ABSTRACT
Most modern international treaties related to environmental protection have to come to grips with changing circumstances. This adaptive capacity is often built into a regime from the outset by first concluding a framework convention with broad and general obligations that are later complemented by protocols or by inserting flexible amendment/adjustment mechanisms into the treaty. Another modern development is the conclusion of treaties that create a plenary organ which is given powers to establish subsidiary bodies that elaborate the convention regime. 1 This approach contrasts starkly with some of the older international environmental treaties, which established no institutional mechanisms to develop the regime. 2
