Training Module: Achieving National and Sectoral Development Priorities

The use of IEA tools for improved MEA implementation 

Over the last decade governments around the world have come under pressure to tackle a growing array of environmental sustainability risks and manage the flow of ecosystem goods and services. Recognizing the need for coordinated action, governments have negotiated and entered into many multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) that often include concrete commitments. Based on available evidence on environmental trends and conditions, there is clearly a gap between MEA commitments and action (Victor et al., 1998). The lack of effective action is clearly unsustainable and, besides raising questions about accountability, it also contributes to growing economic and human risks and costs of environmental degradation.