International Environmental Agreements (IEAs): An Integrated Perspective on the Concept of Effectiveness

Abstract

The effectiveness of international environmental agreements (IEAs) has been conceptualized in various ways in the literature, and several assessment methodologies have been postulated. There has not been any attempt at integrating the various perspectives, nor of determining the fit between the assessment methodology and the goals of the IEAs or of the IEA institutions. This article reviews the various effectiveness conceptualizations, and proposes the 'effectiveness web' as an integrative framework for understanding the interrelationships that exist among the various determinants and potential indicators of IEA effectiveness. This article argues for an evolutionary and dynamic conceptualization of IEA effectiveness, as well as a multi-track assessment of effectiveness, which is more in line with the activities of the IEA institutions. This article identifies potential indicators for various stages of the life-cycle of an IEA, and using the premise of global environmental sustainability as guiding framework, provides a hierarchy of effectiveness assessment methodologies.

Assessing the Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements (IEAs)

“…Interestingly, rather than focusing solely on environmentbased concepts of effectiveness, the IEA institutions tend to adopt a multi-track perspective on effectiveness. Apart from the expected sustained focus on developing environmental indicators and establishing baseline information and trends in the identified environmental indicators (Seelarbokus, 2014), effectiveness is also often analyzed in terms of proxy effectiveness indicators such as the number of meetings or seminars held, joint research programs established, country reporting successes, participation rates, and the number of agreements negotiated under the parent convention, inter alia. The CMS Secretariat, for example, considers that the CMS treaty has been successful in view of the seven additional agreements negotiated under the ambit of the main CMS treaty, the growth over the years in the number of contracting parties, MoUs agreed upon with other IEA Secretariats or international NGOs, the establishment of coordinated aerial surveys to study the seal population (in regard to the Seal Convention), as well as the status or trends in the population of the other relevant species (Reijnders et al, 2009; UNEP/ CMS, 1997b).…”