Allocating Responsibility for Environmental Risks:rnA Comparative Analysis of Examples from Water Governance

摘要

The focus of the present study is on the allocation of responsibilities for addressing environmental risks in transboundaryrnwater governance. Effective environmental management in transboundary situations requires coordinated and cooperativernaction among diverse individuals and organizations. Currently, little insight exists on how to foster collective action such thatrnindividuals and organizations take the responsibility to address transboundary environmental risks. On the basis of 4 cases ofrntransboundary water governance, it will be shown how certain allocation principles are more likely to encourage cooperativernaction. The main lesson from these case studies is that the allocation of responsibilities should be seen as a risk distributionrnproblem, including considerations of effectiveness, efficiency, and fairness.