INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES

Ramsar Convention on Wetlands 

• what is it? international treaty
• Origin: signed in February 1971 at Ramsar, Iran.
• signatories/ratification : 171 parties (as of 2019)
• aim: sustainable use and conservation of wetlands
• type of agreement: not legally binding. 
• Success/works: under Ramsar convention, there is Montreux record which maintains a list of all the wetlands of the world of international importance that are having an impact because of human interferences. These records call for an urgent need of protecting these wetlands before they get destroyed permanently. 
• current status: In force. 

CMS (Convention on Conservation of  Migratory Species )

• what is it? A multilateral international treaty ( also known as Bonn Convention )
• Origin: came into force in 1983 and is under the aegis of UN Environment Programme.
• signatories/ratification: 130 parties (as of November 1st,  2019 ) 
• aim: sustainable use and conservation of the migratory species and their habitats present on the globe. 
• type of agreement: depends on the country's commitments. Ex. India has signed a non-legal binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CMS on the conservation of Siberian Cranes (1998), Marine Turtles (2007), Dugongs (2008) and Raptors (2016). 
• Success status: only global treaty that deals with taking and harvesting of species from wild for their survival and has successfully able to raise concerns over the survival of migratory species on international platforms. 
• current status: in force

Vienna Convention

• what is it? : a multilateral international treaty
  
• Origin: signed in 1985, and came into force in 1988.
• Signatories/ ratification: signed by 28 parties and later ratified by all 197 member parties of UN.
• Aim: To reduce the degradation of the ozone layer by reducing the production of ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs, provided framework for the international reduction of ozone degrading substances.
  
• type of agreement: non-binding ( no legal actions taken in case of non-compliance)
• Success status: only international treaty that has got the universal ratification and has remarkably succeeded in its objective.

Montreal Protocol

• What is it? multilateral agreement
• Origin: signed in 1987, protocol under Vienna convention
• signatories/ratification: universal ratification by 197 member parties.
• aim: phasing out the productions and consumption of ozone-depleting substances by specific deadlines.
• type of agreement: binding
• Success status: secured complete success in its objectives.

CBD ( Convention on Biological Diversity )

• what is it? International multilateral treaty. 
• Origin: convention was opened for signature at UN conference on Environment and Development (UNED) on 5 June 1992 and came into force in 1993.
• signatories/ratification : 196 parties (as of 2016)
• aim: three main objectives

1. Conservation of biological diversity 

1. Sustainable uses of biological diversity 

1. Their equitable sharing of benefits. 

• type of agreement: legally binding agreement. 

• Success/works :   

1. on COP5 (conference of parties) to CBD January 2000, adopted an additional protocol known as "Cartagena protocol on biosafety" to ensure to safety and protection of the biological diversity from the threats raised by the genetically modified organisms developed by modern biotechnologies. This protocol came to force in 2003.
2. COP10 of CBD resulted in "Nagoya protocol" (that was adopted in 2010 and came into force in 2014) to ensure the fair access and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the genetic resources present on earth.
3. To give effect to the convention and it's importance, 22 may of each year celebrated as the international day of biodiversity.

• current status: in force. 

Kyoto protocol

• what is it? international multilateral agreement
• Origin: adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 at COP 3 of UNFCCC summit of 1997 and came into force in 2005.
• signatories/ratification :192 parties.
• aim: to mitigate the effect of global warming by reducing the concentrations of greenhouse gases by providing commitment periods to achieve specified targets. ( first commitment period 2008-2012 and second 2012-2020 )
• type of agreement: binding (the only global treaty that put binding limits on GHGs emissions )
• Success status: first commitment period was a success but the second period is a failure ( reason being the very little contributions of developed nations towards the commitments which are actually the major polluters ), the USA never ratifies the treaty and CANADA withdrew in 2012, Japan, New Zealand, Russia did not participate in the second round of commitment.
• current status: in force