On September 9–11, 2019, the Federal Office of Environment of Switzerland convened a workshop on International Environmental Governance (IEG) in Chexbres, Switzerland. The event brought together 25 participants from 14 countries and the EU, as well as from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Country presence was in balance as all UNEP regions were represented and capital-based officers as well as members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) of UNEP based in Nairobi or Geneva attended. The workshop built on the outcomes of a series of IEG workshops that the government of Switzerland had convened over the past 10 years with the most recent having been held in Ittingen on 6-8 June 2018. Maria Ivanova, professor and global governance expert from the University of Massachusetts Boston, and Niko Urho, senior fellow at the Center, have jointly moderated the discussion.  

This report provides analysis of the implementation of global multilateral environmental agreements in Rwanda. It covers 5 global agreements in two thematic clusters – chemicals and waste (the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants) and biodiversity (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, and the World Heritage Convention). The report summarizes Rwanda’s key achievements in the implementation of global environmental agreements and outlines areas for further improvement. It provides a foundation for learning within the country and across countries.  

In 2012, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) concluded the systematic reform of international environmental governance. These efforts centered on enhancing the form, funding and functions of UN Environment Programme and clustering multilateral environmental agreements. The report International Environmental Governance: Accomplishments and Way Forward provides analysis of reforms taken to date and outlines possibilities to gear up implementation. The Center for Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts Boston produced the report with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers.  

On June 20–22, 2017, the Federal Office of Environment of Switzerland convened a workshop on International Environmental Governance (IEG) in Glion, Switzerland. The event brought together 22 participants from 13 countries and the EU Commission, as well as from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), UN Environment Management Group (EMG), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Officials from capitals and members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) in Nairobi or Geneva also took part in the workshop. Maria Ivanova, professor and global governance expert from the University of Massachusetts Boston, moderated the discussion. She prepared the background materials for the workshop and is the author of this report. The dialogue built on the outcomes of an expert workshop on “Achieving Environmental Sustainability for Sustainable Development” that UNEP convened in New York on July 21–22, 2016.  

The second Progress Report for 2014-2015 of the Center for Governance and Sustainability is now available. Three think pieces frame this report. David Cash, dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies; Araya Asfaw, director of the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre and Network at Addis Ababa University; and Fatoumata Keita-Ouane, former head of the chemicals branch at the UN Environment Programme, discuss some of the analytical aspects of the Center’s research initiatives.  

In September 2013, the Center for Governance and Sustainability released its first progress report on activities and achievements since the Center’s founding in 2011. The report features editorials by Gus Speth (former Dean of Yale’s Environment School and UNDP Administrator), Christiana Figueres (Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) and Alice Odingo (University of Nairobi) and overviews of the Center’s people, projects, and partners around the world.  

The Center published a summary report for the Workshop on International Environmental Governance: Grounding Policy Reform in Rigorous Analysis held in June 2011. The Center co-organized the workshop with the Federal Office for the Environment of Switzerland (FOEN) and the World Trade Institute (WTI) at the University of Bern. Forty participants from academia, national governments, international organizations, and think-tanks attended the workshop.  

"This book aims to make a contribution to the understanding of the current system of global environmental governance, its strengths and weaknesses, and the options and opportunities to achieve much needed reform."