Description
Recent debates in Global Governance (including global environmental governance) underscore the return of Realpolitik and the resulting crisis of multilateralism and global norms. As geopolitical rivalries intensify—particularly between the United States and China—and far-right nationalism surges as a reactionary force against environmental policies worldwide, the resilience of global sustainability norms grows increasingly uncertain. This paper asks whether, and how, environmental norms can continue to shape the evolving world order and global governance architecture under these conditions. It further examines who acts as norm entrepreneurs and defenders, and through what strategies, in sustaining environmental norms within the new environment of Realpolitik. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of norm-ordering, norm-layering, and norm-pairing, the study investigates the distinctive role of advocacy networks in the Global South as pivotal norm entrepreneurs in the governance of critical minerals for just energy transition, situated at the intersection of intensifying geopolitics and environmental justice. Based on semi-structured interviews, online ethnography, and participant observation at official events on global mineral governance, the analysis reveals how these often-overlooked advocacy networks in the Global South function as important “hidden agents” in the defense and re-articulation of environmental norms. Operating across multiple boundaries—public and private, North and South, global and local—they bridge divergent worlds of resource politics and sustainability governance, advancing a pluriversal and decolonial vision of global governance amid shifting geopolitics of critical minerals.
