Informational governance - Environmental Reform in the Information Age - page 101

the same token, the state and its role in environmental governance is
also changing, partly as a result and consequence of globalisation and
the ICT revolution. Betting and relying automatically and too strongly
on a national environmental state that is no longer what it used to be
might not be very helpful and effective. Empirical examples show that
the power, place and role of environmental states differ according to
time and place, if we compare, for instance, the strong Chinese environ-
mental state with the weak Russian environmental state, or the strong
Dutch environmental state in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s with
the weak Dutch environmental state in the new millennium.
7. Global inequalities in informational governance
Finally, although processes of informational governance of the environ-
ment are transnational and linked to the global network society, they
are landing at the moment only to a limited extent in many developing
countries, as a result of, among others, the digital divide and poor
information infrastructures; limitations in democracy, transparency
and civil society; and low environmental priorities. At the same time,
however, the new informational governance modes enter on these
developing nations via globalisation dynamics related to transnational
companies and economic networks, foreign direct investments (FDI),
multilateral agreements and international institutions, a globalising
civil society, and the spreading of informational infrastructures, prac-
tices and routines through various other communities (academic com-
munities, the media, sports, tourism, etc.). Although being ill-prepared
for informational governance and still struggling to get the most basic
principles of conventional environmental protection installed, these
developing countries are confronted with international requirements
related to informational governance, on, for instance, product/process
information and labelling, environmental monitoring, and reporting
obligations related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs),
information disclosure programs on bi- and multilateral donor pro-
jects, and regulatory relief for transnational companies following cor-
porate social responsibility programs. Although such pushes may
stimulate transparency and democracy, they may not always be very
environmentally effective and also may result in developing countries'
resistance as new informational obligations are creating or fortifying
inequalities in, for instance, trade and the making of new international