Transnational environmental policies are efforts to confront global environmental issues such as climate change,

ozone depletion Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed since the late 1970s: a steady lowering of about four percent in the total amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere, and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone (the ozone l ...

, or

marine pollution Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial waste, industrial, agricultural pollution, agricultural and municipal solid waste, residential waste, particle (ecology), particles, noise, excess carbon dioxid ...

. Environmental policies are transnational when they include actors from at least two

sovereign states A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined terri ...

. As of 2018, more than 1,800 multilateral environmental agreements are in effect.

History

Since World War II, environmental policies have shifted focus from local or discrete issues like loss of biodiversity or pollution to global environmental topics. The post-war economic expansion also created environmental damage, which in turn led to modern environmentalism and the first

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

in 1970. The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm marked "the emergence of what has become a large and complex set of environmental regimes", and "the beginning of international environmental law and policy." Major conferences regarding climate change occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, with the first

World Climate Conference The World Climate Conferences are a series of international meetings, organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), about global climate issues principally global warming in addition to climate research and forecasting. Conferences ...

in 1979, and the World Conference on the Changing Atmosphere in 1988; the latter resulted in the world's first ambitious targets and timetables for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2018, more than 1,800 multilateral environmental agreements are in effect. Of these, more than 190

address climate change Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...

, consisting of 12,000 sub-state and non-state actors.

Actors

International organizations

International organizations are organizations established by treaties, which are governed by international law and have their own legal personalities. They both create international law and are subject to it. Examples of international organizations with a focus in environmental policy include the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Transnational environmental NGOs (TENGOs) are environmental NGOs with a broad geographic scope. Examples of TENGOs include World Wide Fund for Nature, Natural Resources Defense Council,

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

, The Nature Conservancy, and the World Resources Institute. One way TENGOs create environmental change is through market-based certification programs, which have been enacted in sectors including ecotourism, forestry, fishing, and

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

. One of the most successful and visible of these programs is the Forest Stewardship Council, which has served as a model for other certification programs. Other popular certification programs include the

dolphin safe label Dolphin-safe labels are used to denote compliance with laws or policies designed to minimize dolphin fatalities during fishing for tuna destined for canning. Some labels impose stricter requirements than others. Dolphin-safe tuna labeling originat ...

and Marine Stewardship Council.

References

{{reflist Transnationalism Environmental policy