ABSTRACT
As environmental policymaking has matured since the 1980s, information-based policy instruments have become increasingly prominent. As one such instrument, reporting involves the disclosure of information about environmental performance in a specified format and covering an agreed time period. Environmental reporting is used in both intergovernmental and transnational environmental governance. At the intergovernmental level, reporting is closely tied to monitoring and verification of environmental performance, either in relation to treaties or to overarching goals like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While self-reporting is often challenged as unreliable, national reporting can nonetheless help to provide a focal point for discussing a state’s performance for policy learning across states.
