An international environmental agreement or sometimes environmental protocol, is a type of

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

binding in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, allowing them to reach an environmental goal. In other words, it is "an intergovernmental document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or managing human impacts on natural resources." 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 The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, cover subjects such as atmospheric policies, freshwater policies, hazardous waste and substance policies, the marine environment, nature conservation policies,

noise pollution Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is ma ...

and nuclear safety.

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 Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and Switzerland. International environmental protocols came to feature in

environmental governance Environmental governance (EG) consist of a system of laws, norms, rules, policies and practices that dictate how the board members of an environment related regulatory body should manage and oversee the affairs of any environment related regu ...

after trans-boundary

environmental problems Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...

became widely perceived in the 1960s.Haas, Keohane and Levy (1993) Institutions for the Earth: Sources of effective international environmental protection Massachusetts Institute of Technology Between 1857 and 2012, a total of 747 multilateral environmental agreements have been concluded. Following the Stockholm Intergovernmental Conference in 1972, creation of international environmental agreements proliferated.Zürn (1998) The Rise of International Environmental Politics: A Review of Current Research World Politics, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 617–649 MEAs were popularized by the

, the majority of MEAs have been implemented since the 1972 at the

United Nations Conference on the Human Environment The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 5–16 in 1972. When the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the 1972 Stockholm Conference, taking up the offer of the Government of S ...

(also known as the Stockholm Conference).Environment Canada. (2007). Negotiator's handbook: multilateral environment agreement. Joensuu, Finland: University of Joensuu. 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. A complex networking system is needed for a functional MEA system.Kim, R. E. (2013). The emergent network structure of the multilateral environmental agreement system. Global Environmental Change, 23(5), 980–991. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha. 2013.07.006. Levels of government within a nation may impede each other about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

(for example) due to opposing views or parties, making implementation more difficult and impacting external relationships. Policies surrounding an MEA are determined by the participating countries. The United Nations and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

are key

intergovernmental organization Globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of ...

s for forging and implementating the agreements. There have been increasing use of environmental provisions in bilateral environmental agreements and also in international investment agreements, like bilateral environmental agreement.

Effectiveness

Protocols can take flexible approaches to improve effectiveness. One example is the use of sanctions: under the

Montreal Protocol The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion. It was agreed on 16 September 1987, and entered into force o ...

, signatories were forbidden to purchase

chlorofluorocarbons Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propa ...

from non-signatories, in order to prevent any windfall benefits. Funding has also been used to overcome North-South conflict: members of the Montreal Protocol created a fund of $240 million to redistribute the costs of transition. It also has different ten-year grace period for developing countries. Differential obligations are also seen in the Kyoto Protocol and can encourage wider participation, where every country have very different targets mainly based on their development. While protocols appear to be the ultimate top-down mode of governance, having "scant provisions for

public participation Public participation, also known as citizen participation or patient and public involvement, is the inclusion of the public in the activities of any organization or project. Public participation is similar to but more inclusive than stakeholder e ...

," it is widely thought that the influence of transnational networks has been growing Public opinion is relevant, as concern must exist to prompt action and dedication of government resources. It kept growing more and more since the young activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

started Fridays for Future.

Non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

s also fulfill certain roles, from gathering information and devising policies to mobilizing support. Science plays an important part, although Susskind asserts that sometimes this role is diminished by uncertainty, disagreement, and the rise of "adversary science." The business community can also be involved with positive outcomes. 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.

Barriers and criticism

The world's existing political systems, differences and conflicts pose barriers to the creation of environmental protocols. First, maintenance of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

means that no country can be forced to participate, only urged to do so. Consequently, as French states, "International law has the force of moral suasion, but few real teeth."French (1994) Strengthening International Environmental Governance The Journal of Environment Development 3: 59 Second, North-South conflict can block cooperation and cause conflicts. The countries in the global South, considered the poor one, generally see the countries of the North, the rich one, as needing to take responsibility for environmental degradation and make significant changes in their way of living, neither of which the North deems reasonable. The south argue that the north have already had the opportunity to develop and already polluted a lot during their industrial development. 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

free-rider problem In the social sciences, the free-rider problem is a type of market failure that occurs when those who benefit from resources, public goods (such as public roads or public library), or services of a communal nature do not pay for them or under-p ...

. Additionally, environmental protocols may be criticized for scientific uncertainty, or at least a lack of synthesis of scientific information, which may be used for "blocking interests and doing mischief." In the case of problems like

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

and

, resistance typically is a product of engineered denial. 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 In mathematics, the lowest common denominator or least common denominator (abbreviated LCD) is the lowest common multiple of the denominators of a set of fractions. It simplifies adding, subtracting, and comparing fractions. Description The low ...

, 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 The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer is a multilateral environmental agreement signed in 1985 that provided frameworks for international reductions in the production of chlorofluorocarbons due to their contribution to the d ...

, which was brought together to address the hazardous effects of

Chlorofluorocarbons Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) are fully or partly halogenated hydrocarbons that contain carbon (C), hydrogen (H), chlorine (Cl), and fluorine (F), produced as volatile derivatives of methane, ethane, and propa ...

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

World Trade Organization

The

has been involved in MEA negotiations due to the agreements' trade implications. The organization has trade and environmental policies which promote the protection and preservation of the environment. Its objective is to reduce trade barriers and coordinate trade-related measures with

environmental policies Environmental policy is the commitment of an organization or government to the laws, regulations, and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues. These issues generally include air and water pollution, waste management, ecosystem mana ...

. Since MEAs protect and preserve the environment, they may help ease restrictions on trade. The WTO’s principles are based on non-discrimination, free trade through reduction of trade barriers and fair competition, and MEAs have been rejected for not being in accordance with the organization's principles. The WTO is working with and implementing over 350 MEAs worldwide. Most of the agreements involve five core countries which are committed to environmental improvement and free trade.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 WTO members are legally bound to respect negotiated reductions of barriers to trade. However, conflict has arisen due to trade restriction.

Major MEA participants

Australia

Australia is noted for its wide variety of animal species and diverse environment, which includes

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

es, deserts and mountains, and

is a major concern. The country is under the largest

ozone hole Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone lay ...

in the world, with environmental impact. Australia's proximity to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

raises concerns about sea-level rise and changes in ocean currents which influence climate.

Canada

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's multilateral environmental agreements encompass air,

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s, chemicals and waste,

, environmental cooperation, marine and the oceans, and

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...

. Canada has taken an initiative due to the country's variety of

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

s and populated areas, all of which can contribute to environmental stress. Relevant cases include Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, in which the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

upheld a ruling of a lower court and charged a Canadian company, Teck Resources, for contaminating the Columbia River in the United States. No. 16-35742 D.C. No. 2:04-cv-00256-LRS Teck Resources smelter in Trail, British Columbia is upstream of the United States border.

United States

The United States has committed to the

on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and global negotiations on mercury. 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.

References

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External links

Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator's Handbook
Environmental issues Environmental law Environmental treaties International law Multilateral relations