Part VI Actors, Ch.36 International Institutions

Abstract

This chapter maps the different roles of international institutions involved in the development of international environmental law by considering the initiating roles that some institutions play, the institutional structure of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), and the roles of scientific and financial institutions. It charts how MEAs link to each other substantively by focusing on the relationships between global and regional MEAs and the synergies and contestations between global MEAs. These mapping processes result in the identification of patterns that illustrate the different roles and types of links that exist between international institutions. International institutions, together with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), engage in two types of activities in developing international environmental law. First, they engage in normative development. That is the development of rules and standards that are to regulate human activity. Second, they engage in implementing these rules and standards.