Environmental Agreements Research Articles

From Kyoto to Paris and beyond: A deep dive into the green shift

This study investigates the impact of the Kyoto Protocol and its associated regime, the Paris Agreement, on environmental outcomes and the green transition. We employ a difference-in-differences (DD) specification for country-level panel data from 1995 to 2018. The DD estimates suggest that the Kyoto Protocol of 2005 significantly reduced CO2 emissions and natural resources rents by around 20 percent and decreased the quantity of non-renewable electricity generated by about 36 percent, relative to the pre-Kyoto period. The protocol also led to increases in renewable energy consumption and generation of 18 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Robustness checks using system GMM estimates confirm that the effects of the Kyoto Protocol are likely not biased because of dynamic endogeneity from simultaneity problems or confounding trends. For the Paris Agreement, given documented issues in interpreting the average treatment effects using standard two-way fixed effects (TWFE), we leverage a DD specification with multiple treatment timings. We find no statistically significant effect of the Paris Agreement 2016 on the green transition except that it contributes to reducing CO2 emissions. The absence of a significant impact from the ad hoc Paris Agreement on most outcomes points to the need for greater effort in implementing environmental treaties.

The likely impact of the BBNJ Agreement on the architecture of ocean governance

In June 2023, governments agreed to a new treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). Unlike most other multilateral environmental agreements that typically emerge in response to newly identified transboundary environmental issues, the BBNJ Agreement steps into an already crowded institutional landscape as a global authority with broad objectives. The challenge facing this new legal instrument is unique. It must transform the architecture of ocean governance by harmonizing existing institutions, frameworks, and bodies (IFBs) while respecting their autonomy. This study examines the numerous references to IFBs in the treaty text to shed light on how the BBNJ Agreement might affect the dynamics with and among existing IFBs. The findings suggest that the BBNJ Agreement represents a new model for multilateral environmental agreements. It relies on its capacity to orchestrate incumbent IFBs and forge a new polycentric order centered around its treaty objectives. Its institutional power is likely to be constrained by the obligation to involve relevant IFBs in its decision-making processes. But the primary strength of the BBNJ Agreement lies in the normative authority it has established. Its objectives are effectively promoted within IFBs, potentially taking precedence in the event of serious or irreversible harm to marine biodiversity. When fully implemented, the BBNJ Agreement has the potential to redefine the relationships among existing IFBs and improve their coherence for more holistic ocean governance.

The Climate Change Conundrum: A Case for Course Correction in the Global Regulatory Approach$

The Conference of Parties (COP) of the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) provides a platform at a specific periodicity (one, two or three years) to review work of the Convention in question. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a ‘universal’ convention with 198 parties. The 28th annual meeting of the COP (UNFCCC) was held in Dubai (UAE) during 30 November - 13 December 2023. The UN provides ‘secretariat’ support to the UNFCCC, hence the usage of prefix ‘United Nations’. It is called a ‘framework convention’ since it was adopted with a bare skeleton on 09 May 1992. It required ‘fleshing out’ of the UNFCCC with required elements to make it work for the “‘ultimate objective” of “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (Article 2). It led to the adoption of the (“related legal instruments”) 1997 Kyoto Protocol and 2015 Paris Agreement. The climate change regime now comprises these three legal instruments that seek to address the global climate problematique. Whereas COP27 (Sharm El-Shaik; 06–21 November 2022) was known for adoption of the decision on “loss and damage” funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters, COP28 unveiled the first global climate ‘stocktake’. This took place on the heels of UNEP Emissions Gap Report (20 November 2023) that issued warming that “world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals unless countries deliver more than they have promised”. The UNEP report called for the GHG emissions (by 2030) to “fall by 28 per cent for the Paris Agreement 2°C pathway and 42 per cent for the 1.5°C pathway”. Thus, there is a big chasm between what is laid down in the climate change regulatory framework, what is scientifically ordained and what is actually given effect on the ground by the states Parties. After 30 years (1994–2024), the resultant ‘conundrum’ presents a challenge at this juncture of planetary crisis. It calls for the state Parties to the global climate change regime to engage in a major course correction in the current global climate change regulatory approaches for securing our planetary future.

Environmental Agreement as the Object of State Administrative Disputes

Environmental Agreement as the Object of State Administrative Disputes

Social equity in international environmental agreements

The aim of this paper is to investigate the problem of designing and building International Environmental Agreements (IEAs) taking into account some normative properties. We consider n asymmetric countries of the world, each one generating a quantity of pollutant emissions from the production of goods and services. We assume that individual emissions yield private benefits and negative externalities affecting all countries. To determine its own level of pollution, each state conducts a cost-benefit analysis. The absence of a supranational entity imposing emissions reduction makes IEAs based on voluntary participation. Examining the standard static non-cooperative game-theoretical model of coalition formation, we discover that the resulting emissions allocations might not be equitable à la Foley. It means that there might exist at least one player preferring to implement some other agent’s strategic plan instead of to play her own strategy. With the goal of studying whether equity, at least among coalesced countries, may be a criterion leading to social improvement, we introduce a new optimization rule. We require that members of an environmental coalition have to solve the maximization problem subject to the constraint imposing that they do not envy each other. Analyzing the particular case of two-player games, we get that, when countries are, in a sense, not too different from each other, our new mechanism endogenously induces social equity. By imposing a suitable total emission cap, the same results extend to all those games where our and standard solutions coexist and are different.

Environmental Justice and Health in Nigeria.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified 17 goals to achieve by the year 2030, with many of these goals directly or indirectly linked to environmental justice. Health outcomes remain poor in Nigeria; the country ranks low in environmental quality despite supporting environmental treaties and laws. The burden of diseases in the country is in part related to poor environmental quality and is linked to environmental justice issues, such as mining, energy exploration, transport emission, poor waste management, and proliferation of slum settlement. Previous studies found that living in proximity to mines and environmental degradation of land and water disrupts means of livelihood and causes poor health outcomes among children and adults. Specifically, health issues like respiratory illness, malaria, kidney disease, and high blood pressure are likely consequences of proximity to mine waste. Few published studies are available for a developing country like Nigeria, although the link between environmental justice and health in Nigeria is clear enough to require action on the part of the government and polluting industries. This paper reviewed the concept and coverage of environmental justice in the Nigerian context and its impact on health. Addressing environmental injustices related to mining and other environmental issues can accelerate health gains through conscious and concerted efforts towards preserving the environment. Also, the right of everyone to a sustainable city regardless of socioeconomic class and geographical location can only be secured through environmental justice.

International legal protection of the environment from criminal acts during armed conflicts

The article is dedicated to revealing the state of legal provision for the international legal protection of the environment from criminal acts during armed conflicts. Attention is drawn to the fact that international legal obligations of states regarding environmental protection during armed conflict are only contained in a few environmental treaties, but simultaneously in special agreements that are applicable in the presence of armed conflict and are sources of international humanitarian law. It is noted that from the general principles of the impact of war on international treaties, it follows that the termination of an international treaty at the onset of war is an exception to the rules, not a mandatory act. According to Articles 61 and 62 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969 regarding impossibility of performance and fundamental change of circumstances, it is established that war is not a basis for the automatic termination of treaty obligations, including environmental ones, by the parties to the conflict who have become parties in peacetime, which is also stated in the Draft Articles on the Impact of Armed Conflicts on Treaties of 2011 prepared by the UN International Law Commission, which includes a reference to a provisional list of treaties whose subject matter implies that they continue to apply during armed conflict, among them – treaties on international environmental protection.
 The standpoint regarding the necessity of developing a codified international instrument, which would consolidate the currently disparate provisions for regulating environmental protection issues in conditions of armed conflict, compensation for damage caused, etc., as a source of international environmental law, is supported. It would also address existing problems in legal application, such as the narrow and imprecise definition of the threshold level criteria required to prove environmental damage during armed conflict.

Political influence on international climate agreements with border carbon adjustment

We study the influence of industrial lobbying on national climate policies and the formation of an international environmental agreement if the coalition countries use border carbon adjustments to protect domestic producers. We find that the effects of this political influence crucially depend on the distribution of carbon tax revenues. If these are transferred to the households, lobbying distorts carbon taxes downwards to reduce the tax burden and does not affect coalition sizes. This leads to higher emissions and lower welfare. By contrast, if tax revenues are given back to the firms, lobbies in the outsider countries favor carbon taxes, whereas lobbies in the coalition countries favor carbon subsidies to raise the international commodity price. This reduces the tax difference and the welfare difference between the countries, which reduces the free-rider incentives. Then, lobbying stabilizes the grand coalition and reduces global emissions compared to a “perfect” world without lobbying if the political influence is sufficiently strong.

The Adoption of Renewable Energy Technologies by Oil-Producing Countries: An Inevitable Outcome at a Time of Global Challenges and Demand for Sustainable Development

This paper addresses the necessity of adopting renewable energy technologies in order to achieve sustainable development goals in light of increasing global challenges, with a particular focus on the current generation’s well-being. It addresses the potential impacts of global crises, such as energy and food crises, on the transition to renewable energy. Using a descriptive and analytical approach, this paper examines the environmental and economic costs and benefits of renewable energy as well as the commitment of oil-producing countries to international environmental treaties. The research utilises an econometric model to analyse the relationship between sustainable development goals and global challenges. Data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Renewable Energy Agency are used to inform the analysis. The findings showed that the rights and well-being of current generations are currently maintained by the persistent use of fossil fuels in oil-producing nations. Fossil fuels continue to be, and may likely remain, the primary energy source in various sectors of development, despite their significant contribution to environmental and climate issues. The paper offers insights and recommendations for policymakers seeking to determine when government spending should best be allocated to renewable energy technologies, balancing national economic interests with international agreements.

Event Ethnography to study the global negotiations on the treaty to end plastic pollution: dataset from the first session of negotiations (INC-1)

AbstractPlastics and their associated chemical pollution have emerged as a global threat. This recognition materialized in March 2022 with the adoption of a groundbreaking mandate among United Nations (UN) Member States, signaling the commencement of negotiations for a comprehensive treaty aimed at ending plastic pollution, encompassing the entire lifecycle. The first session of negotiations convened at the International Negotiating Committee (INC-1) in Punta del Este, Uruguay from November 28th–December 2nd, 2022, from there, four other negotiation sessions have either convened or will, with the expected conclusion in December 2024. The current study introduces a methodology for systematically observing and documenting global agreement-making. It utilizes a dataset from the first session of negotiations to explore the event ethnography (EE) methodology for following Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA). This paper aims to inspire and guide researchers in employing EE, recognizing its efficacy in navigating the complexities of the extensive Global Plastics Treaty (GPT) negotiations and promoting collaborative efforts for a comprehensive understanding of the process. EE is a method increasingly recognised to study multilateral international negotiations within the science-policy nexus to examine emerging obstacles, trends, power dynamics, and actors (both state and non-state) in action within the negotiations. Finally, a dataset is presented from INC-1 through a practical Excel document; the article then demonstrates one example of how the dataset can be employed to enhance comprehension of the negotiators and observers influencing the GPT negotiations.

Gaps in gender reporting in National Reports of Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (2021–2022)

Context The Ramsar Convention is the world’s premier environmental treaty for wetlands. This perspective evaluates gender reporting in Ramsar Convention National Reports and compliance with Gender and Wetlands Resolution XIII.18. A total of 71.8% (n = 42) of the sampled nation reports (n = 133) did not submit National Reports. Zero nations provided statistics on equitable pay or pay gaps by gender. In the sampled reports, only 10 nations submitted sex-disaggregated data. Further, only 7.5% (n = 123) of the sampled National Reports (n = 133) provided sex-disaggregated gender data relevant to the Ramsar Convention. Fifteen National Reports deleted the question on gender (Section H) on from their report entirely, including Denmark and Germany. With evidence drawn from the submitted National Reports, this perspective provides concrete empirical suggestions for improving gender reporting in the future. Gender initiatives, including Resolution XIII.18 and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have improved transparent gender reporting in the Ramsar Convention National Reports to a degree. However, on the basis of this review, there is room for improvement in national reporting. Methods National Reports from 2021 to 2022 were reviewed for all instances of ‘gender’ and then evaluated for national replies to Section H, focused on gender. Key results Five years after Resolution XIII.18, there is still a need for system-wide improvements in gender reporting, including sex-disaggregated data, and equity for women (cis and trans) for the Ramsar Convention to become compliant with Resolution XIII.18. Complying with Resolution XIII.18 is one concrete, global and measurable way for wetland science and policy to mainstream gender. Conclusions No nation has prepared a comprehensive answer to Section H on gender and wetland policy and science, as defined below; instead, nations have submitted discrete elements. The analysis of each nation’s answers showed essential elements for a comprehensive answer. In the next 5 years of gender reporting, nations have the option to learn from the past and strive to comply with Resolution XIII.18 and provide transparent sex-disaggregated data on National Heads, community stakeholders, site interpreters, site managers and equitable salary data.

National commitments to Aichi Targets and their implications for monitoring the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

The Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) exists as a major multilateral environmental agreement to safeguard biodiversity and “live in harmony with nature”. To deliver it, strategies and frameworks are set out in regular agreements that are then implemented at the national scale. However, we are not on track to achieve overall goals, and frameworks so far have not been successful. This could be due to unambitious targets, low follow-through on commitments, or desired outcomes for nature not being achieved when action is taken. Here, we focus on national planning and reporting documents from a set of 30% of Parties to the CBD. We found that nearly half of the commitments mentioned in national planning documents did not appear in the Sixth National Reports and that further losses emerged due to measures reported as incomplete or ineffective. There were differences between commitments to each of the Aichi Targets, with more losses in high-profile and “institutionally challenging” Targets. Commitments from Parties in different Human Development Index categories had different outcomes among Targets, and Parties self-identifying as “megadiverse countries” had overall higher rates of reported success. Our results are important for informing the monitoring of commitment implementation in the Kunming-Montreal “global biodiversity package”.

Biodiversity, multi-level governance, and policy implementation in Europe: a comparative analysis at the subnational level

Abstract International efforts to protect biodiversity date back to the 1970s. The effectiveness of Multilateral Environmental Agreements and regional legal instruments has been influenced by national implementation. In this process, subnational governance plays a crucial role. Although policy implementation has been extensively investigated, its subnational dimension has been somewhat neglected, particularly in peripheral areas such as the Outermost Regions of Europe. These remote territories are critical areas in the global fight against biodiversity loss since their ecosystems’ richness makes them biodiversity hotspots. The article applies the knowledge cumulated in policy research to the implementation of biodiversity policy in two of these territories – Reunion Island (France) and the Canary Islands (Spain) – and analyzes policy implementation in the context of multi-level governance. The article questions whether and to what extent decentralization benefits biodiversity policies and highlights salient trade-offs: local empowerment versus fragmentation of competences; responsiveness versus subnational discretion; and accountability versus policy capture.

Comparative Politics of International Environmental Agreements and the EU

Comparative Politics of International Environmental Agreements and the EU

Coalition Stability in International Environmental Matching Agreements

This study presents empirically calibrated simulations of three different variants of environmental matching agreements aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. We determine whether matching agreements can produce larger stable coalitions and increase abatement contributions and payoffs as compared to standard agreements. The matching agreements we analyze feature uniform matching rates by which coalition members match the unconditional contributions of (i) the other coalition members, (ii) all other players, or (iii) only non-members, while non-members do not commit to any matching and maximize their individual payoffs. The simulation considers twelve asymmetric world regions with linear abatement benefits and quadratic costs, calibrated based on the STACO 3 model, and uses emissions data from the shared socioeconomic pathways database. We find that the first variant of the matching game fails to produce any stable coalitions and thus performs worse than the standard agreement that produces a stable two-player coalition. The second variant produces a stable grand coalition and significantly increases the abatement and payoff levels beyond the non-cooperative Nash baseline. Partial coalitions are unstable in this game. The third variant produces a two-player coalition similar to the standard coalition formation game, but with different members and higher abatement and payoff levels due to the matching mechanism.

International Legal Framework for Joint Governance of Oceans and Fisheries: Challenges and Prospects in Governing Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) under Sustainable Development Goal 14

Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) was launched in 2015 to provide an overarching governance framework for long-term sustainable ocean development. This research paper analyzes the extent to which global and regional organizations are coherent with SDG 14 under the existing frameworks of international law. This research paper further assessed Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) under the framework of the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and International Environmental Law (IEL) in the context of joint governance of ocean and fisheries as Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs). According to its objectives, the research indicated that coherence across governing instruments should be increased for the governance of LMEs, leading to the development of a mechanism representing consistency with SDG 14. As a result, a mechanism that demonstrates the coherence of SDG 14 with Agenda—2030 is made, which indicates that, in order to govern fisheries and oceans as LMEs jointly, coherence among governing instruments must be increased. The conclusion followed SDG 14’s recommended actions, which are sly in line with UNCLOS and IEL, although the current initiatives of the regional organizations should be updated.

International environmental agreements when countries behave morally

In the game-theoretical literature on forming international environmental agreements (IEAs) countries use to be self-interested materialists and stable coalitions are small. This paper analyzes IEA games with identical countries that exhibit Kantian moral behavior. Kantians are concerned with doing the right thing which means that they take those actions and only those actions that they advocate all others take as well. Countries may behave morally with respect to both emissions (reduction) and membership in an IEA. If countries are emissions Kantians or membership Kantians the equilibrium of the IEA games is socially optimal. To model more realistic Kantian behavior, we define an emissions [membership] moralist as a country whose welfare is a weighted average of the welfare of an emissions [membership] Kantian and a materialist. The game with emissions moralists produces stable coalitions not larger than those in the standard game with materialists. The game with membership moralists yields stable coalitions that are increasing in the membership morality. The aggregate emissions decline if the degree of morality of either type of moralists increases. Finally, we characterize the equilibrium of an IEA game with moderate moralists with respect to both emissions and membership.

Прогресс стран БРИКС в достижении климатических и экологических целей Повестки 2030

The BRICS countries have repeatedly expressed their commitment to the goals of multilateral climate and environmental agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, and the United Nations (UN) Agenda for Sustainable Development. Large developing economies play an important role in global climate efforts, and their potential contribution to these efforts will only increase as their share of the global economy, resource consumption patterns, and greenhouse gas emissions increase. The article examines the BRICS agenda and the national policies of the five pre-expansion countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) in the environmental-climate sphere. The article analyzes both institutional (collective) and national contributions of each of the five countries in comparison with the dynamics of environmental and climate indicators, which allows the identification of both the points of greatest progress and the areas that need additional efforts, including through the expansion of BRICS cooperation

International Law Issues Concerning Marine Environment Protection in the Arctic

International Law Issues Concerning Marine Environment Protection in the Arctic

The latent net effectiveness of institutional complexes: a heuristic model.

International institutions strive to achieve their own objectives while operating within a complex network of interdependencies. These interdependencies create an extensive web of relationships that serve as potential pathways for broader institutional impacts. The actions taken by individual institutions, their mutual influences, and the pattern of connectivity collectively shape the overall performance of institutional complexes. Understanding the performance of these complexes is crucial, yet we currently lack a methodology to assess it. To address this gap, we have developed a conceptual framework that integrates three distinct areas of study on three different scales: institutional effectiveness, institutional interlinkages, and institutional networks. This framework enables us to consider what we call the latent net effectiveness, or collective problem-solving potential, of a group of interconnected institutions. To put this framework into practice, we have devised a heuristic model, drawing from the extensive literature on international environmental institutions. As an illustrative example, we have applied this model to a network of 378 multilateral environmental agreements with 810 known issue linkages. Our work underscores the relevance of considering the system-level properties of institutional complexes and emphasizes the need for timely network-based governance and policy interventions to enhance the overall effectiveness of institutional complexes. This article is part of the theme issue 'A complexity science approach to law and governance'.