This book examines how regimes influence the behavior of their members and those associated with them.

This book examines why some international environmental regimes succeed while others fail. Confronting theory with evidence, and combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, it compares fourteen case studies of international regimes. It considers what effectiveness in a regime would look like, what factors might contribute to effectiveness, and how to measure the variables. It determines that environmental regimes actually do better than the collective model of the book predicts. The effective regimes examined involve the End of Dumping in the North Sea, Sea Dumping of Low-Level Radioactive Waste, Management of Tuna Fisheries in the Pacific, and the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer Depletion. Mixed-performance regimes include Land-Based Pollution Control in the North Sea, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Satellite Telecommunication, and Management of High Seas Salmon in the North Pacific. Ineffective regimes are the Mediterranean Action Plan, Oil Pollution from Ships at Sea, International Trade in Endangered Species, the International Whaling Commission, and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Introduces the International Regimes Database (IRD), which enables scholars to study international regimes quantitatively; includes a description and demonstration of the database as well as a CD with the data protocol and current data.

Using the international climate regime as an example, Simone Schiele analyses the ability of international environmental regimes to evolve over time.

This exciting textbook introduces students to the ways in which the theories and tools of International Relations can be used to analyse and address global environmental problems. Kate O'Neill develops an historical and analytical framework for understanding global environmental issues, and identifies the main actors and their roles, allowing students to grasp the core theories and facts about global environmental governance. She examines how governments, international bodies, scientists, activists and corporations address global environmental problems including climate change, biodiversity loss, ozone depletion and trade in hazardous wastes. The book represents a new and innovative theoretical approach to this area, as well as integrating insights from different disciplines, thereby encouraging students to engage with the issues, to equip themselves with the knowledge they need, and to apply their own critical insights. This will be invaluable for students of environmental issues both from political science and environmental studies perspectives.

This book provides authoritative and up-to-date research for anyone interested in the study of international environmental politics. It demonstrates how the field of international environmental politics has evolved and identifies key questions, topics and approaches to guide future research.

Can environmental institutions be effective at bringing about a healthier environment? How? Institutions for the Earth takes a close look at the factors influencing organized responses to seven international environmental problems - oil pollution from tankers, acid rain in Europe, stratospheric ozone depletion, pollution of the North Sea and Baltic, mismanagement of fisheries, overpopulation, and misuses of farm chemicals to determine the roles that environmental institutions have played in attempting to solve them. Through rigorous, systematic comparison, it reveals common patterns that can lead to improvements in the collective management of these problems and suggests ways in which international institutions can further the case of environmental protection.The contributors identify three major functions performed by effective international environmental institutions: building national capacity, improving the contractual environment, and elevating governmental concern. The international organizations analyzed within this framework include the United Nations Environment Program, the Intergovernmental Maritime Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, numerous fisheries commissions, the Commission for Europe, the Oslo and Paris Commissions, the Helsinki Commission, and the United Nations Fund for Population Assistance.