Towards a New Understanding of MEAs
Linda Maria Spielmann · 2025
Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) are structured in a peculiar hybrid form in-between treaties and organisations. Their extensive institutional machinery for continuous decision-making amounts to much more than what a treaty would normally possess but not to the same large-scale bureaucracies as those of traditional International Organisations. Their true nature, thus, is hard to grasp and classify. Scholars of International Law have begun to recognise them as powerful players in their own right and accept them to closely resemble organisations. The realm of International Relations is only slowly beginning to catch up. Traditional approaches in the field understand MEAs as arenas for state interaction with no capabilities of their own. More recent approaches to the study of global governance provide a starting point for a more nuanced approach. However, proponents of this approach remain hesitant to come to the same conclusion as those in the field of law. This chapter summarises the law perspective and brings it face to face with the predominant views of International Relations theory as well as the emerging debate on authority in global governance.