ABSTRACT
The vast majority of environmental agreements are bilateral or regional in scope, involving, for instance, the man agement of river systems, air corridors, or migratory bird species. A minority of environmental issues— including the atmosphere, international waterways, and biological diversity—are truly global. Environmental treaties rely heavily on transparency as an implementation tool. They generally require detailed reporting of actions taken at the national level to put agreements into practice. The UN Environment Programme was intended to be the linchpin of international environmental cooperation when it was created in 1972 at the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. Beyond a stronger UN environment agency, it is also essential that environmental concerns be integrated widely throughout all UN activities. Governments have used the Commission on Sustainable Development to exchange views on contentious topics that cut across traditional issue dividing lines. The Global Environment Facility is an innovation in global governance, as it bridges the United Nations and Bretton Woods systems.
