International Environmental Governance: An Elusive Reform

Confronted with institutional dysfunctions and with an obvious lack of efficiency of international environmental regimes, the international community has been actively engaged in a debate over the contours of a new system since 2001. Yet, success is not guaranted. Though recent initiatives by UNEP, the UN, and the French and German governments have given larger dimensions and a new impetus to the debate on environmental governance, conditions are not yet in place for a more centralized system to develop. The current impasse and limited progress since the 2002 Johannesburg Summit suggest there is a need to think about new governance models which would be more reflective of the reality of the new international system and be directed towards a collective definition of a common environmental good.