Open Knowledge (FSC OK)

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was founded by civil society actors in response to the perceived failure of governments to tackle a pressing global problem: the loss and degradation of tropical forests. Forest certification provides international civil society with a tool to promote sustainable forest management by relying on markets instead of governments. The FSC is an example of a private standard-setting organisation and is regarded by many to be one of the most innovative institutions of global environmental governance. Its success, however, has been mainly limited to northern industrialised countries. This study examines some of the obstacles the FSC faces in achieving adherence to its regulations in the South and thereby complements existing literature on the success of forest certification in OECD countries. Its empirical basis is a comparative case study of Ecuador and Bolivia where over 60 interviews with key stakeholders were conducted. The paper shows that the success of forest certification � although it constitutes a market-based approach � depends on policy-related factors. While markets provide the incentives, government regulation is crucial in determining the costs of certification. For example, when conventional timber extraction is very cheap due to a poor enforcement of environmental laws, there are high opportunity costs attached to switching to sustainable forestry. The paper argues that the focus on industrialised countries has led scholars to neglect the importance of government policies for the effectiveness of non-state market-driven (NSMD) governance systems. As a result, a re-evaluation of the relationship between public and private governance efforts may be crucial for protecting the global environment.