Global Environmental Governance Project

The Global Environmental Governance (GEG) Project aims to facilitate thought and action for strengthening environmental policymaking at the global scale. It seeks to advance the dialogue on the functions, structure, financing, and activities of the global environmental system. Our work is based on the premise that there exist serious problems of failed collective action, institutional fragmentation, and deficient authority within the current global environmental governance architecture. Our goal is to contribute to more effective governance by developing a sound analytical foundation, expanding the policy dialogue, and creating a Public Policy Network of individuals from the public and private sector, international organizations, and civil society to exchange ideas on the options and opportunities for revitalizing global environmental governance.

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"Can the Anchor Hold?: Rethinking the United Nations Environment Programme for the 21st Century"
Maria Ivanova, Director of the GEG Project

This publication assesses the performance of UNEP as the mandated anchor insitution for the global environment. The report takes a look at UNEP's performance in regards to key functions that are necessary for an effective international environmental organization and offers policy recommendations for governments, UNEP, and the UN Secretary-General on steps for reform.

Published in time for the historic UN General Assembly / 2005 World Summit, this report aims to reinvigorate the debate on the architecture of global environmental governance in the context of larger UN reform discussions.

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(PDF - 1MB )

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“The current popularity of discussion about governance has its genesis in the fact that our traditional institutions have kept pace neither with the changing world around us nor with the expectations of citizens. A thoughtful analysis must inform political decisions if we are to design a system that is agile enough to address evolving needs and relevant enough to be viewed as legitimate in the eyes of the world’s citizens. The project of the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy seeks to make an important contribution to the discussion.”

Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director, UNEP (1992-1997)