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The legitimacy of business-led multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda : the case of salmon aquaculture sustainability

de Donà, Matteo LU orcid and Bexell, Magdalena LU orcid (2026) In International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 26(3). p.641-660
Abstract
There is great variation among multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development with regard to their lead actor and membership composition. While most such partnerships are led by international organizations and have state membership, others are business-led and lack involvement of states. The legitimacy of the latter have thus far received scant scholarly exploration in studies of the 2030 Agenda. This article evaluates the legitimacy of a business-led multistakeholder partnership seeking to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in the domain of aquaculture, namely the Global Salmon Initiative. We define three legitimacy standards against which this business-led partnership is assessed: procedural... (More)
There is great variation among multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development with regard to their lead actor and membership composition. While most such partnerships are led by international organizations and have state membership, others are business-led and lack involvement of states. The legitimacy of the latter have thus far received scant scholarly exploration in studies of the 2030 Agenda. This article evaluates the legitimacy of a business-led multistakeholder partnership seeking to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in the domain of aquaculture, namely the Global Salmon Initiative. We define three legitimacy standards against which this business-led partnership is assessed: procedural legitimacy, market legitimacy, and policy output legitimacy. Our analysis suggests that while the GSI benefits from procedural legitimacy through increased transparency, it is weaker with regard to accountability to external stakeholders. Rooted in the promotion of collaboration under competitive market dynamics, its market legitimacy rests on a fragile basis. While the GSI operates under the assumption of alignment between profit and sustainability, its relatively limited market coverage indicates lower market legitimacy than if a larger share of major companies in the farmed salmon industry were GSI members. The increase in ASC certification over the past ten years brings output legitimacy to the GSI in the narrow sense of policy output. However, embracing a broader mission has mixed consequences for long-term GSI output legitimacy. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Legitimacy, Multistakeholder partnerships, accountability, Sustainable Development, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, governance
in
International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics
volume
26
issue
3
pages
20 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:105039507239
ISSN
1573-1553
DOI
10.1007/s10784-026-09725-0
project
Transformative partnerships for sustainable development. Assessing synergies, effectiveness, and legitimacy of UN multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a434faa9-5f57-4bdc-b770-e89fe78fdceb
date added to LUP
2026-05-16 10:14:05
date last changed
2026-09-17 09:19:47
@article{a434faa9-5f57-4bdc-b770-e89fe78fdceb,
  abstract     = {{There is great variation among multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development with regard to their lead actor and membership composition. While most such partnerships are led by international organizations and have state membership, others are business-led and lack involvement of states. The legitimacy of the latter have thus far received scant scholarly exploration in studies of the 2030 Agenda. This article evaluates the legitimacy of a business-led multistakeholder partnership seeking to advance the Sustainable Development Goals in the domain of aquaculture, namely the Global Salmon Initiative. We define three legitimacy standards against which this business-led partnership is assessed: procedural legitimacy, market legitimacy, and policy output legitimacy. Our analysis suggests that while the GSI benefits from procedural legitimacy through increased transparency, it is weaker with regard to accountability to external stakeholders. Rooted in the promotion of collaboration under competitive market dynamics, its market legitimacy rests on a fragile basis. While the GSI operates under the assumption of alignment between profit and sustainability, its relatively limited market coverage indicates lower market legitimacy than if a larger share of major companies in the farmed salmon industry were GSI members. The increase in ASC certification over the past ten years brings output legitimacy to the GSI in the narrow sense of policy output. However, embracing a broader mission has mixed consequences for long-term GSI output legitimacy.}},
  author       = {{de Donà, Matteo and Bexell, Magdalena}},
  issn         = {{1573-1553}},
  keywords     = {{Legitimacy; Multistakeholder partnerships; accountability; Sustainable Development; 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; governance}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{641--660}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics}},
  title        = {{The legitimacy of business-led multistakeholder partnerships for the 2030 Agenda : the case of salmon aquaculture sustainability}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10784-026-09725-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10784-026-09725-0}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}