Despite the growing recognition of the importance of environmental issues for nation-state security, current research on international environmental security is insufficient. Although scholars in the field of International Relations believe that there is an appropriate role for international relations theory in analyzing global environmental concerns, the existing literature is predominantly descriptive or prescriptive rather than analytical. This study attempts to remedy this problem by conducting an empirical analysis of nation-state behavior in the international environmental realm.
Environmental problems like global climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion can only be remedied if states cooperate with one another. But sovereign states usually care only about their own interests. So states must somehow restructure the incentives to make cooperation pay. This is what treaties are meant to do. A few treaties, such as the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, succeed. Most, however, fail to alter the state behaviour appreciably. This book develops a theory that explains both the successes and the failures. In particular, the book explains when treaties are needed, why some work better than others, and how treaty design can be improved. The best treaties strategically manipulate the incentives states have to exploit the environment, and the theory developed in this book shows how treaties can do this. The theory integrates a number of disciplines, including economics, political science, international law, negotiation analysis, and game theory. It also offers a coherent and consistent approach. The essential assumption is that treaties be self-enforcing-that is, individually rational, collectively rational, and fair. The book applies the theory to a number of environmental problems. It provides information on more than three hundred treaties, and analyses a number of case studies in detail. These include depletion of the ozone layer, whaling, pollution of the Rhine, acid rain, over-fishing, pollution of the oceans, and global climate change. The essential lesson of the book is that treaties should not just tell countries what to do. Treaties must make it in the interests of countries to behave differently. That is, they must restructure the underlying game. Most importantly, they must create incentives for states to participate in a treaty and for parties to comply.
International environmental agreements provide a practical basis for countries to address environmental issues on a global scale. This book explores the workings and outcomes of these agreements, and analyses key questions of why some problems are dealt with successfully and others ignored. By examining fundamental policies and issues in environmental protection this text gives an easily comprehensible introduction to international environmental agreements, and discusses problems in three areas: air, water and on land. It traces the history of agreements in broad thematic areas related to long-distance air pollution, ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases, ocean management, biological diversity, agricultural plant diversity and forest stewardship. Drawing on experts in their respective fields, this book provides an insightful evaluation of the successes and failures, and analysis of the reasons for this. Concluding with an insightful examination of research to show how performance of agreements can be improved in the future, this volume is a vital contribution to our understanding of the politics associated with establishing international environmental consensus. International Environmental Agreements will be of interest to scholars, students and researchers in global environmental politics, international relations and political science. Steinar Andresen is Senior Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway, and formerly professor at the Dept. of Political Science, University of Oslo. Elin Lerum Boasson is Research Fellow at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Norway. Geir Hønneland is Research Director at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute and adjunct professor at the University of Tromsø.
The environment suffers enormously during armed conflicts and, despite the increasing awareness of the pressing need to protect the planet, devastating environmental damage can occur legally at times of war. This book suggests that – apart from the protection offered under law of armed conflict – environmental treaties or multilateral agreements (MEAs) can complement and strengthen environmental protection when war occurs. Previous research has focused on the protection offered under the law of armed conflict (in particular international humanitarian law) and customary international environmental law concerning wartime environmental damage, or whether environmental treaties remain applicable at times of armed conflict. This book, however, is the first in-depth scholarly examination of how environmental treaties can apply in wartime and how they can contribute to the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. It also offers an updated study of environmental protection under the law of armed conflict, including the latest developments in the International Law Commission's work on this underexplored topic.
Despite the growing recognition of the importance of environmental issues for nation-state security, current research on international environmental security is insufficient. Although scholars in the field of International Relations believe that there is an appropriate role for international relations theory in analyzing global environmental concerns, the existing literature is predominantly descriptive or prescriptive rather than analytical. This study attempts to remedy this problem by conducting an empirical analysis of nation-state behavior in the international environmental realm.
Conventions, Treaties and other Responses to Global Issues is a component of Encyclopedia of Institutional and Infrastructural Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. This theme Conventions, Treaties and other Responses to Global Issues deals with the issue of international resource regimes. These are formal responses by states to the threats posed by trans-boundary pollution or the distribution of resources. In the past thirty years the number of international environmental agreements has steadily risen to reach record numbers and these agreements have secured a firm place in the hierarchy of international affairs. There is a loose assumption that this is a good thing and that this rise has resulted in a commensurable improvement in environmental protection and resource allocation. But is this actually the case? In fact, is there a positive correlation at all? Or are there negative correlations? What are the connections between environmental diplomacy and environmental protection and how can environmental protection be achieved? These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed in this theme, whilst at the same time giving an overview of the most important international resource regimes and the most influential international organizations having an environmental impact. The theme takes the following shape: the first section introduces issues of international environmental law and its history, showing that international law can take many different forms. Here we explain what policy tools states have in drafting responses to global environmental issues. The second section deals with the most prominent international environmental agreements and gives a state of the art overview of existing regimes. The third and last section of this theme introduces the key actors in the international arena besides states, such as international organizations and civil society actors, such as pressure groups. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.
This volume of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law presents an overview and selective analysis of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). These agreements encompass the regulating aspects of the protection, conservation, management, use and exploitation of living and natural resources in various areas: from biodiversity to fisheries, marine environment, shared freshwater resources, atmosphere, climate change, procedural obligations and rights and human rights, as well as Polar Regions. This book guides the reader through the multifarious conventional regulation of such areas of environmental protection, both at the global and regional levels, and details the path from the first post-war sectorial attempts at introducing international pieces of conventional environmental regulation to the booming of environmental instruments of the '90s and the recent fertile period of creation of new MEAs and their exponential growth.
Conventions, Treaties and other Responses to Global Issues is a component of Encyclopedia of Institutional and Infrastructural Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. This theme Conventions, Treaties and other Responses to Global Issues deals with the issue of international resource regimes. These are formal responses by states to the threats posed by trans-boundary pollution or the distribution of resources. In the past thirty years the number of international environmental agreements has steadily risen to reach record numbers and these agreements have secured a firm place in the hierarchy of international affairs. There is a loose assumption that this is a good thing and that this rise has resulted in a commensurable improvement in environmental protection and resource allocation. But is this actually the case? In fact, is there a positive correlation at all? Or are there negative correlations? What are the connections between environmental diplomacy and environmental protection and how can environmental protection be achieved? These are just a few of the questions that will be addressed in this theme, whilst at the same time giving an overview of the most important international resource regimes and the most influential international organizations having an environmental impact. The theme takes the following shape: the first section introduces issues of international environmental law and its history, showing that international law can take many different forms. Here we explain what policy tools states have in drafting responses to global environmental issues. The second section deals with the most prominent international environmental agreements and gives a state of the art overview of existing regimes. The third and last section of this theme introduces the key actors in the international arena besides states, such as international organizations and civil society actors, such as pressure groups. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.
Built in to every multilateral environmental agreement is a dilemma: how to incorporate justice and fairness on the one hand and effectiveness on the other. Our immense difficulty in meeting this two-edged imperative highlights the fact that we are, at best, at an early stage in the development of international environmental ethics, and that no coherent and effective ethical system yet exists in this context. This remarkable book starts from a conviction that the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) offers the best way forward toward the much-desired goal of sustainable development. Presenting a full-scale, multidisciplinary assessment of the feasibility of the principle of CBDR in multilateral environmental agreements, encompassing legal and policy status perspectives as well as historical developments and future prospects, this study identifies issues and aspects in the theoretical and practical application of the CBDR principle. The author responds with in-depth knowledge and awareness to such specific questions as the following: What does the principle of common but differentiated responsibility entail in international environmental law, with special reference to international environmental treaties? How is the principle reflected in the burden-sharing design of current agreements? What problems and challenges does the practical application of the CBDR principle present to the international community and individual countries as well as to the international environmental regimes themselves? What factors should be taken into account when assessing the success or failure of the principle? What is the status of the principle in international environmental law (currently and possibly in the future), and what are its implications in the broader international context? The author examines methods for differentiation from both theoretical and actual treaty-level viewpoints. She offers examples from the negotiation history of international environmental treaties to shed light on the importance of information-sharing and wide participation during the negotiations. Recognizing that, in the international environmental field, problems of economic development and the geopolitics of global wealth distribution soon come to the fore, and that each stateands right to development should not be too heavily restricted under international environmental regimes, she demonstrates that the CBDR principle has a strong potential to formally integrate the environment and development at the international level. The study will be of immeasurable value in promoting understanding of how CBDR actually works. It will help lawyers and policymakers perceive how different parties want to use the principle, and to discern clearly what options could be chosen by the parties, which aspects are crucial, and what factors influence the effectiveness of the arrangements.
