International Environmental Institutions
Authors: Zahar Alexander 
Published: March 2014

In the literature on international environmental institutions, “institution” and “organization” are often used interchangeably, with a preference for the less delineating and richer concept of “institution” where there is a need to encompass processes and traditions or where a pinnacle organization is lacking, as in the nongovernment sector. We also find “institution” used in the same breath as the even richer concept of an “international regime” (defined as a system of principles, norms, rules, operating procedures, and institutions that actors create or accept as regulating or coordinating action in a particular issue area of international relations). Institutions/organizations are sometimes said to be the means by which international regimes are implemented. How did international environmental institutions originate and to what do they owe their present shape? How do they operate and to what end? Do they provide any benefit? Can they be improved? What tested methodologies do we have for studying them? The works discussed in this article answer these questions, and more. The history of international environmental institutions (in contrast with environmentalism itself) is relatively brief. The 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment triggered international institutionalization—notably the establishment of the UN Environment Programme—and the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit) also spurred considerable growth. Since 1992, attention has shifted from institution building to implementation and consolidation. The main functions of international environmental institutions may be summarized as facilitating international treaties and agreements; framing new principles, policies, and laws; acting as a forum for the negotiation of further measures and regulations; receiving reports on treaty implementation by states; coordinating environmental monitoring (including information and data collection); facilitating independent monitoring and inspection; promoting scientific research; providing technical and financial support; and facilitating the participation of civil society. Depending on their size and degree of specialization, the institutions referred to in this article will have one or more of the above functions. This article reflects the debate in the literature on many issues, including whether a “system” for global environmental governance exists; whether international institutionalization has translated into state cooperation in solving common environmental problems; whether environmental organizations have any powers of independent action in the development of policy and law (or whether they are limited to receiving instructions from states); whether the best way forward is to create a global environmental institution or to continue to try to improve and coordinate the multiple and dispersed regulatory regimes (which are open to change through review and negotiation, but are only loosely coordinating their activities); and whether the diffusion of regulatory power among networks of state and nonstate actors, which transcend national boundaries, has progressed far enough—or has gone too far. In the structure of this article, historical and introductory works and textbooks are presented first. The coordination of the policies of the many international organizations with environmental mandates has generally fallen to the United Nations, in particular the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. Thus three central sections of this article are largely about UN or UN-related institutions, arranged by their degree of dedication to environmental issues, but also by the type of institution they are. The next four sections of the article are “sectoral” in their approach to the literature, whereas the final two sections focus on works exploring the effectiveness and possible reform of international environmental institutions.