Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Legal Status of the Secretariats

by Bharat H. Desai

Overview

The present study seeks to examine the genesis, development, and proliferation of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) – in-built law-making mechanisms and processes of institutionalization – and their ad hoc treaty-based status and the issue of the legal personality of their secretariats. It provides legal understanding of the location of MEA secretariats within an existing international host institution, as well as discussion of the issue of relationship agreements and interpretation of the commonly used language that triggers such relationships. It places under scrutiny the standard MEA phrase “providing a secretariat,” delegation of authority by the host institution to the head of the convention secretariat, possible conflict areas, host country agreement, and the workings of the relationship agreements. The book offers an authoritative account of the growing phenomenon in which an existing international institution provides a servicing base for MEA that, in turn, triggers a chain of legal implications involving the secretariat, the host institution, and the host country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521883283
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/19/2010
Pages:	346
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Professor Bharat H. Desai holds the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law and is Professor of International Law as well as Chairman of the Centre for International Legal Studies at the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. As a Humboldt Fellow, he worked at the University of Bonn on the treatise Institutionalizing International Environmental Law. He is the author of Creeping Institutionalization: Multilateral Environmental Agreements and Human Security and an associate editor of the Yearbook of International Environmental Law, as well as Vice-Chairman of the Foundation for Development of International Law in Asia.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction 1

1 Institutionalizing Cooperation 7

Introduction 7

Organic Link 7

Institutionalized Cooperation 9

Institutions and Organizations 12

Institution-Building Process 14

Conclusion 17

2 Multilateral Environmental Regulation 19

Introduction 19

Rapid Growth 21

Pre-Stockholm: Limited Concerns 24

Stockholm: UN Environment Programme as a Catalyst 27

Rio's Contribution 29

Common Concerns 34

Montevideo Mandate 36

Conclusion 45

3 Nature and Character of Environmental Agreements 47

Introduction 47

Proliferation of Agreements 48

Regulating State Behavior 54

Salient Characteristics 60

Sui Generis Treaties 63

Softness of Hard Law 69

Framework Convention Approach 76

Regional Seas 81

Institutional Structures 86

Conference of the Parties 91

Secretariats 93

Conclusion 95

4 Host Institution Arrangements 97

Introduction 97

Treaty Mandate 98

Establishing a Secretariat 101

Providing a Secretariat 107

Review Provision 119

Host Institution as a Secretariat 121

Functions of the Host Institution 124

Cost Effectiveness 126

Locating the Secretariat Away from the Host Institution 128

Chain of Legal Implications 129

Conclusion 131

5 Legal Status 133

Introduction 133

Role of the COP 134

Legal Capacity/Personality 136

Legal Character of Treaty Bodies 140

Four Models of Secretariats 142

Possibilities of Conflict 158

Appointment of a Secretary-General 159

Treaty-Making Power 164

Headquarters Agreements 166

Conclusion 169

6 Conclusions 171

Appendices

Part I Relationship Agreements 179

I Delegation of Authority to the Secretary General Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (RAMSAR) 181

II Agreement between the CITES Standing Committee and the Executive Director of UNEP 191

III Administrative Arrangement between UNEP and the Secretariat of the CBD 199

Part II Headquarters Agreements 211

IV Headquarters Agreement between UNESCO and France 213

V Agreement between the United Nations and the Republic of Kenya regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme 231

VI Agreement between the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Government of Canada concerning the Headquarters of the Convention Secretariat 257

VII Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United Nations concerning the Headquarters of the United Nations Volunteers Programme 271

VIII Agreement among the United Nations, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concerning the Headquarters of the Convention Secretariat 297

IX Agreement between the United Nations, the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification concerning the Headquarters of the Convention Permanent Secretariat 305

X Agreement among the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Nations, and the Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals concerning the Headquarters of the Convention Secretariat 315

Index 325