ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in this book. The book focuses on many of the efforts to address the problems that take place within international institutions. It considers United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the other institutional entities within the United Nations that play important roles in global environmental governance. The book examines institutions clustered by issue area, looking at those that focus on protecting endangered species and biodiversity, those that govern the ocean environment, those focusing on the atmosphere, and a recent set of institutions that focus on the transboundary movement of hazardous substances. It concludes with an examination of international efforts to fund the activities overseen by global environmental institutions, the recalcitrance of the United States toward full participation in these institutional processes, and the efforts of organizations with overlapping goals to collaborate.
