Research notes

Canadien Environmental Agreements: Between Bilateralism and Diversification (in french). 

(by Jérémie St-Pierre et Jean-Frédéric Morin)

Résumé: Cette note de synthèse examine l’évolution de la diplomatie environnementale canadienne depuis le milieu du 20ème siècle à partir de la base de données des accords internationaux en environnement. D’abord centrée sur les pêcheries et les États-Unis, la coopération du Canada s’est progressivement diversifiée. Toutefois, l’approche canadienne demeure caractérisée par un taux élevé de bilatéralisme. Pour relever les défis contemporains, le Canada doit envisager un mouvement vers un plurilatéralisme progressif, conciliant bilatéralisme, régionalisme et multilatéralisme.

Evolving Dynamics in Global Fisheries Governance

(by Félicia Martin and Jean-Frédéric Morin) 

Summary: Fisheries agreements are essential legal instruments for balancing short-term interests of fishing communities with the long-term conservation of marine ecosystems, especially as overfishing threatens ocean biodiversity and food security. This research note examines the regulatory activities of regional fisheries organizations, focusing on the adoption of amendments (hard law) and decisions (soft law). It finds that the adoption of amendments per agreement fell by 92% between the 1950s and 2010s, while decision-making increased by 42%. It also reveals that fisheries organizations with more contracting parties tend to adopt more decisions than those with fewer members. These results suggest a shift in international fisheries governance towards less binding, but more extensive regulatory frameworks.

Climate Mainstreaming in Environmental Treaties

(by Annabelle Olivier and Jean-Frédéric Morin) 

Summary: Are climate treaties, like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the Paris Agreement, the only way forward for intergovernmental climate cooperation? Among the hundreds of multilateral environmental treaties, 383 have established a collective decision-making body. This policy brief examines whether decisions made by these collective bodies can advance climate commitments. It finds that those decisions increasingly mainstreamed climate considerations since 1990. Today, climaterelated decisions account for around 10% of regulatory decisions adopted under environmental treaties. Some treaty regimes are particularly active in addressing climate change, such as those focused on energy, freshwater, and habitat and ocean, with up to 60% of their decisions addressing climate change. In contrast, treaties regulating agriculture and fisheries are less engaged in climate mainstreaming. These results demonstrate that environmental treaties that do not specifically focus on climate change can still contribute to shaping climate governance, though some do so more than others. This policy brief concludes with a set of recommendations for treaty negotiators, secretariats, governments, climate activists as well as scholars seeking to advance global cooperation on climate change through other means than climate treaties.

Environmental Treaty-Making in Decline

(by Justine Veilleux and Jean-Frédéric Morin)

Summary: For many years, States have relied on treaties to address environmental challenges such as biodiversity protection, pollution control, and climate change. However, a shift has occurred in recent years. Environmental cooperation through treaties has been declining, despite the intensifying impacts of environmental degradation on populations. While this trend began more than a decade ago, it has become increasingly pronounced, raising concerns about the international community’s capacity to respond collectively to environmental crises.