A bibliometric analysis of transnational environmental governance studies

Abstract

The field of transnational environmental governance is broadly said to examine how non-state and sub-state actors from different countries tackle global, regional, and local environmental challenges together; however, there has been no dedicated effort to quantitatively conceptualize the knowledge structure of this burgeoning research area. Therefore, this study undertook a bibliometric analysis of transnational environmental governance studies from 1997 to 2023 using comprehensive data sources (authors, journals, keywords, and references) and multiple methods (co-citation networks, co-occurrence networks, and collaboration networks) to identify the field’s key contributors and conceptual, intellectual, and social structures. The results provide a detailed overview of the transnational environmental governance research landscape, and call attention to an overemphasis on Western perspectives and a lack of attention to the Global South. We call for more inclusive analyses that better account for the diverse actors shaping transnational environmental governance around the world.