UN meta-governance for MSPs – fit for transformation?

Transnational public-private or multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) for sustainable development have multiplied since the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002. Some researchers view MSPs as new, hybrid governance arrangements that can make up for implementation gaps and democratic deficits in global governance. They argue that cross-sectoral, deliberative, and iterative governance of MSPs could address the wicked, i.e. inherently uncertain, conflictual and complex problems we face. Other scholarly analyses have questioned the effectiveness of MSPs. There have also been analyses that outline a lack of accountability and legitimacy. This paper moves beyond this debate and engages with the underlying rationales and strategies of actors involved in MSPs – an emerging field of research. It shows that irrespective of their effectiveness, MSPs are still being used. For example, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) re-legitimized MSPs as one of the means of implementation in SDG 17. There is a need for improved understanding of the United Nation’s (UN) role in this, an important topic the literature has mostly neglected. This is underlined by existing scholarly work, which highlights that the UN plays an activist role and mobilises coalitions to advance MSPs as institutional change. It has also been argued that MSPs constitute a legitimation strategy by the UN. This paper builds upon this and demonstrates a shift in UN meta-governance, i.e. its frameworks and guidance, for MSPs following the 2030 Agenda, presenting them as transformative instruments. The aim of this paper is to scrutinise this practice more closely. It first maps the UN involvement in MSPs for the 2030 Agenda – asking which UN agencies typically collaborate in what kinds of MSPs (i.e. function and governance structure), involving what kind of actors and working on which issue areas. The paper then analyses the different discourses and practises UN agencies use in the realm of MSPs, focusing specifically on transformation. It thereby demonstrates that protracted contestations between UN agencies on what transformation entails, and more specifically on MSPs fit for transformation, persist. Lastly the paper discusses what implications this has for UN-metagovernance for MSPs and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.