Wildlife Crime: Politics, People, and Prevention

Abstract

The production of crop-based liquid biofuels (such as ethanol and biodiesel) to replace fossil fuels used in transportation has grown rapidly and become con- troversial in recent years. On the one hand, biofuels are promoted as a path to sustainable development—a way to mitigate climate change, promote rural de- velopment and improve energy security.1 On the other hand, a number of socio- economic and environmental problems have been associated with their expan- sion. Many governments and non-state actors have been promoting biofuels, and a number of international bodies have started focusing on the issue. Can that be characterized as global biofuel governance? Can we speak of a biofuel regime? This article sets out to analyze the nature of the global biofuel policy con- text, taking account of how biofuels rose onto the international agenda and as- sessing the institutional landscape emerging in parallel.We ªrst explain our an- alytical framework, then elaborate on the global biofuel policy context and analyze it in terms of distributional issues and governance architectures. In ad- dition to shedding light on global biofuel governance, this analysis contributes to a broader reºection on how to deªne governance more clearly in relation to new and emerging sustainability issues in the twenty-ªrst century. Earth