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The industrialisation of China prompted the biggest commodity boom of modern times. Soaring prices gave rise to talk of a commodity super cycle and induced a wave of resource nationalism. The author, who was chief economist at two of the world's largest mining companies, describes how this resulted in a transformation of the global mining industry.

THE MISTRUST BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH WHICH WAS A FEATURE OF THE FOREST NEGOTIATIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT (UNCED) HAS SINCE SLOWLY GIVEN WAY TO A NEW CO-OPERATIVE SPIRIT. FOLLOWING THE FAILURE OF THE UNCED TO PRODUCE A GLOBAL FORESTS CONVENTION SEVERAL NEW INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES ON FOREST CONSERVATION HAVE EMERGED. THIS STUDY DESCRIBES THESE PROCESSES AND ANALYZES THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. IT IS ARGUED THAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN SLOW AND THAT THERE IS MUCH ABOUT THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL FOREST POLITICS SCENE THAT REQUIRES CLARIFICATION. CONTENTIOUS ISSUES INCLUDE THE ROLE OF TIMBER LABELING, THE FUTURE OF THE PROCESSES WORKING TOWARDS CRITERIA AND INDICATORS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT, AND WHETHER A GLOBAL FORESTS CONVENTION IS DESIRABLE, TWO RECENTLY-CREATED FORA, THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON FORESTS AND THE WORLD COMMISSION ON FORESTS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, BOTH OF WHICH WILL REPORT TO THE 1997 SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, MAY HELP TO CLARIFY THE SITUATION. HOWEVER, IT IS OW CLEAR THAT MANY GOVERNMENTS FROM THE SOUTH INTEND TO EXTRACT SOME MEASURE OF ECONOMIC COMPENSATION FROM THE NORTH IF THEY ARE TO AGREE TO SIGNIFICANT FOREST CONSERVATION COMMITMENTS. MUCH DEPENDS ON WHETHER A TRADE-OFF CAN BE REACHED BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS OF THE NORTH AND THE ECONOMIC CONCERNS OF THE SOUTH.

PRIVATIZATION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL HAS LED TO A PROCESS OF PRIVATIZATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL IN THE UN. THE TREND TOWARDS INCREASED FOR-PROFIT INFLUENCE IS ANALZYED IN THREE UN ORGANIZATIONS WHICH REGULATE ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF THE GLOBAL NEOLIBERAL ECONOMY: COMMUNICATIONS, TRANSPORTATION, AND NATURAL RESOURCES. IN ALL THREE CASES, PROFIT-MAKING INTERESTS CONCERNS HAVE GAINED STRONG REPRESENTATION THAT HAS ENABLED THEM TO INFLUENCE A BROAD RANGE OF ACTIVITIES.

The ultimate goal of many international and transnational attempts to address global problems is to influence domestic policymaking processes rather than simply to constrain or modify the external behaviour of states. This chapter reviews existing scholarship on the impacts that global forest governance arrangements have had on domestic policymaking processes and decisions. We apply a framework that distinguishes 'economic globalisation' – the phenomenon of increasing economic integration from 'internationalisation', in which international and transnational pressures influence domestic policymaking (Bernstein and Cashore 2000). We review the effects of four distinct pathways of internationalisation in shaping domestic policies: international rules; international norms and discourse; markets; and direct access to domestic policy processes. This framework overcomes longstanding debates about whether globalisation forces a 'ratcheting down' of domestic standards in a 'race to the bottom', or whether increasing economic and political interdependence can create a 'race to the top'. The application of the framework to cases in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe and North America reveals that economic globalisation is not determinative. Rather, it interacts with other factors (operating internationally, transnationally and/or domestically) that condition its effects. Key lessons emerge from this review on the conditions under which, and interventions through which, the international forest regime has affected domestic forest policies, as well as on the interventions that might be nurtured to influence and nurture future policy development.

Deforestation and forest degradation remain huge global environmental challenges. Over the last decades, various forest governance initiatives and institutions have evolved in global response to interlinked topics such as climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, indigenous rights, and trade impacts – accompanied by various levels of academic attention. Using a Delphi methodology that draws on both policy and academic insights, we assess the currently perceived state of play in global forest governance and identify possible future directions. Results indicate that state actors are seen to be key in providing supportive regulatory frameworks, yet interviewees do not believe these will be established at the global scale. Rather, respondents point to issue-specific, regional and inter-regional coalitions of the willing, involving the private sector, to innovate global forest governance. Linking forest issues with high politics may hold promise, as demonstrated by initiatives regarding illegal logging and timber trade. Confident rule-setting in support of the public good as well as responsible investments are seen as further avenues. New forest governance "hypes", if used strategically, can provide leverage points and resources to ensure sustainability effects on the ground. At the same time, informal markets are often crucial for governance outcomes and need consideration. As such, clarifying tenure in sovereignty-sensitive ways is important, as are innovative ways for inclusive "glocal" decision-making. Lastly, new technologies, big data and citizens' capacities are identified as potent innovation opportunities, for making global dependencies between consumption, production and deforestation visible and holding players accountable across the value chains.