Conservation geopolitics

conflict | politics | diplomacy

Featured work

Policy diffusion in conservation

  • Coordinated policies and effective global environmental governance are needed to address the global biodiversity crisis. Human dimensions like geopolitics influence conservation decision-making and outcomes. The importance of considering these complex social factors is heightened in an era of renewed great-power politics, as the intensifying US–China rivalry has direct implications for environmental governance and biodiversity outcomes. Can the US–China rivalry and its confrontational dynamics be channeled into conservation policymaking to improve biodiversity outcomes? Drawing from international relations and policy studies, policy diffusion theory can provide conservationists with useful insights into the interdependency of policy decisions. Here, we examine the four mechanisms—competition, coercion, learning, and emulation—of the classic model of policy diffusion theory in the context of environmental policymaking. We explore a case study for each mechanism to illustrate how it can benefit biodiversity conservation, and point to examples of relevant policies and actions that could improve outcomes. To operationalize this concept for conservation, we present a decision tree that conservationists can use to determine the most relevant policy diffusion mechanism in different policy contexts. Upon determining the appropriate mechanism, conservationists can take further steps to intentionally trigger the mechanism and catalyze conservation policy diffusion across jurisdictions.

  • Cheung, H., Song, A.Y., Di Marco, M. and Biggs, D. (2024). Policy diffusion in global biodiversity conservation: Learning, competition, coercion, and emulation amidst US-China great-power politics. Conservation Letters, 17 (4): e13026. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13026

China’s political will

  • 1. Political will is a critical determinant of the success or failure of environmental policies and interventions. Harnessing the political will necessary to implement environmental solutions can be challenging because environmental priorities may compete with other societal interests in policymaking.

    2. Environmental solutions are more politically feasible if fundamentally aligned with the core interests of key policymakers. Understanding the political agendas of decision-makers enables conservationists to identify where political will already exists, and allows environmental objectives to piggyback on the motivation to deliver results.

    3. In this paper, we explore the core interests of the Chinese leadership to uncover opportunities to leverage Beijing's political will for sustainability and conservation gains. China's growing influence on ecosystems and natural resource use both within and beyond its borders makes an analysis of its leadership's political will valuable and timely.

  • Cheung, H., Feng, Y.P., Hinsley, A., Lee, T.M., Possingham, H.P., Smith, S.N., Thomas-Walters, L., Wang, Y. and Biggs, D. (2023). Understanding China’s political will for sustainability and conservation gains. People and Nature, 5 (1): 57-68. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10425