Sánchez, K. Weisbrode (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Diplomatic Reform and Innovation. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

K. Bäckstrand (2022). “Toward a climate-neutral Europe by 2050.The European Green Deal, the Climate Law and the Green Recovery”, in A. Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, P. Ekman A. Michalski and L. Oxelheim (eds.) Routes to a Resilient European Union. Palgrave MacMillan.

K. Bäckstrand, F. Koliev. A. Mert (2022) “Governing SDG Partnerships. The Role of Institutional Capacity, Transparency and Inclusion”, in E. Murphy, P. Walsh and A. Banerjee (eds.) Partnerships and the Sustainable Development Goals. Springer Cham.

F. Koliev and K. Bäckstrand (2022) ”When are SDG Partnerships Transparent? The Determinants of Progress Reporting” in E. Murphy, P. Walsh and A. Banerjee (eds.). Partnerships and the Sustainable Development Goals. Springer Cham.

J. Marquardt and K. Bäckstrand (2022)”Democracy beyond the State. Non-state Actors and the Legitimacy of Climate Governance” in Bornemann, H. Kappe and P. Nanz (eds.) The Routledge Handbook on Democracy and Sustainability. London: Routledge.

M. Bexell, K Bäckstrand, F. Ghassim, C. Gregoratti, K. Jönsson, F. Söderbaum, N. Stappert and A. Uhlin (2022) “The Politics of Legitimation and Delegitimation in Global Governance: A Theoretical Framework”, in M. Bexell, K. Jönsson, and A. Uhlin (eds.). Legitimation and Delegitimation in Global Governance: Practices, Justifications, and Audiences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

K. Bäckstrand and F. Söderbaum (2022) “Explaining Variation in Legitimation and Delegitimation Practices: Policy Field and Institutional Access”, in M. Bexell, K. Jönsson, and A. Uhlin (eds.) Legitimation and Delegitimation in Global Governance: Practices, Justifications, and Audiences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

M. Bexell and K. Bäckstrand (2022) “(De)legitimation and the Composition of Audiences: Comparing Intergovernmental and Nongovernmental Global Governance Institutions”, in M. Bexell, K. Jönsson, and A. Uhlin (eds.) Legitimation and Delegitimation in Global Governance: Practices, Justifications, and Audiences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

K. Bäckstrand (2021). ”Mot en hållbar klimatomställning till en klimatneutral union 2050.EU:s gröna giv, klimatlag och gröna återhämtning”, in A. Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, A. Michalski and L. Oxelheim (eds.)Vägar till ett uthålligt EU. Europaperspektiv 2021, Stockholm: Santérus Förlag.

E. Lerum Boasson, H. Faber, K. Bäckstrand (2020) ”Sweden. Electricity Certificate Champion”, in E. Lerum Boasson, M. Dotterud Leiren and J. Wettestad (eds.) Comparative Renewables Policy. Political, Organizational and European Fields. London: Routledge.

K. Bäckstrand and F. Söderbaum (2018) “Legitimation and Delegitimation in Global Governance. Discursive, Institutional and Behavioral Pratice”, in J. Tallberg, K. Bäckstrand and J. Scholte (eds.) Legitimacy in Global Governance. Sources, Processes, and Consequences. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

K. Bäckstrand, P. Schleifer and F. Zelli (2018) “Legitimacy and Accountability in Polycentric Climate Governance”,  in A. Jordan, D. Huitema, H. van Asselt and J. Vorster (eds.) Governing Climate Change: Polycentricity in Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

K. Bäckstrand (2017) “Critical Loads. Negotiating What Nature Can Withstand”,  in  J. Meadowcroft and D. Fiorini (eds.)  Conceptual Innovation in Environmental Policy. MIT: MIT Press.

K. Bäckstrand (2015). ”Civil Society”, in P. Pattberg and F. Zelli (eds.) Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Governance and Politics, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (2015) “Climate Governance after Copenhagen: research trends and policy practice”,  in K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (eds.) Research Handbook on Climate Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand (2013). ”Kan klimathotet lösas genom internationella förhandlingar?” in L. Bennich Björkman (ed.) Statsvetenskapens frågor. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.

K. Bäckstrand, S. Chan, S. Camp, A. Mert, M. Schäfferhoffer (2012). ”Transnational Public-Private Partnerships” , in F. Biermann and P. Pattberg (eds.) Global Environmental Governance Reconsidered. New Actors, Mechanisms and Interlinkages, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.                

K. Bäckstrand (2012) ”Are Partnerships for Sustainable Development Democratic and Legitimate?” in F. Biermann, S. Chan, P. Pattberg,  A. Merts (eds.) Multistakeholder Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Emergence, Influence and Legitimacy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand (2012) ”Democracy and Global Environmental Politics” in P. Dauvergne (ed.) Handbook of Global Environmental Politics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand (2011).”The Democratic Legitimacy of Global Climate Change”, in J. Dryzek, R. Norgaard, and D. Schlosberg (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Society, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

K. Bäckstrand (2010) “The Legitimacy of Global Public-Private Partnerships on Climate and Sustainable Development” in K. Bäckstrand, J. Khan, A. Kronsell and E. Lövbrand (eds.)  (2010). Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy. Examining the Promises of New Modes of Governance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Kronsell and K. Bäckstrand (2010) ” Analysing the Legitimacy of New Modes of Governance” in K. Bäckstrand, J. Khan, A. Kronsell and E. Lövbrand (eds.)  (2010) Environmental Politics and Deliberative Democracy. Examining the Promises of New Modes of Governance, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

K. Bäckstrand (2010) ”From Rhetoric to Practice. The Legitimacy of Global Public-Private Partnerships for Sustainable Development”, in M. Bexell and U. Mörth (eds.) Democracy and Public-Private Partnerships in Global Governance, Palgrave McMillan. 

K. Bäckstrand,(2010) “Climate Change and Energy Security in the European Union: From Rhetoric to Practice?”, in C. Lever-Tracy (ed.) Handbook of Climate Change and Society, London and New York: Routledge.

K. Bäckstrand (2010) “EU:s uppgång och fall som global klimatledare” in R. Bengtsson (ed.) I Europas tjänst. Sveriges ordförandeskapet i EU 2009. Stockholm: SNS Förlag.

K. Bäckstrand (2008) ”Klimat-och energisäkerhet i EU. Förenlighet eller målkonflikt?” i P. Cramer, S. Gustavsson and L. Oxelheim (red.) Klimat, miljö och energi i Europa. Stockholm: Santereus förlag. 

K. Bäckstrand and E. Lövbrand (2007) “Contested Climate: Competing Discourses of Planetary Management, Market Efficiency and Ecological Justice” in Mary Pettenger (ed.) The Social Construction of Climate Change, London: Ashgate. 

K. Bäckstrand (2006) “Global miljöpolitik’, in J. Gustavsson and J. Tallberg (eds) Internationell Politik, Lund: Studentlitteratur. 

K. Bäckstrand, A. Kronsell and P. Söderholm (2004) “Hållbar utveckling och administrativa utmaningar”, in A. Nilsson, M. Sillén and P. Wickenberg (eds.) Miljö och hållbar utveckling, Lund: Studentlitteratur.

K. Bäckstrand (2003) “Precaution, Scientisation or Deliberation? Prospects for Greening and Democratizing Science”, in M. Wissenburg and Y. Levy (eds.) Liberal Environmentalism. London and New York: Routledge.

K. Bäckstrand (2003) “Samspelet mellan vetenskap och politik. Experternas, beslutsfattarnas och medborgarnas roll i miljöpolitiken” in L. Lundgren (ed.) Vägar till kunskap. Några aspekter på humanvetenskaplig miljöforskning och annan miljöforskning. Stockholm: Symposium. 

K. Bäckstrand and H. Selin (2000) “Sweden – A Pioneer of Acidification Abatement”, in A. Underdal and K. Hanf (eds.) International Environmental Agreements and Domestic Policies. The Case of Acid Rain, London: Ashgate.

Popular scientific articles and reports

J. Kuylenstierna, C.Hermansson, K. Bäckstrand, A. Nordlund, M. Rummukainen, P. Söderholm and S. Sörlin (2022). 2022 Report of the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Stockholm: Swedish Climate Policy Council.https://www.klimatpolitiskaradet.se/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/kprreport2022.pdf

M. Miljand and K. Bäckstrand (2021). Climate Policy Councils: Success Factors and Lessons Learnt. A GCF-CEEW Report. Stockholm: Global Challenges Foundation. https://globalchallenges.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FINAL-–-Climate-Policy-Councils-Success-Factors-and-Lessons-Learned-2021-11-02.pdf

J. Kuylenstierna, C. Hermansson, K. Bäckstrand, K. Eckerberg, T. Kåberger, M. Rummukainen, P. Söderholm and S. Sörlin (2021) 2021 Report of the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Stockholm: Swedish Climate Policy Council.https://www.klimatpolitiskaradet.se/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/report2021swedishclimatepolicycouncil.pdf

I. Bonde, J. Kuylenstierna, K. Bäckstrand, K. Eckerberg, T. Kåberger, Å. Löfgren, M. Rummukainen and S. Sörlin.2020 Report of the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Stockholm: Swedish Climate Policy Council.https://www.klimatpolitiskaradet.se/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020reportoftheswedishclimatepolicycouncil.pdf

I. Bonde, J. Kuylenstierna, K. Bäckstrand, K. Eckerberg, T. Kåberger, Å. Löfgren, M. Rummukainen and S. Sörlin. 2019 Report of the Swedish Climate Policy Council. Stockholm: Swedish Climate Policy Council.

IVA (2019) Så klarar det svenska samhället klimatmålen. En delrapport från IVA projektet Vägval klimatet. Stockholm; Kungliga Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademin. https://www.iva.se/globalassets/bilder/projekt/vagval-klimat/vagval-for-klimatet-samhallsgruppen-rapport-19-september-2019.pdf

I. Bonde, J. Kuylenstierna, K. Bäckstrand, K. Eckerberg, T. Kåberger, Å. Löfgren, M. Rummukainen and S. Sörlin (2018). Det klimatpolitiska ramverket. Rapport 2018. Stockholm: Klimatpolitiska rådet.

F. Biermann, K. Abbott, S. Andresen, K. Bäckstrand et al. (2011). Transforming Governance and Institutions for a Planet Under Pressure. Revitalizing the institutional framework for global sustainability. Key insights from social science research. Rio + 20 Policy Brief No. 3. 

K. Bäckstrand (2009) ”EU:s klimat-och energipolitik. En tandlös tiger?” i B. Johansson (eds.) Osäkrat klimat – laddad utmaning. Formas Fokuserar. Stockholm: Formas.

K. Bäckstrand and J. Stripple (2009). Transatlantic Divide in Post-2012 Climate Policy, policy brief written for the Swedish Prime Minister’s Commission on Sustainable Development (Regeringens commission för hållbar utveckling), January 23, 2009, Stockholm. 

K. Bäckstrand (1999) “Environmental Security and Transboundary Air Pollution: Lessons for Understanding Climate Risks” in J. Stripple, B. Wiman and S. Chong (eds.) From Climate Risk to Climate Security,.Stockholm: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

K. Bäckstrand (1998) “Vad tål naturen? Vetenskap, rationalitet, könsordning i miljöpolitiken”, Aktuellt om Kvinnoforskning, No. 2 December 1999.

Research projects

Principal investigator, Rising to the Challenge. EUs leadership in a just and effective transformation towards climate neutrality amidst turbulence, crisis and political conflict, funded by the Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas), 2023, 10 million SEK.

Principal investigator, Achieving High Integrity Voluntary Climate Action (ACHIEVE), 2024 Horizon, 55 million SEK

Principal investigator, Transformative partnerships for sustainable development. Assessing synergies, legitimacy and effectiveness of UN multi-stakeholder partnerships across SDGs to achieve the 2030 Agenda,  funded by Formas 2020, 20 million SEK, 

Principle investigator, Climate action in a state of crisis. How Swedish collaborative climate action manage to navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic (Formas), 2020, 2 million SEK. 

Principal investigator, Partnerships and participation in the implementation of Agenda 2030 and in global sustainability governance (Formas), 2019-2020, 2 million SEK

Principal investigator, Climate Action in the post-Paris Landscape: The Role of Non-state initiatives in the transformation of Sweden into a fossil-free welfare state 2018-2022, (Formas), 8 million SEK

Co-coordinator: Legitimacy in Global Governance, 2016-2021, program funded by Riksbanken Jubuleumsfond, 36 million SEK. Lead coordinator: Jonas Tallberg, Stockholm University.

Co-investigator, Governing Large-Scale Decarbonization. State Responses to Climate Risks.  Mistra Geopolitics 2020-2024 Phase II (Mistra), 50 million SEK. In collaboration with Linköping University and SEI

Co-investigator, Mistra-Geopolitics 2018-2020 (Mistra), 48 million SEK. In collaboration with Linköping University and SEI 

Principal Investigator: Challenges and Opportunities in Fragmented Global Climate and Energy Governance 2015-2018, funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, 5,5 million SEK. In collaboration with Lund University, Vriije University Amsterdam and SEI Oxford.

Principal Investigator: Revisiting National Renewables Mix (REMIX), funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the Swedish Energy Agency 2015- 2018. In collaboration with Oslo University and CICERO.

Principal Researcher: Non-State Actors in the New Landscape of International Climate Protection, funded by the Swedish Research Council and Formas 2012-2014, 6 million SEK. In collaboration with Linköping University.

Principal researcher: Transnational Adaptation Governance, funded by Formas 2016-2018, 3 million SEK. In collaboration with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

Principal researcher: Climate Change and Security. Funded by the Ministry of Foregein  Affairs, Project leader Malin Mobjörk, Stockholm University.

Principal Researcher: Governing Climate Change (CLIMGOVERN), funded by Formas, 2014-2016. Project coordinator: In collaboration with Lund University.

Deputy coordinator and steering group member: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate (BECC), government’s strategic research area funded by the Swedish Research Council, 2010-2012, 120 million SEK.

Principal researcher: Democracy beyond the Nation State. Transnational Actors and Global Governance (TRANSDEMOS), funded by the the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, 2008-2013, 33 million SEK.

Principal Investigator: Abandoned Leadership. EUs role in global climate negotiations, funded by Formas 2011-2013. Postdoc Jakob Skoovgard.

Principal Investigator: The Politics, Policy and Regulation of Carbon Capture and Storage, financed by the Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (MISTRA) 2008-2011, 8 million SEK.

Project leader: Participation, Deliberation and Sustainability: Governance beyond Rhetoric in the Domain of Climate, Forestry and Food Safety (GREENGOV), 2006-2009, funded by Formas (FORMAS), 6.8 million SEK.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Democratising sustainability transformations: Assessing the transformative potential of democratic practices in environmental governance

  2022. Jonathan Pickering (et al.). Earth System Governance 11

  Article

  Many democracies find it difficult to act swiftly on problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss. This is reflected in long-standing debates in research and policy about whether democratic practices are capable of fostering timely, large-scale transformations towards sustainability. Drawing on an integrative review of scholarly literature from 2011 to early 2021 on sustainability transformations and the democracy-environment nexus, this article synthesises existing research on prospects and pitfalls for democratising sustainability transformations. We advance a new typology for understanding various combinations of democratic/authoritarian practices and of transformations towards/away from sustainability. We then explore the role of democratic practices in accelerating or obstructing five key dimensions of sustainability transformations: institutional, social, economic, technological, and epistemic. Across all dimensions we find substantial evidence that democratic practices can foster transformations towards sustainability, and we conclude by outlining a set of associated policy recommendations.

  Read more about Democratising sustainability transformations

• From collaboration to contestation? Perceptions of legitimacy and effectiveness in post-Paris climate governance

  2021. Karin Bäckstrand, Jonathan Kuyper, Naghmeh Nasiritousi. Earth System Governance 9

  Article

  How do governance arrangements affect perceptions of legitimacy and effectiveness amongst non-state actors? This is a pertinent question as the roles of non-state actors have been strengthened in global climate governance. In this paper, we focus on how actors involved in climate governance processes perceive trade-offs and specific factors that risk undermining legitimacy and potential effectiveness of those arrangements. We argue that different rules of procedural legitimacy generate sociological views about whether an institution or its policies will be effective and, in turn, are ‘worthy of support’. To establish this, we engage in an analysis of how nonstate actors have been engaged in the UNFCCC, pre- and post-Paris. We find that efforts to deepen engagement is generating contestation between actors, not fostering collaboration. Focusing on how actors view procedural rules and their potentialities for effective outcomes sheds light on support for those institutions and the development of effective policies.

  Read more about From collaboration to contestation? Perceptions of legitimacy and effectiveness in post-Paris climate governance

• Governing the Climate-Energy Nexus: Institutional Complexity and Its Challenges to Effectiveness and Legitimacy

  2020. .

  Book (ed)

  Read more about Governing the Climate-Energy Nexus

• International Climate Politics in the Post-Paris Era

  2019. Naghmeh Nasiritousi, Karin Bäckstrand. Climate Policies in the Nordics, 21-61

  Chapter

  The aim of this article is to assess the efficacy of the Paris Agreement to generate policies and incentivize actions that can contribute to halt climate change significantly. The article shows that the agreement in many ways represents a significant shift in global climate politics. By making domestically driven climate policy central to the treaty, the Paris Agreement avoids some of the reasons for multilateral gridlock that permeated global climate policy for decades. The biggest challenge for state and non-state actors is to increase ambition in climate commitments. The article concludes with recommendations on how to accelerate climate action.

  Read more about International Climate Politics in the Post-Paris Era

• The Road to Paris: Contending Climate Governance Discourses in the Post-Copenhagen Era

  2019. Karin Bäckstrand, Eva Lövbrand. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 21 (5), 519-532

  Article

  In this paper, we advance discourse analysis to interpret how the state and direction of climate governance is imagined or interpreted by the multitude of actors present at UN climate conferences. We approach the annual Conferences of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as active political sites that project ideas, assumptions and standards for the conduct of global politics. This paper examines to what extent the discourses of green governmentality, ecological modernization and civic environmentalism identified by Backstrand and Lovbrand [(2006). Planting trees to mitigate climate change. Contested discourses of ecological modernization, green governmentality and civic environmentalism. Global Environmental Politics, 6(1), 51-71; Backstrand, K., & Lovbrand, E. (2007). Climate governance beyond 2012. Competing discourses of green governmentality, ecological modernization and civic environmentalism. In M. Pettenger (Ed.), The social construction of climate change. Ashgate] a decade ago still inform how climate governance is imagined and enacted in the post-Copenhagen era. After reviewing scholarship on climate governance and International Relations, we introduce our discursive framework and systematically compare three contending discourses of climate governance articulated at COP 17 in Durban (2011), COP 19 in Warsaw (2013) and COP 20 in Lima (2014). We end by discussing whether the discursive struggles played out at UN climate conferences represent a shift in the ways in which climate governance was imagined and enacted on the road to Paris, and to what extent our findings may help to extend scholarship in this field.

  Read more about The Road to Paris

• Legitimacy in global governance: sources, processes, and consequences

  2018. .

  Book (ed)

  Legitimacy is central for the capacity of global governance institutions to address problems such as climate change, trade protectionism, and human rights abuses. However, despite legitimacy’s importance for global governance, its workings remain poorly understood. That is the core concern of this volume: to develop an agenda for systematic and comparative research on legitimacy in global governance. In complementary fashion, the chapters address different aspects of the overarching question: whether, why, how, and with what consequences global governance institutions gain, sustain, and lose legitimacy. The volume makes four specific contributions. First, it argues for a sociological approach to legitimacy, centered on perceptions of legitimate global governance among affected audiences. Second, it moves beyond the traditional focus on states as the principal audience for legitimacy in global governance and considers a full spectrum of actors from governments to citizens. Third, it advocates a comparative approach to the study of legitimacy in global governance, and suggests strategies for comparison across institutions, issue areas, countries, societal groups, and time. Fourth, the volume offers the most comprehensive treatment so far of the sociological legitimacy of global governance, covering three broad analytical themes: (1) sources of legitimacy, (2) processes of legitimation and delegitimation, and (3) consequences of legitimacy.

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• Institutional Accountability of Nonstate Actors in the UNFCCC: Exit, Voice, and Loyalty

  2017. Jonathan Kuyper, Karin Bäckstrand, Heike Schroeder. Review of Policy Research 34 (1), 88-109

  Article

  How are nonstate actors within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held to account? In this article, we introduce the concept of institutional accountability to complement the wider literature(s) on accountability in climate governance. Within institutional frameworks, actors employ rules, norms, and procedures to demand justifications from one another. In light of those justifications, actors then use exit, voice, or loyalty to positively or negatively sanction each other. To depict the dynamics of institutional accountability, we analyze the role of nonstate actors in the nine constituency groups of the UNFCCC. We outline the constituency structure and the population of observer organizations. We then identify examples where nonstate actors employed institutional rules in tandem with exit, voice, or loyalty to foster accountability. In making this analysis we draw upon three years of on-site participation at UNFCCC meetings, document analysis, and more than 40 semistructured interviews with state and nonstate actors. We conclude by discussing the scope and conditions under which institutional accountability may occur in other issue areas of global governance.

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• Accountability and Representation: Nonstate Actors in UN Climate Diplomacy

  2016. Jonathan W. Kuyper, Karin Bäckstrand. Global Environmental Politics 16 (2), 61-81

  Article

  Observer organizations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are clustered into nine constituency groups. Each constituency has a focal point (representative) to mediate between the Secretariat and the 1800 NGOs admitted during each Conference of the Parties meeting by collating information, coordinating interactions, offering logistical support, and providing collective representation. Drawing upon a series of interviews with constituency groups and other qualitative data, we explore how the focal point of each constituency group remains accountable to the observer organizations he or she represents. We make two major contributions. First, we map the accountability mechanisms that exist between the observer organizations and focal points in each constituency. Second, we argue that variation in the usage of accountability mechanisms across constituencies corresponds to the existence of parallel bodies operating outside the UNFCCC. This article speaks to broader issues of accountability and representation in global climate governance.

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• The democratic legitimacy of orchestration: the UNFCCC, non-state actors, and transnational climate governance

  2017. Karin Bäckstrand, Jonathan W. Kuyper. Environmental Politics 26 (4), 764-788

  Article

  Is orchestration democratically legitimate? On one hand, debates concerning the legitimacy and democratic deficits of international politics continue unabated. On the other, the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has progressively engaged in processes of orchestration culminating in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Scholarship on orchestration has almost exclusively focused on how to ensure effectiveness while excluding normative questions. This lacuna is addressed by arguing that orchestration should be assessed according to its democratic credentials. The promises and pitfalls of orchestration can be usefully analyzed by applying a set of democratic values: participation, deliberation, accountability, and transparency. Two major orchestration efforts by the UNFCCC both pre- and post-Paris are shown to have substantive democratic shortfalls, not least with regard to participation and accountability. Ways of strengthening the democratic legitimacy of orchestration are identified.

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• Normative arguments for non-state actor participation in international policymaking processes: Functionalism, neocorporatism or democratic pluralism?

  2016. Naghmeh Nasiritousi, Mattias Hjerpe, Karin Bäckstrand. European Journal of International Relations 22 (4), 920-943

  Article

  The participation of non-state actors in multilateral institutions is often portrayed as one way of decreasing the perceived legitimacy deficit in global governance. The literature on non-state actors has identified several ways in which these actors can enhance the legitimacy of intergovernmental organisations and global governance arrangements. Three partially competing normative arguments, or rationales, for the inclusion of non-state actors in international policymaking functionalism, neocorporatism and democratic pluralism have been identified. Whereas functionalism highlights the contribution of non-state actors to output legitimacy in terms of expertise, neocorporatism emphasises the inclusion of affected interests, and democratic pluralism claims that non-state actors increase input legitimacy through procedural values. These three normative arguments thus offer different understandings of the motives for the inclusion and representation of non-state actors in international negotiations and diplomacy. Through a single case study of United Nations climate diplomacy, we analyse the extent to which the three rationales for non-state actor inclusion are found in views held by state and non-state actors participating in the annual United Nations climate change conferences. Our results show that different actor groups place varying degrees of emphasis on the different rationales for non-state actor inclusion, even though the neocorporatist rationale remains most favoured overall. We discuss the implications of our findings for the democratic legitimacy of increasing participation of non-state actors in intergovernmental affairs and recent trends in the participation of non-state actors in the international climate change policymaking process.

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