Corporate Governance

Purpose – This paper seeks to focus on the preconditions for forging International strategies to deal with social and environmental sustainability. Taking the Brundtland Report and its implied strategy based on inter-governmental conferences and treaties at the global level as a point of departure, the paper suggests an alternative strategy which focuses on governance arrangements (GAs) rather than government agencies and at the regional rather than the global level. The paper argues that for these to function effectively, they must be perceived as legitimate by those affected by their decisions. The paper aims to argue that this will depend on their conformity with certain generic principles regulating the chartering, composition and decision making of such GAs. If these are successful in Europe, their norms may diffuse to other world regions.

Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper, which presents principles for international governance for sustainability based on current experiences with governance in the European Union.

Findings – The paper points out that, since the publication of the Brundtland Report, among the most significant political/institutional changes with regard to policies for environmental sustainability have been the expansion of the competences of the European Union (EU) and the emergence of a numerous and wide-ranging set of trans-national non-governmental organizations. The paper indicates how this new institutional terrain may be used to forge new governance strategies for sustainability.

Originality/value – The originality/value of the paper lies in its analysis of decision making in the EU as a point of departure for global governance for sustainability.