In this article, we draw on findings from a mixed-methods international survey of experts in the energy sector (n = 179) to better understand the role of legitimacy theory in informing the development of renewable hydrogen standards, certification, and labelling (SCL). The investigation is viewed through two conceptions of legitimacy: the sociological legitimacy of increasing the availability of renewable hydrogen technologies and the normative legitimacy of democratic SCL governance. Results revealed that respondents reacted positively to survey statements representing sociological legitimacy, whereas qualitative data exposed some concerns with pragmatic and cognitive legitimacy such as a lack of immediate benefits and poor comprehensibility stemming from sources including economics and energy strategy. Respondents' ratings of the democratic legitimacy of hydrogen SCLs indicated inputs were perceived to have the most legitimacy followed by throughputs, then outputs. The analysis revealed some evidence that features of scheme design and governance may influence experts' evaluations of schemes. Moreover, results indicated an opportunity to increase awareness and knowledge of SCLs within the expert community and societally. This study provides evidence to support the premise that hydrogen SCLs would benefit from pursuing diversity in stakeholder participation, enhancing process transparency, and judging the efficacy of outputs against both decarbonisation and sustainability goals. Attention to these democratic factors, among others, would enhance the capacity of SCLs to contribute to the sociological legitimation of renewable hydrogen technologies.

A range of existing and newly developed hydrogen standards, certification and labelling (SCL) schemes aim to promote the role of ‘renewable’, ‘clean’ or ‘green’ hydrogen in decarbonising energy transitions. This paper analyses a sample of these SCLs to assess their role in the scaling up of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives. To analyse these hydrogen SCLs, we embellish a novel conceptual framework that brings together Sustainability, Systems Thinking, and Governance (SSG) literatures. The results reveal noteworthy scheme differences in motivation, approach, criteria, and governance; highlighting the complex, interconnected, and dynamic reality within which energy systems are embedded. We consider whether the sustainable utilisation of renewable hydrogen is well-served by the proliferation of SCLs and recommend an SSG-informed approach. An SSG approach will better promote collaboration towards an authoritative, global, multistakeholder, compromise on hydrogen certification that balances economic considerations with social, and environmental dimensions.

Hydrogen produced from renewable energy is being promoted to decarbonise global energy systems. To support this energy transition, standards, certification, and labelling schemes (SCLs) aim to differentiate hydrogen products based on their system-wide carbon emissions and method of production characteristics. However, being certified as low-carbon, clean, or green hydrogen does not guarantee broader sustainability across economic, environmental, social, or governance dimensions. Through an international survey of energy-sector and sustainability professionals (n = 179), we investigated the desirable sustainability features for renewable hydrogen SCLs and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of sustainability certification. Our mixed-method study revealed general accordance on the feasible inclusion of diverse sustainability criteria in SCLs, albeit with varying degrees of perceived essentiality. Within the confines of the data, some differences in viewpoints emerged based on respondents' geographical and supply chain locations, which were associated with the sharing of costs and benefits. Qualitatively, respondents found the idea of SCL harmonisation attractive but weighed this against the risks of duplication, complicated administrative procedures, and contradictory regulation. The implications of this research centre on the need for further studies to inform policy recommendations for an overarching SCL sustainability framework that embodies the principles of harmonisation in the context of multistakeholder governance.

The Big Four professional services firms - PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY - promote, sanction, and regularise the behaviour and practices of business and government. This is especially the case in the area of multinational tax avoidance. This large, and growing, sector of the Big Four's business model places them at the centre of both causing and addressing the problem. Their role is not limited to advising MNCs on complex tax structures. They also advise governments and international organisations on regulatory reform of the global tax system. This article examines their role in so doing through an analysis of Australian Senate Inquiry hearings and responses to the OECD reform programme on the digitalisation of the economy. We show that advice provided by the Big Four is not purely technical, but is intended to achieve a global corporate tax system that is either globally dis-harmonised or a matter of national regulatory incrementalism. This is despite their claims of supporting global regulation based on multilateral agreements. Ultimately, we demonstrate that the Big Four use their significant structural power to discursively undermine the ideals of the OECD, the leading international organisation working to reform global taxation.

As the world grapples with the issue of climate change, and efforts to decarbonize economies result in a shift from extractive "brown" industries to sustainable "green" ones, there is an increasing recognition of the need for this transition to be a just and equitable one. This systematic review of the Just Transitions literature examines the centrality of justice theory as well as the implications of the relative ambiguity with which governance models and theory have been conceptualized. Situating justice and governance theory in the Just Transitions concept, they are used to describe the "why" (justice) and the "how" (governance of transitions) of Just Transitions, and how these relate to the "what" (worker retraining, early retirement, regional development programmes, and so forth). The relatively poor articulation of the governance component within the Just Transitions concept is an opportunity for future academic examination.

Despite the impacts of globalization and market liberalization on economic development, factors such as location, space, industrial agglomeration, and local knowledge remain strong determinants of innovation performance and adaptive capacity in regional economies. The role of networks and institutions in knowledge sharing and innovation is therefore of paramount importance in analyzing regional development and has received significant academic attention accordingly. This review discusses trends and developments in a growing body of empirical research investigating these issues. The aim is to highlight some of the gaps between empirical research, policy relevance, and practical impact by focusing on the crucial but underdeveloped theoretical contributions of network governance approaches.

As a relatively new form of non-state governance, the fair trade movement presents an opportunity to promote sustainable production and consumption and hence social change. Global market demands and consumer engagement denote changes in social practices that have led governments to share decision-making processes with private sector and non-governmental organisations. In this context of change, it is important to consider not only whether new forms of governance weaken or strengthen states’ authority within the marketplace but also the extent to which they may allow for “green washing” instead of the green economy proposed by the United Nations Environmental Program. This study considers the fair trade of food production and consumption as a potential innovative model. In doing so it examines the existing general literature on governance, which highlights that decision-making processes tend to reproduce top-down approaches. While such practices may reproduce conventional hierarchies, it is worth questioning the potential of new forms of governance within global markets. This article builds on a sustainability governance analytical framework to deepen understandings of fair trade governance and its possible responses to the dilemmas of food production for ethical consumption and thus sustainable development in transnational relations. This research aims to contribute to the literature on improving compliance with global sustainability standards and through this, inform practices that allow for cooperation towards a green economy.

Sustainability certification schemes such as FAIRTRADE, FLO, WFTO and FT-USA have gained increasing markets. The significant growth of the fair trade (FT) movement in the last decades draws attention to ethical consumption. FT's aim at improving the livelihoods of producers in developing countries and promotion of social change is considered a model that shows the benefits of trade to development. Although conveying a large number of publications, important questions about the movement remain under-explored. The literature is prolific on coffee, cacao, flowers, wine, and gold. In contrast, the engagement with staple foods a prominent globally traded food category seems minor. The primary objective of this review was to map the existing literature about FT and staple foods; then, to investigate the role of staple foods in the FT movement. The search strategy was designed to retrieve publications on the intersection of FT and staple foods. To date, there is no review about FT and staple foods nexus. Our systematic review addressed this gap considering FT as an alternative capable of addressing unsustainable food consumption and production impacts. Our research protocol included keywords searching across four databases, screening, and comparative analysis. From 283 documents retrieved, 49 were deemed relevant to reflect the role of staple foods in the FT movement. This systematic review discusses challenges and opportunities for the FT model to further engage with staples and recommends improvement of its environmental credentials. The present study can contribute by informing decision makers, policy makers, businesses, NGOs, producers, and consumers. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century brings to life traditional institutions, theories and concepts by considering the key question: how are Australia's political institutions holding up in the face of the new challenges, dynamics and turbulence that have emerged and intensified in the new millennium? This approach encourages students to critically examine the complex interplay between a centuries' old system and a diverse, modern Australian society. This text presents the many moving parts of Australia's political system from an institutional perspective: the legislative and judiciary bodies, as well as lobby groups, the media, minor parties and independents, and the citizenry - institutions not often considered but whose influence is rapidly increasing. Student learning is supported through learning objectives, key terms, discussion questions, further readings and breakout boxes that highlight key theories, events and individuals. The extensive resources available in the VitalSource interactive eBook reaffirm comprehension and extend learning.

Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century brings to life traditional institutions, theories and concepts by considering the key question: how are Australia's political institutions holding up in the face of the new challenges, dynamics and turbulence that have emerged and intensified in the new millennium? This approach encourages students to critically examine the complex interplay between a centuries' old system and a diverse, modern Australian society. This text presents the many moving parts of Australia's political system from an institutional perspective: the legislative and judiciary bodies, as well as lobby groups, the media, minor parties and independents, and the citizenry - institutions not often considered but whose influence is rapidly increasing. Student learning is supported through learning objectives, key terms, discussion questions, further readings and breakout boxes that highlight key theories, events and individuals. The extensive resources available in the VitalSource interactive eBook reaffirm comprehension and extend learning.

The Big Four professional services firms - PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY - are MNCs that exist to promote, sanction, and regularise the behaviour and practices of other MNCs. They act as reputational intermediaries that embody and enact informal industry norms and practices, and in so doing they potentially govern both other MNCs and governments. Sometimes they even seek to govern on behalf of them. Whether advising or acting as private governors, their services are neither purely technical nor neutral because as they serve the interests of MNCs, they also construct and enhance their legitimacy and discursive power. This chapter looks at their role in both facilitating, and discursively defending, global corporate tax avoidance, a major issue in recent years as MNCs use their ability to operate across multiple jurisdictions to take advantage of opportunities to reduce or eliminate their taxation obligations.

Grande parte da conscientização da sociedade em relação aos objetivos de desenvolvimento sustentável foi fomentada pelos programas das Nações Unidas (ONU), organizações não-governamentais e movimentos sociais que eles inspiraram. Dentro do fluxo de mudanças sociais ocorridas após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, a iniciativa de comércio justo inovou como movimento social, oferecendo um modelo de comércio internacional para fazer a diferença na vida dos produtores. As principais organizações de comércio justo trouxeram valores de responsabilidade social ao abordar metas como o alívio da pobreza; redução das desigualdades de mercado Norte-Sul; proteção do meio ambiente; condições justas de trabalho; promoção do consumo e produção responsáveis; e segurança alimentar. Atendendo a esses objetivos, o movimento de comércio justo pode ser alinhado aos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) estabelecidos pela ONU em 2015; e com as três dimensões da sustentabilidade. Essas sinergias podem ser demonstradas nos relatórios de responsabilidade social e sustentabilidade das organizações de comércio justo. Os materiais e métodos deste artigo incluíram uma revisão dos relatórios de responsabilidade social corporativa e sustentabilidade das principais organizações de comércio justo desde 2000 até a presente data. Os resultados mostram uma consistência entre os termos comuns aos objetivos relatados sobre o comércio justo e os ODS. Uma análise comparativa indica o espectro de tópicos de sustentabilidade abordados progressivamente pelo movimento de comércio justo desde pelo menos o ano 2000. Esta revisão pode contribuir para orientar políticas governamentais e empresas com foco social para promover metas de sustentabilidade por meio de inovações nos sistemas alimentares, contribuindo para uma agricultura sustentável e o desenvolvimento rural.

In recent years, Australian tax justice campaigners have increasingly focused their efforts on the issue of tax avoidance by corporations operating in Australia. This article analyses the Australian tax justice campaign and explains its role in propelling the issue of corporate tax avoidance onto the public agenda. Drawing on campaign documents, media reporting, and interviews, we analyse the contributions of the key civil society actors and how they framed the Australian campaign. We show that the campaign encompassed a coalition of diverse groups that harnessed the 2014-15 Federal Budget to frame the issue as a 'revenue problem'. They espoused aninterest-based narrative to localise the campaign to resonate with the Australian public, helping make corporate tax avoidance a prominent national debate. Despite its initial strong rejection, the Australian Government adopted the activists' framing of the issue as one of revenue raising and went on to address significant corporate tax loopholes.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), also variously known as interest groups, nonprofits, pressure groups, civil society groups, or even simply associations, are omnipresent actors in 21st century global politics. Yet it was only in the latter decades of the 20th century that the roles and contributions of NGOs in the global context were recognised by International Relations scholars. According to Boli and Thomas (1999), NGOs and their networks have existed in the international arena for well over a century but their numbers have since grown exponentially. In 1909, they calculate that 176 NGOs operated internationally (Boli and Thomas, 1999). By 2014, the Union of International Associations (2015), a dedicated research institute on international organisations, determined that 25,035 NGOs (including federations, universal membership groups, intercontinental and regionally oriented groups, organisations emanating from places, persons and bodies, plus internationally oriented national organisations) were active participants in global politics, especially in the issue areas of human rights, aid, economic justice, and environmental conservation. To explain the proliferation of NGOs at the international level, scholars point to advances in information and communications technology and the growing affordability of international travel in recent decades (Chatfield, Pagnucco, and Smith, 1997; Cohen and Rai, 2000; Ruhlman, 2015). But the increased size and diversity of NGOs operating globally is also due to the growing number of transnational policy issues that require a degree of governance beyond the nation-state (Reinicke, 1998; Della Porta and Tarrow, 2005; Alaimo, 2016). For example, public health crises, the global financial system, oceans management, climate change, international trade, and the Antarctic region are all areas where some form of global governance is viewed as essential to help address collective action problems. In turn, the presence of international organisations promotes NGO activity because most organisations allow for formal and/or informal input from NGOs subject to various accreditation processes. For example, a key factor in understanding the increasing numbers of NGOs engaged with trade policy in recent decades is the 1995 advent of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an institution with a wide ranging mandate and more effective regulatory and judicial processes than the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which preceded it (Murphy, 2010). Similarly, the 2015 international climate change conference in Paris saw a plethora of NGOs involved in public advocacy and behind-thescenes lobbying of governmental delegations (Green, 2016). Indeed, UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon told NGOs at the meeting in Paris that ‘no government, no international organization, can do its work properly without active engagement and support from civil society’ (UN News Centre, 2015). In spite of their burgeoning numbers and compared with other participants in global politics such as governments and corporations, NGOs are often under-resourced and lack formal authority on the global stage. As such, a primary question for International Relations scholars that continues to guide research on NGOs is: how do ‘small, overworked and underfunded NGOs with little formal authority manage to oversee changes in the practices of nation-states and international organisations?’ (Willetts, 1982, 24). This chapter demonstrates that NGOs are prolific contributors to global politics, undertaking a variety of governance roles from agenda-setting and policy formulation through to implementation. They do so through advocacy campaigns, participation at global institutions alongside governments and even monitoring the compliance of other actors with international agreements. The chapter unpacks the various understandings of NGOs as a category of actor and examines the key approaches that are used to address their roles in global politics. The final section discusses the opportunities and challenges facing NGOs as participants in global politics, including their representativeness and accountability.

Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century brings to life traditional institutions, theories and concepts by considering the key question: how are Australia's political institutions holding up in the face of the new challenges, dynamics and turbulence that have emerged and intensified in the new millennium? This approach encourages students to critically examine the complex interplay between a centuries' old system and a diverse, modern Australian society. This text presents the many moving parts of Australia's political system from an institutional perspective: the legislative and judiciary bodies, as well as lobby groups, the media, minor parties and independents, and the citizenry - institutions not often considered but whose influence is rapidly increasing. Student learning is supported through learning objectives, key terms, discussion questions, further readings and breakout boxes that highlight key theories, events and individuals. The extensive resources available in the VitalSource interactive eBook reaffirm comprehension and extend learning.

There is growing interest in the health correlates of people detained in police custody, and a number of innovations have been introduced to try to meet the complex needs of detainees. The implementation of Criminal Justice Liaison and Diversion (CJL&D) Services commissioned by the Department of Health in England is a substantial part of this investment. In this paper, we describe data from 858 detainees who were referred to the CJL&D service of a busy metropolitan police station in the North East of England. The detainees referred to the service had complex mental health needs, substance misuse and a range of vulnerabilities requiring specific intervention. The effective operation of these teams and how they interface with health and criminal justice systems also depend upon a number of systematic issues that emanate both from within the teams, and from external policy drivers.

This article examines the Australian Senate's 2015-2017 inquiry into corporate tax avoidance to illuminate the tax strategies used by the multinational corporations (MNCs) most targeted by tax justice campaigners, versus those of particular relevance in an Australian context: mining companies. Using documentary analysis, we examine how these companies discursively defended their tax avoidance strategies. Despite differences in the context in which the issue of tax minimisation has risen to prominence, we show that in Australia, MNCs' legitimacy in paying lower levels of tax has been challenged in a similar manner to that of MNCs in other industry sectors that were held responsible for post-global financial crisis austerity measures in states like the US and UK. This suggests that history and context matter not in and of themselves, but for the impact they have on the discursive power of the actors involved, depending on the visibility and salience of the issue associated with them.

To promote environmentally sustainable corporate behavior, a complex system of global private governance operates where civil society groups play dominant roles. We argue that the concept of “metagovernance” developed in the public administration literature helps scholars and practitioners make sense of the constellation of actors, structures, and processes that have emerged in the field of global private governance. This article advances the metagovernance research agenda by providing a comparative application of the concept to two global private governance schemes: the fair trade and sustainable forest product certification systems. We examine the key organizations, arrangements, and relationships that constitute these systems to demonstrate that metagovernance in this sphere is produced heterarchically: multiple organizations within global private governance schemes are mutually responsible for their own coordination. We argue that employing metagovernance as an analytical tool enables the identification and appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of complex systems for “the governance of governance” from a holistic perspective. Related Articles Alejo, Antonio. 2019. “Contemporary Diplomacy, Global Politics, and Nongovernmental Actors: Dilemmas of the Multistakeholder Mechanism of Participation in Mexico.” Politics & Policy 47 (1): 105‐126. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12284 Bance, Philippe, and Angelique Chassy. 2017. “The Rollout of the Multilevel Governance System: A Source of Reworking the Contingent Valuation Method?” Politics & Policy 45 (6): 1080‐1107. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12236 Burau, Viola, and Carole Clavier. 2018. “Understanding Gaps in the Coexistence between Different Modes of Governance: A Case Study of Public Health in Schools in a Multilevel System.” Politics & Policy 46: 604‐629. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12269 Related Media FLOCERT. N.d. “How it Works.” https://www.flocert.net/solutions/fairtrade-resources/how-it-works/ Forest Stewardship Council. N.d. “Who We Are.” https://ca.fsc.org/en-ca/about-us fsc‐watch.com. 2016. “Jari Certificate Suspension: Why Was it Ever Certified in the First Place?” https://fsc-watch.com/2015/12/22/jari-certificate-suspension-why-was-it-ever-certified-in-the-first-place/

Background The Mental Health Act in England and Wales allows for two types of detention in hospital: civil and forensic detentions. An association between the closure of mental illness beds and a rise in civil detentions has been reported. Aims To examine changes in the rate of court orders and transfer from prison to hospital for treatment, and explore associations with civil involuntary detentions, psychiatric bed numbers and the prison population. Method Secondary analysis of routinely collected data with lagged time series analysis. We focused on two main types of forensic detentions in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals and private units: prison transfers and court treatment orders in England from 1984 to 2016. NHS bed numbers only were available. Results There was an association between the number of psychiatric beds and the number of prison transfers. This was strongest at a time lag of 2 years with the change in psychiatric beds occurring first. There was an association between the rate of civil detentions and the rate of court orders. This was strongest at a time lag of 3 years. Linear regression indicated that 135 fewer psychiatric beds were associated with one additional transfer from prison to hospital; and as the rate of civil detentions increased by 72, the rate of court treatment orders fell by one. Conclusions The closure of psychiatric beds was associated with an increase in transfers from prison to hospital for treatment. The increase in civil detentions was associated with a reduction in the rate of courts detaining to hospital individuals who had offended. Declaration of interest None.