SNS Democracy Council 2023 Global Governance: Fit for Purpose?

Global problems like climate change, health pandemics, financial crises, and military conflicts demand global solutions. This insight has spurred major growth of global governance over the past 75 years. Yet is this system of global governance fit for purpose in combating today s transboundary problems?

The SNS Democracy Council 2023 examines this question with a focus on three preconditions for wellfunctioning global governance: power, effectiveness, and legitimacy. This report explores these themes in a comparative perspective, analyzing a broad range of international organizations in different policy areas, with an in-depth look at global climate governance as an illustrative case. The Council concludes that contemporary global governance is unable to deliver at its full potential and outlines strategies for making global governance more fit for purpose in the future.

SNS Democracy Council 2023: Jonas Tallberg (Chairman), Professor of Political Science, Stockholm University, Karin Bäckstrand, Professor of Environmental Social Science, Stockholm University, Jan Aart Scholte, Professor of Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, Leiden University and Thomas Sommerer, Professor of International Organizations, University of Potsdam