**GAO-03-249**                      Published: Jan 29, 2003. Publicly Released: Feb 10, 2003.                  

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## Highlights

Environmental problems do not respect national boundaries. These problems include (1) climate change, (2) drought and the expansion of degraded land, (3) environmental cooperation among the countries of North America, (4) illegal trade in endangered species, and (5) substances that deplete the earth's protective ozone layer. To address such problems, the United States and other nations have entered into numerous international environmental agreements. In implementing these agreements, the parties typically commit to establish domestic programs and report periodically on their progress. Developed nations like the United States may also pledge to provide funds to assist developing nations. GAO was asked to examine (1) U.S. actions to fulfill its commitments under five international agreements identified by the requesters, (2) the means used to track these actions, and (3) the results of others' evaluations of these actions for the selected agreements.

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## Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

DesertificationEnvironmental monitoringEnvironmental policiesInternational agreementsInternational relationsOzoneOzone layer depletionClimate changeForeign trade agreementsGreenhouse gases