Chapter Five: International Institutions and Non-State Actors

I. The United Nations

    A. United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) -  provides an integrative and interactive mechanism through which a large number of separate efforts by intergovernmental, non-governmental, national and regional bodies in the service of the environment are reinforced and interrelated

UNEP Aims to Create Stricter Measures for Environmental Crimes - hosts workshop to identify ways to combat environmental crimes such as illegal trade in endangered species, use of ozone depleting substances, and production of hazardous wastes

    B. Commission on Sustainable Development
Commission on Sustainable Development - ensures effective follow-up of UNCED and monitors and reports on implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels
    C. United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Development Programme - helps countries in their efforts to achieve sustainable human development by assisting them to build their capacity to design and carry out development programmes in poverty eradication, employment creation and sustainable livelihoods, the empowerment of women and the protection and regeneration of the environment, giving first priority to poverty eradication

Global Resource Information Database (GRID) - a UNEP program, GRID-Arendal acts as an environmental information and assessment center for policy-makers and the public

II. Administering Treaties: CoPs, Secretariats and Subsidiary Bodies
    A. Conferences of the Parties
U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 7 - establishes the primary policy-making body of the Climate Change Convention
    B. Secretariats
U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Article XII - establishes the Secretariat which helps the Parties to implement CITES by providing interpretation of the provisions of the Convention, and advice on its practical implementation
    C. Subsidiary Bodies and Committees
Convention on Biological Diversity, Article 25 - establishes the functions of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA)

Meetings of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) -  provides full reports of the meetings

III. Reforming the UN for Environmental Protection
    A. Environmental Protection Council
A New Way to Make International Environmental Law - by Geoffrey Palmer, an abbreviated version of his article proposing a legislative response to environmental protection by suggesting the formation of an Environmental Protection Council within the UN system
    B. Global Environmental Organization
The Case of Global Environmental Protection - a manuscript by E. Wesley F. Peterson, suggesting the creation of a supranational organization for the provision of international public goods with reference to the problem of global environmental protection

International Conference on Biotechnology in the Global Economy: Science and the Precautionary Principle - addresses the application of the precautionary principle in biotechnology issues by analyzing its use in international environmental and trade law

The Basic Vision - a popular edition of the report of the Commission on Global Governance
IV. The Role of Non-State Actors
    A. NGOs
Center for International Environmental Law - a public interest, not-for-profit environmental law firm joining the U.S. public interest environmental movement with the strengthening and developing of international and comparative environmental law, policy, and management

Environmental Defense Fund - a not-for-profit environmental advocacy group with the goals of stabilizing the Earth's climate, safeguarding the world's oceans, protecting human health, and defending and restoring biodiversity

Environmental Law Institute - an internationally recognized independent research and education center, advancing environmental protection by improving law, policy, and management

Friends of the Earth - a national environmental organization dedicated to preserving the health and diversity of the planet for future generations

Greenpeace - an independent and non-political, international organisation, dedicated to the protection of the environment by peaceful means

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) - the world's largest environmental knowledge network with the goal of influencing, encouraging, and assisting societies to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature while ensuring that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable

National Audubon Society - conserves and restores natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and other wildlife for the benefit of humanity and the earth's biological diversity

National Wildlife Federation - focuses on endangered habitat, water quality, land stewardship, wetlands, and sustainable communities, and pursues a range of educational projects, and activist, advocacy, and litigation initiatives, within these areas

Natural Resources Defense Council - aims to safeguard the Earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems

Sierra Club - the largest grassroots environmental organization working to preserve irreplaceable wildlands, save endangered and threatened wildlife, and protect the fragile environment

EarthJustice Legal Defense Fund - formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit law firm providing free service for environmental clients with the goal of environmental justice

World Wide Fund for Nature - the world's largest and most experienced independent conservation organization with the mission of protecting nature and biological diversity

Abya Yala Fund - an indigenous foundation for peoples of South and Meso America, supports community development initiatives as well as promotes international understanding of and advocacy for indigenous issues

Action for Solidarity, Equality, Environment and Development (A SEED) - a global action network that encourages youth and student groups to participate in campaigns for the environment, development and human rights

Amazon Watch - an activist group that works with indigenous and environmental organizations in the Amazon Basin on environmental and indigenous rights issues being affected by investment and development projects

The Humane Society of the United States - the world�s largest animal protection organization, aims to provide for the physical and emotional needs of domestic animals; protect wild animals and their environments; and change people's relationships with animals

Institute for Local Self-Reliance - a non-profit research and educational organization that encourages and supports the creation of environmentally and economically sustainable communities

Project Underground - an environmental, human rights and indigenous rights group that provides assistance to communities threatened by the mining and oil industries and to uncover corporate environmental and human rights abuses in those sectors

EnviroLink - a grassroots, online non-profit organization, connecting individuals and organizations that promote the creation of a sustainable society, that acts as a clearinghouse for the environmental community

    B. Corporations

World Business Council for Sustainable Development - a coalition of 125 international companies united by a shared commitment to the environment and to the principles of economic growth and sustainable development

Dow Chemical's Environmental Page - widely regarded as one of the leading companies adopting a pollution prevention approach

Sustainability - the leading consultancy/think tank on promoting sustainability in corporations