Governance with multilateral environmental agreements: A healthy or ill-equipped fragmentation?

This chapter focuses on multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Unlike other international policy fields such as trade, labor, or health, where international institutions are streamlined, environmental problem solving is centered around a multiple number of multilateral environmental agreements and their institutions (secretariat and conference of the parties). Although existing environmental institutions such as MEAs and UNEP [the United Nations Environment Programme] have achieved a great deal and reduced the speed with which environmental degradation is proceeding, there still are a number of pressing environmental problems prevailing throughout the world, including air and water pollution, the loss of biological diversity, desertification, and climate change. Furthermore, accelerated globalization has caused cross-border environmental problems to increase. Challenges of environmental governance are huge and still growing. What is necessary to improve the system and make it more effective? Could we head for a more effective environmental governance system based on MEAs on the road ahead, or do we need to change direction towards a more streamlined problem-solving system?.