2 Conceptualization: Goal Setting as a Strategy for Earth System Governance Oran R. Young
The challenge of meeting needs for governance has emerged as a central concern in many social settings, not least in international society where there is no overarching government to take responsibility and where we are confronted with the formidable complexities of integrating the biophysical, economic, and social forces affecting the achievement of sustainable development on a global scale. In considering ways to meet this challenge, we tend to think first of regulatory arrangements, emphasizing the development of rules and focusing on issues relating to the implementation of the rules and procedures that are useful in eliciting compliance on the part of those subject to the rules (Chayes and Chayes 1995). If we think of governance in generic terms as a social function centered on steering individuals or groups toward desired outcomes, however, we can conceptualize goal setting and efforts to meet targets associated with key goals as a distinct strategy for fulfilling needs for governance. In this chapter, I explore the nature of goal setting as a governance strategy, analyze conditions under which goal setting can prove effective as a steering mechanism, consider ways to enhance the effectiveness of goal setting in various settings, and comment on the relevance of this way of thinking to the effort under the auspices of the United Nations to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals. My argument is intended to be empirical rather than normative or prescriptive in character. I make no effort to pass judgment on the relative merits of rule making and goal setting as distinct governance strategies. Rather, I seek to shed light on goal setting as a way of responding to needs for governance that has received far less attention than rule making among those who think about governance at the international or global level. My purpose is not to contribute directly to the efforts of those working on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals, and I make no attempt to produce specific recommendations. But what I have to say may
