Global sustainability governance

The proposed Anthropocene epoch emerged in a challenging context for global environmental sustainability governance. Beyond signalling humankind's transformative powers as a geological force, the Anthropocene reorients theories and practices on global sustainability governance. In this chapter, we highlight fundamental challenges to global sustainability governance and environmental political theory in the Anthropocene. We also advance the Biocene as a post-Anthropocene period for our planet that can sustain lifeforms, in contrast to the Anthropocene, which reflects environmental degradation as a result of human activities over time. We reject assumptions such as the nature-human dualism and advance a conceptual framework of global governance on the environment and sustainability that highlights some fundamental challenges and ingredients for a Biocene.