?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.relation=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4865%2F&rft.title=The+Failure+of+Scientific+Expertise+to+Influence+the+Desertification+Negotiations&rft.creator=Corell%2C+E.&rft.description=Desertification+is+a+complex+environmental+issue+and+expert+advice+should+play+an+important+role+when+negotiating+an+international+agreement+to+deal+with+the+phenomenon.+Yet+in+practice%2C+scientific+expert+influence+was+marginal+in+the+development+of+the+Convention+to+Combat+Desertification+(CCD).+This+paper+explores+why.+%0D%0A%0D%0AIt+argues+that+low+scientific+expert+influence+mainly+reflects+two+factors.+First%2C+some+Southern+countries%2C+who+were+keen+to+have+a+post+Rio+convention+that+focused+on+developing+countries%2C+resisted+complex+scientific+advice+since+it+could+jeopardize+the+whole+convention.+Second%2C+the+International+Panel+of+Experts+on+Desertification+--+the+main+institution+for+providing+expert+advice+to+the+negotiations+--+was+small+and+emerged+only+late+in+the+process.+By+the+time+the+CCD+was+to+be+negotiated%2C+most+of+the+issues+on+which+experts+could+have+some+influence+were+already+settled.+%0D%0A%0D%0AMoreover%2C+the+expansion+over+time+of+the+definition+of+%22desertification%22+to+a+widening+range+of+environmental+conditions+eroded+the+focus+of+the+concept+and+made+it+less+useful+for+policy.+Donors%2C+who+were+apprehensive+because+earlier+action+plans+on+desertification+had+failed%2C+became+reluctant+to+support+international+anti-desertification+projects.+Thus+the+issue+became+tied+to+the+general+political+debate+about+development+aid.+%0D%0A%0D%0AAlthough+scientific+experts+did+not+have+much+influence%2C+other+non-governmental+actors+who+participated+in+the+CCD+negotiations+were+influential.+The+active+encouragement+of+the+participation+of+non-governmental+organizations%2C+their+long-standing+interest+and+expertise+on+these+issues%2C+and+homogeneity+of+their+interests+all+contributed+to+their+influence.+That+NGOs+had+more+influence+suggests+that+it+is+more+important+to+focus+on+actors+who+have+issue+competence%2C+rather+than+on+formally+appointed+scientific+experts%2C+when+analyzing+the+influence+of+expert+advice+in+international+environmental+agreements.&rft.publisher=WP-96-165&rft.date=1996-12&rft.type=Monograph&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text&rft.language=en&rft.identifier=https%3A%2F%2Fpure.iiasa.ac.at%2Fid%2Feprint%2F4865%2F1%2FWP-96-165.pdf&rft.identifier=++Corell%2C+E.++(1996).++The+Failure+of+Scientific+Expertise+to+Influence+the+Desertification+Negotiations.+++IIASA+Working+Paper.+IIASA%2C+Laxenburg%2C+Austria%3A+WP-96-165+++++