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The Convention on Biological Diversity: From Realism to Cosmopolitanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Virginie Maris
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Extract

The decline of biodiversity is without a doubt one of the most important symptoms of what could be called a “global environmental crisis.” Our ability to stop this decline depends on the capacity to implement an effective, collective system of preservation on a global scale. In this paper, I will analyze the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the international agreement that aims at creating this type of global cooperation.

While I consider that cosmopolitan governance is desirable, given the legitimacy of the preservation of global biological diversity, I will not attempt to directly argue for it here. Still, it is worth mentioning some of the reasons that might lead us to adopt this position. First, certain past conservation measures have been harshly criticized as imperialistic. For example, Project Tiger in India, which Western environmentalists often cited as a success, have had a deleterious effect on local populations.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy Supplementary Volume , Volume 31: Global Justice, Global Institutions , 2005 , pp. 335 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2005

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