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UNEP in Global Environmental Governance: Design, Leadership, Location

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  • Maria Ivanova

    (Maria Ivanova is Assistant Professor of Government and Environmental Policy at The College of William and Mary and Director of the Global Environmental Governance (GEG) Project at the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy. She holds a PhD in international environmental policy from Yale University. Her research focuses on global environmental governance, the effectiveness of the United Nations, and the role of the United States in international environmental affairs. During the 2009/2010 academic year she is a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. She is the co-editor of Global Environmental Governance: Options & Opportunities (with Daniel Esty) and has published in International Environmental Agreements, SAIS Review of International Affairs, Review of European Community and International Environmental Law, Cadernos Adenauer, and numerous edited volumes.)

Abstract

As debates on reform of global environmental governance intensify, the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has come into acute political focus. Many argue that the organization has faltered in its role as the UN's leading agency for the environment. In this article, I use historical institutional analysis in combination with current international relations and management theory to explain UNEP's creation and evolution. Having described how the creators of UNEP envisioned the nascent organization, I analyze its subsequent performance, identifying the key factors that have shaped its record. I argue that the original vision for UNEP was ambitious but fundamentally pragmatic, and that the organization's mixed performance over the years can be explained by analysis of three factors: its design, leadership, and location. Thus, this article clarifies the record on UNEP's intended function, and lays the foundation for a systematic methodology for evaluating international organizations. (c) 2010 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Ivanova, 2010. "UNEP in Global Environmental Governance: Design, Leadership, Location," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 10(1), pages 30-59, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:10:y:2010:i:1:p:30-59
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    Cited by:

    1. Frank Biermann, 2013. "Curtain down and Nothing Settled: Global Sustainability Governance after the ‘Rio+20’ Earth Summit," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(6), pages 1099-1114, December.
    2. Carattini, Stefano & Fankhauser, Sam & Gao, Jianjian & Gennaioli, Caterina & Panzarasa, Pietro, 2023. "What does network analysis teach us about international environmental cooperation?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    3. Franz Xaver Perrez, 2020. "The Role of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Emerging Issues of International Environmental Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Lucile Maertens & Leah R. Kimber & Fanny Badache & Emilie Dairon, 2021. "Time and space in the study of international organizations: An introduction," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S7), pages 5-13, December.
    5. Jonathan Rosenberg, 2020. "Adaptation, Official Development Assistance, and Institution Building: The Case of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-26, May.
    6. Michael W. Manulak, 2022. "Maria Ivanova. 2021. The untold story of the world’s leading environmental institution: UNEP at fifty (Cambridge: MIT Press)," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 223-226, January.
    7. Zinabu Wolde & Wu Wei & Haile Ketema & Eshetu Yirsaw & Habtamu Temesegn, 2021. "Indicators of Land, Water, Energy and Food (LWEF) Nexus Resource Drivers: A Perspective on Environmental Degradation in the Gidabo Watershed, Southern Ethiopia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-24, May.
    8. Geoffrey Garver, 2013. "The Rule of Ecological Law: The Legal Complement to Degrowth Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-22, January.
    9. Tamar Gutner & Alexander Thompson, 2010. "The politics of IO performance: A framework," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 227-248, September.
    10. Riikka Sievänen & John Sumelius & K. Islam & Mila Sell, 2013. "From struggle in responsible investment to potential to improve global environmental governance through UN PRI," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 197-217, May.
    11. Emilie Dairon & Fanny Badache, 2021. "Understanding International Organizations’ Headquarters as Ecosystems: The Case of Geneva," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(S7), pages 24-33, December.
    12. Andrew Lugg, 2024. "Re-contracting intergovernmental organizations: Membership change and the creation of linked intergovernmental organizations," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 545-577, September.
    13. Murat Arsel, 2011. "Forum 2011," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 42(1), pages 448-457, January.

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