Editors' Note

As the new editors of Global Environmental Politics, we want to take the opportunity to say a few things about what is new and what remains the same at the journal as it transitions into a new editorial team. In early 2007 we took over from Peter Dauvergne, the journal's founding editor, after 8 years of his excellent work at the driver's wheel. The journal was Peter's vision, and he worked tirelessly to get the journal up and running, building it to what it is today—a highly respected journal which publishes top quality research on global environmental issues. Our aim as new editors is to build further on the success that Peter has brought to the journal, and we hope that you, as our readers and contributors, will support us in this endeavour.

What is new? In the transition to a new editorial team, we discussed the section which has up until now been titled "current debates." In consultation with the editorial board, we have decided to shift slightly the emphasis of this section, which is now called "Forum." In this issue, you will find two short articles—one by Paul Wapner and another by Thomas Princen—that represent well for us the point of this section. It is designed to stimulate discussion on salient issues of interest to other scholars in the field. These might include, for example, new theoretical or historical insights, emerging environmental issues, discussion of controversial developments in environmental policy, etc. The articles will be short in length (2000 words maximum) and are to address the issue in a succinct and engaging, even provocative manner. Consequently, forum articles will be sent out for non-blind comment from other scholars in the field, but are not formally refereed in the same way as research articles. Where possible, we will aim to publish articles in groups or 2 or 3 around a similar issue, as in the focus on questions of how to theorize GEP in the pieces by Paul and Tom. The aim of these articles is to provoke thought, discussion, and debate amongst the readership. If you read a forum piece which inspires, perplexes, provokes or enrages you, then feel free to write in a response!

What is the same? We will continue to publish original scholarly research articles in the field of global environmental politics broadly defined, and it is here where we would like to remind you of the journal's focus and to encourage continued strong article submissions. As set out at its founding, the journal defines research in global environmental politics as that which examines not only the way in which local-global interactions affect the natural environment, but also the way in which environmental change affects world politics. Articles published in the journal may examine the role of various actors, both state and non-state, norms and institutions, economic relationships, poverty and inequality, consumption patterns, and science and technology in the global politics the environment. They may also examine specific environmental issues and problems, including but not limited to climate change, deforestation, water management, ozone depletion, biodiversity and biosafety, desertification, waste issues, toxics, and transboundary pollution. We discourage submission of single-country case study articles, while we encourage those that deal with global environmental issues at the level of more than one country, including those at the international or global level. Because global environmental issues touch on so many disciplines and the study of them brings lessons on a number of dimensions, we encourage article submissions from authors from a number of disciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds, such as political science, geography, economics, environmental studies, development studies, public policy, sociology, history, and law to name but a few. We would also like to encourage submissions of articles from a wide range of perspectives and methodologies as well. Both theoretical and empirical article submissions are encouraged.

In the past few months since we started our editing work on the journal, we quickly became aware of the debt we owe to a number of people. Key amongst these are Peter Dauvergne and Sharon Goad. Peter's help and advice in...