Greening International Institutions

Environmentally sustainable development has become one of the world's most urgent priorities. But countries cannot achieve it alone: it depends on international coordination and action. Greening International Institutions, the latest in a series of highly-acclaimed publications devoted to environmental and developmental law, assesses how far and how successfully intergovernmental organizations have responded to the challenge. The organizations analyzed include: the UN General Assembly, the new Commission for Sustainable Development, UNEP, UNDP and UNCTAD, WTO, GATT, NAFTA, the Bretton Woods institutions and several regional bodies, as well as treaty bodies and the mechanisms for avoiding and settling disputes. For each, the contributors provide an accessible overview of the organization's mandate and structure, examine substantive policy initiatives and assess the need and scope for procedural and institutional reform. Drawing together a collection of essays by lawyers and researchers from various backgrounds, Greening International Institutions is stimulating reading for students and policy-makers, as well as anyone concerned with the development of international institutions. Jacob Werksman is an attorney, a Programme Director at FIELD, and Visiting Lecturer in International Economic Law at the University of London. Greening International Institutions is the fifth volume in the International Law and Sustainable Development series, co-developed with FIELD. The series aims to address and define the major legal issues associated with sustainable development and to contribute to the progressive development of international law. Other titles in the series are: Greening International Law, Interpreting the Precautionary Principle, Property Rights in the Defence of Nature and Improving Compliance with International Environmental Law. 'A legal parallel to the Blueprint series - welcome, timely and provocative' David Pearce Originally published in 1996

Environmentally sustainable development has become one of the world's most urgent priorities. But countries cannot achieve it alone; it depends on international coordination and action. This volume assesses how far and how successfully intergovernmental organizations have responded to the challenge.The organizations it discusses include: the UN General Assembly, UN Specialized Agencies and the new Commission for Sustainable Development, UNCTAD, UNCTC, GATT, NAFTA, UNEP, the EU, the IMF and the World Bank and regional institutions, as well as international environmental agreements and the means of settling international disputes. For each, the contributors provide an accessible overview of the organization's mandate and structure, examine substantive policy initiatives undertaken and assess the need and scope for procedural and institutional reform..

Jacob Werksman is Senior Lawyer for the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development.