International environmental agreement
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An international environmental agreement or sometimes environmental
An agreement between two nations is known as a bilateral environmental agreement. If the agreement is made among three or more nations, it is called a multilateral environmental agreement (MEA). Such agreements, primarily produced by the United Nations, cover subjects such as atmospheric policies, freshwater policies, hazardous waste and substance policies, the marine environment, nature conservation policies, noise pollution and nuclear safety.[2]
History and use
The use of multilateral environment agreements began in 1857, when a German agreement regulated the flow of water from Lake Constance to Austria and Switzerland.[3] International environmental protocols came to feature in environmental governance after trans-boundary environmental problems became widely perceived in the 1960s.[4]
Between 1857 and 2012, a total of 747 multilateral environmental agreements have been concluded.[3] Following the Stockholm Intergovernmental Conference in 1972, creation of international environmental agreements proliferated.[5] MEAs were popularized by the United Nations, the majority of MEAs have been implemented since the 1972 at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (also known as the Stockholm Conference).[6] The Stockholm Declaration was adopted by all 113 countries in attendance at the conference, and was the first universal document of importance on an environmental issue.[6]
A complex networking system is needed for a functional MEA system.[3] Levels of government within a nation may impede each other about climate change (for example) due to opposing views or parties,[7] making implementation more difficult and impacting external relationships. Interactions between MEAs can also influence each other positively or negatively, ultimately affecting their net effectiveness.[8]
Policies surrounding an MEA are determined by the participating countries. The United Nations and the
There have been increasing use of environmental provisions in bilateral environmental agreements and also in international investment agreements, like bilateral environmental agreement.[9]
Effectiveness
Protocols can take flexible approaches to improve effectiveness.
While protocols appear to be the ultimate
How we view the effectiveness of protocols depends on what we expect from them. With little administrative force or actual power, protocols succeed in increasing government concern, enhancing the contractual environment, and heightening capacity through transfer of assets. Yet as long as sovereignty is intact, environmental protocols will not affect changes in the face of state or public apathy, guarantee national action, or materialize overnight. The progress of international environmental law might be, as Wiener suggests, like the tortoise, slow but steady.[13]
Barriers and criticism
The world's existing political systems, differences and conflicts pose barriers to the creation of environmental protocols. First, maintenance of
Finally, countries may lack motivation to change their environmental policies due to conflict with other interests, especially economic prosperity. If environmental protocols will cause economic difficulties or harm to a country, it may shirk the protocols while other countries adhere to them, creating a classic
Due to these barriers, environmental protocols become an obvious target for several criticisms, such as being slow to produce the desired effects (due to the convention-protocol-ratification-implementation process), tending to the lowest common denominator, and lacking monitoring and enforcement. They can also be criticized for taking an incremental approach where sustainable development principles suggest that environmental concern should be mainstreamed.
Intergovernmental organization involvement
United Nations
The United Nations is involved in MEAs worldwide on a number of issues, including biological diversity, chemicals and waste, and climate and the atmosphere. One example would be the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, which was brought together to address the hazardous effects of Chlorofluorocarbons on the atmosphere. The United Nations Information Portal (InforMEA) brings together MEAs by harvesting COP decisions and resolutions, news, events, MEA membership, national focal points, national reports and implementation plans from MEA secretariats and organizes this information around a set of agreed terms, for the benefit of Parties and the environment community at large[14]
World Trade Organization
The
Major MEA participants
Australia
Australia is noted for its wide variety of animal species and diverse environment, which includes beaches, deserts and mountains,[18] and climate change is a major concern. The country is under the largest ozone hole in the world,[citation needed] with environmental impact. Australia's proximity to Antarctica raises concerns about sea-level rise and changes in ocean currents which influence climate.
Canada
United States
The United States has committed to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and global negotiations on mercury.[22] The number of MEAs in which the U.S. is involved is substantially lower than Canada's, despite its greater population and larger carbon footprint and economy.
See also
References
- ^ Kanie (2007) Governance with Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements: A healthy or ill-equipped fragmentation? in Global Environmental Governance: Perspectives on the Current Debate, edited by Walter Hoffmann and Lydia Swart: 67–86. New York: Center for UN Reform Education
- S2CID 155394806.
- ^ ISSN 0959-3780.
- ^ a b Haas, Keohane and Levy (1993) Institutions for the Earth: Sources of effective international environmental protection Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- ^ a b c Zürn (1998) The Rise of International Environmental Politics: A Review of Current Research World Politics, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 617–649
- ^ a b Environment Canada. (2007). Negotiator's handbook: multilateral environment agreement. Joensuu, Finland: University of Joensuu.
- ^ Eckersley, P. (2016). "Cities and climate change: how historical legacies shape policymaking in English and German municipalities." Politics: 1–16.
- PMID 38403055.
- ^ Condon, Madison (January 2015). "The Integration of Environmental Law into International Investment Treaties and Trade Agreements: Negotiation Process and the Legalization of Commitments". Virginia Environmental Law Journal. 33 (1): 102.
- ^ Tolba (1998) Global Environmental Diplomacy: Negotiating agreements for the world 1973–1992 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- ^ a b c French (1994) Strengthening International Environmental Governance The Journal of Environment Development 3: 59
- ^ Susskind (1994) Environmental diplomacy: negotiating more effective global Oagreements Oxford University Press
- ^ Wiener (1999) On the political economy of global environmental regulation Georgetown Law Journal, Volume 87, pp. 749 – 794
- ^ "InforMEA – United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements". www.informea.org.
- ^ "World Trade Organization – Home page". www.wto.org.
- ^ Stuart, L. (2014). Trade and Environment: Mutually Supportive Interpretation of WTO Agreements in Light of Multilateral Environmental Agreements. New Zealand Journal of Public and International Law 12(2), 379–412.
- ^ a b c Millimet, D. L., & Roy, J. (2015). Multilateral environmental agreements and the WTO. Economics Letters,134, 20–23. doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2015.05.035
- ^ "Department of the Environment and Energy". Department of the Environment and Energy.
- ^ Canada, Environment and Climate Change. "Participation in international environmental agreements – Canada.ca". www.ec.gc.ca.
- ^ Joseph A. Pakootas, an individual and enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; Donald R. Michel, an individual and enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Coville Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation vs Teck Cominco Metals (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit September 14, 2018), Text. No. 16-35742 D.C. No. 2:04-cv-00256-LRS
- ^ Teck Metals Ltd. v. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 18-1160 (June 10, 2019) ("Petition for certiorari denied").
- ^ "Multilateral Environmental Agreements – United States Trade Representative". ustr.gov.
Further reading
- Mitchell, R.B., Andonova, L.B., Axelrod, M., Balsiger, J., Bernauer, T., Green, J.F., Hollway, J., Kim, R.E., and Morin, J.F. 2020. What We Know (and Could Know) about International Environmental Agreements. Global Environmental Politics, 20: 103–121.
- Alam, Shawkat et al. International Environmental Law and the Global South. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
- Bodansky, Daniel (2010). The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law. Harvard University Press
- Borsky, Stefan and A. Raschky, Paul. "Intergovernmental Interaction in Compliance with an International Environmental Agreement". In Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, Volume 2, Number 2. June 2015.
- Meyer, John W.; Frank, David John; Hironaka, Ann; Schofer, Evan; Tuma, Nancy Brandon (1997). "The Structuring of a World Environmental Regime, 1870–1990". International Organization. 51 (4): 623–651.
- M. McEvoya, David and McGintyb, Matthew "Negotiating a uniform emissions tax in international environmental agreements". In Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Volume 90, 217–231. 2018
- Tulkens, Henry and Guesnerie, R. The Design of Climate Policy. The MIT Press, 2008.
- Victor, David G. et al. The Implementation and Effectiveness of International Environmental Commitments : Theory and Practice. The MIT Press, 1998.