International Environmental Treaties and State Behavior

Denise DeGarmo

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781135468071
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of environmental issues for nation-state security, current research on international environmental security is insufficient. Although scholars in the field of International Relations believe that there is an appropriate role for international relations theory in analyzing global environmental concerns, the existing literature is predominantly descriptive or prescriptive rather than analytical. This study attempts to remedy this problem by conducting an empirical analysis of nation-state behavior in the international environmental realm.

Chapter One

International Environmental Problems and International Environmental Politics: An Overview

In the dust where we have buried the silent races and their abominations, we have buried so much of the delicate magic of life.

—D.H. Lawrence (at Taos)

The purpose of this chapter is to provide the reader with an introduction to international environmental problems and politics. The chapter is divided into four sections. The first section is devoted to a discussion of international environmental problems and their influence on state behavior in the international system. The second section examines international environmental cooperation, while the third section looks at international environmental politics. Finally, section four provides an overview of the organization of this book.

INTERNATIONAL EVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Environmental Interdependence

While environmental issues have always been an important part of international relations, not until the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 were growing international concerns regarding the impact of environmental degradation on the human population and the international ramifications of the depletion of finite resources first voiced. As a result of the Stockholm Conference, not only did the international community recognize the collective responsibility of all states for the preservation of the earth and its biosphere, concerns regarding the nature and scope of international environmental problems have taken on increasing importance in the international arena.

However, it was not until June 1992, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, that the international community officially recognized the transboundary or interdependent nature of environmental degradation and the subsequent implications for international security. Environmental decline was no longer considered a problem simply for local governments, but one of international concern. The importance of the ecosystems became apparent. The human population was changing the basic physiology of the planet. Over-exploitation of natural resources was exacting a toll on the availability of finite resources. If left unchecked, environmental damage would be irreversible.

Although the environment has been recognized as a critical component of national and international security, growing environmental interdependence has made it more difficult for states to insulate themselves from international environmental problems in the same way they have traditionally protected themselves with regard to military matters. The extent of military interdependence has historically vacillated according to variations in the structure of the international system and according to the individual interests of states within that system. Environmental interdependence, on the other hand, has been a consistent characteristic of the international system.

International environmental problems, therefore, have not only become a potential common adversary across the globe, they have become a common threat to every state. Not only are states unable to protect themselves from the effects of these problems, they are also incapable of resolving them without the involvement of the international community as a whole. Mutual responses to environmental problems develop only through extensive political processes and, in the end, can only be achieved through international cooperation. Therefore, international cooperation seems to be the only way in which international environmental problems may be solved. Although international cooperation may be an effective tool for resolving military problems, it is not the only tool available to states to resolve these types of problems. Other means of problem solving are also available to states including the actual use of military force or a move toward isolationism. International environmental problems, on the other hand, are different. They not only challenge the continuing existence of mankind, they cannot be resolved through coercive military tactics and strategies.

PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

Environmental problems and conflicts are hardly a recent global phenomenon. The basic composition of the planet has undergone dramatic changes since ancient times when large numbers of people began living together in cities. Although earlier forms of environmental degradation tended to be localized in their effects, the globalization of environmental degradation can be traced as far back as 1492 with the reciprocal transatlantic invasion of flora and fauna that resulted from Christopher Columbus' exploration of the “New World.”¹

Over the course of time, considerable physical and chemical changes have taken place in the makeup of the earth's atmosphere and oceans. For instance, the change in the atmospheric concentrations of certain compounds has been identified as contributing to global climate change and the emergence of enormous holes in the ozone layer. Furthermore, genetic and biological diversity across the globe are in the process of being irreversibly eliminated. The majority of global environmental change can be directly contributed to the overwhelming growth of human activities, such as production, consumption, and disposal over the last century.² Global trends, such as these, help to explain the current decline of the earth's environmental stability.

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION

Collective political response to international environmental problems has become increasingly widespread during the past thirty years. Hurrell and Kingsbury define international environmental politics as:

the processes by which inter-state agreements on the environment are negotiated; the rules and regimes established to facilitate environmental cooperation; the international institutions that have been, or need to be, created to implement those rules; and the conflicting political forces on whose resolution any successful regional or global environmental initiatives must depend.³

Therefore, one might envision international environmental politics as a combination of environmental issues and international politics. In approaching international environmental problems, the international community may employ a variety of strategies and mechanisms to deal with important global environmental problems. The most common approach appears to be that of international cooperation.

Achieving cooperation among members of the international community consists of two stages: 1) recognition among states that there is a need for cooperation; and, 2) negotiation between states to reach a cooperative solution. The first stage concentrates on how states come to recognize the need for cooperation. Cooperation is initially pursued by states already aware of a specific problem in order to promote international recognition of that problem. In order to increase international "awareness" it may be necessary for states to engage in the accumulation and sharing of scientific knowledge of the problem and its potential consequences. Efforts are then turned toward building an international consensus on the causes and possible solutions for the problem under scrutiny. Once these objectives have been realized and international action deemed necessary, cooperative efforts move into the second or negotiating stage. In determining the appropriate response to an international environmental problem, states may choose to utilize international conventions, international summits or international laws to address the environmental problem at hand.

Although states may recognize the need for cooperative undertakings to adequately address international environmental problems, it is also important to realize that international cooperation may be impeded by a variety of additional factors. For example, international cooperation may obstruct a state's economic development. It might also impinge upon a state's sovereignty over its territory, natural resources, and/or population. Therefore, even if states agree that cooperation and negotiation are necessary to address an international environmental problem, this does not necessarily mean that all states will become parties to or comply with such an agreement.

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS

Over the past several decades, there has been a significant increase in environmental problems across the globe. Although these problems have historically been treated as domestic affairs by governments, the increasingly transboundary nature of environmental problems has resulted in these problems being incorporated into the international agenda. Environmental problems have moved beyond environmental dilemmas associated with shared borders and resources. They currently involve global ramifications stemming from the actions of each state in the world.

As international environmental problems have grown in magnitude, international environmental politics has also expanded to confront these problems. Unfortunately, political momentum has been outpaced by the intensification of environmental problems in recent years. Even further behind the political momentum has been the theoretical study of international environmental politics.

As a field of study, international environmental politics emerged approximately twenty-five years ago. The field of international environmental politics began as issue-specific studies that focused their attention on such subjects as the regulation of ocean resources or transboundary air pollution. With the exception of a brief surge of interest following the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, the field of international environmental politics received little attention from international relations scholars until the 1980s when full-fledged environmental regimes and institutions emerged. Although its history is relatively short, international environmental politics is an expanding area of study that appears to be in the process of asserting itself permanently among the top three fundamental areas of international relations theory.⁴

Thus far, however, the field of international environmental politics has been predominantly policy-oriented and has focused on problem-solving concerns, such as how to best achieve consensus and cooperation over specific environmental issues, or how to design norms, enforce laws, and monitor progress. Although scholars in the field of international environmental politics believe that there is an appropriate role for international relations theory in analyzing global environmental concerns,⁵ the existing literature is predominantly descriptive or prescriptive rather than analytical.⁶ The analytical work that has been done “…has been limited to the institutionalist vein, with little work presented from the neo-realist camp.”⁷ Little if any of the literature has attempted to bring environmental issues into the core of international relations theory. Only now are some scholars conducting empirical analyses to determine the useful of existing theoretical constructs in explaining state behavior in the international environmental realm.

Thus, in writing this book, I hope to further this endeavor by conducting an empirical analysis, using a combination of variables drawn from international relations theory, in order to determine their usefulness and accuracy in explaining state behavior in regard to international environmental treaties. Specifically, I will analyze the relationship between structural characteristics, economic considerations, environmental treaty types, governmental types and the probability states will become parties to international environmental treaties with time. The importance of exploring this question lies in the fact that as international environmental treaties have become the main tool through which states in the international system address environmental concerns,⁸ identification of those factors that enhance the likelihood of states becoming a party to international environmental treaties will allow their inclusion in future negotiations and thus ensure a better record of state participation international environmental treaties in the future.

ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK

This book consists of seven chapters. Chapter One introduces the reader to international environmental problems and international environmental politics. In Chapter Two, I review existing theoretical approaches to international relations and the ability of such approaches to explain state behavior in the realm of international environmental politics. Chapter Three explores the historical and analytical context of international behavior in the environmental realm. Using the partial explanations provided by an intensive review of existing international relations theory and historical experiences of states in the international environmental realm, Chapter Four not only provides a justification for this study, it discusses the data-making procedures and methodology employed in this study. Chapter Five is devoted to an analysis of my findings, while Chapter Six tests the findings of this study using a case study approach. Finally Chapter Seven provides a summary of my findings and discusses how this analysis has improved on existing studies of international environmental politics and international relations theory.

Chapter Two

International Relations Theory and International Environmental Politics: Epistemological Issues and Existing Approaches

We are all prisoners of a rigid conception of what is important and what is not. We anxiously follow what we suppose to be important, while what we suppose to be unimportant wages guerrilla warfare behind our backs, transforming the world without our knowledge and eventually mounting a surprise attack on us.

—Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting

In this chapter, I review existing theoretical approaches to international relations and the ability of such approaches to explain state behavior in the realm of internation...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Studies in International Relations
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Appendices
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter One International Environmental Problems and International Environmental Politics: An Overview
• Chapter Two International Relations Theory and International Environmental Politics: Epistemological Issues and Existing Approaches
• Chapter Three The History of International Environmentalism
• Chapter Four Determinants of State Behavior in the International Environment: Becoming a Party to International Environmental Treaties
• Chapter Five Becoming a Party to International Environmental Treaties: An Analysis
• Chapter Six Becoming a Party to International Environmental Treaties: Case Studies
• Chapter Seven Conclusions
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index