REALISING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT PILLAR

Abstract: This study explores Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean (FME) as an institution working to articulate the national, regional and global dimensions of environmental governance and to promote sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean through regional cooperation. Drawing on current scholarship on Global Environmental Governance (GEG) and institutional interaction, it explores the opportunities and constraints that FME community members face in effecting these linkages. The study follows a case study approach and draws on data collected through interviews with FME participants, as well as documentary and archival sources. The findings point to a dearth of institutionalised conduits through which the FME’s regional perspectives can be fed to global spheres. In addition, the absence of universal decision-making processes in some governance platforms at the global level, a lack of coherence in countries’ policy platforms and deficits in the integration of environmental policy across sectors, are identified as potential obstacles to articulating national to global linkages. The latter may be related to the relative weakness of the environmental portfolio at the national level.