Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
reaction to gradually aggravating environmental threats is for the environmental
regimes to assign a more important role to scientifi c research in controlling
international environmental problems. Scientists can inform politicians and the
public via popularized assessments to show how rapidly and dramatically a prob-
lem is likely to escalate if no action is taken.
Existing international environmental regimes have created regulatory
models that allow the scientifi c knowledge of the environmental problem
to infl uence the way the regime responds to it. In this capacity, the LRTAP
is the pioneering convention. In the fi rst instance, a framework agreement
was adopted containing general obligations. The establishment of the scien-
tifi c monitoring programme EMEP made it possible to access precise infor-
mation about the emissions of various harmful substances: where they
originate and where they end up. This made it possible for the parties to
negotiate the reduction of harmful substances by means of additional subse-
quent protocols.
This framework agreement model has since then been applied to almost
all the key international environmental regimes; indeed, some regimes go
further still, with the creation of accelerated amendment methods. For
example, amendments can be made to the Montreal Protocol by a qualifi ed
majority.
The framework agreement model helps address some of the challenges in
international environmental protection. Regulation can start at an early stage,
as the agreement obligations do not require much from the parties. This also
encourages a greater number of participants in decisions relating to a global or
regional environmental threat, because the obligations are not very onerous.
Legally binding protocols can usually be negotiated into a framework agree-
ment to specify and operationalize the general obligations. The parties to a
framework agreement can participate in the protocols but they are not
required to do so. This can be problematic: a regime can split into different
groups, for example when the fi rst protocol is ratifi ed by only half of the state
parties, whereas the majority participates in the second protocol. Such prob-
lems are frequently resolved over time, as the states gradually bind themselves
to the various protocols in the framework agreement.
A framework agreement creates a legal connection between agreements that
have been adopted at different times. As protocols are negotiated into a frame-
work agreement and between its parties, the general regulations in the parent
agreement typically apply to its protocols. The Biosafety Protocol Article 32
states that except otherwise provided, the Convention on Biodiversity applies
to any subsequent protocol.
If the secretariat of a framework agreement is part of an existing interna-
tional organization, it also maintains institutional continuity. It is frequently
the only body in an international regime that is expected solely to implement
the objectives of the agreement and its protocols; other regime bodies are
composed of state representatives who may well also be inclined to advance
the interests of their states.
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