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Integrating ecological impacts into evaluations of the effectiveness of environmental regimes: the example of CITES
Authors
Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Fields of Research
Abstract
The proliferation of multilateral environmental agreements has resulted in an increased
interest, from academics and others, in questions regarding the effectiveness of such
agreements. Much if not all attention has focused on the institutional aspects of regime
functioning, specifically behaviour change. Relatively less attention has been given to the
actual ecological or biophysical aspects of regime effectiveness. The focus on institutional
effectiveness is for sound reasons, such as challenges associated with incorporating
ecological factors into any evaluation, measuring effectiveness, and establishing causality.
However, these challenges do not diminish the importance of assessing ecological
effectiveness and its relationships with institutional functioning. Does political, legal or
behaviour change consistently lead to improvement in environmental quality? Can it be
assumed that “institutional effectiveness” is an accurate and appropriate proxy for
“ecological effectiveness”? Are the challenges associated with using ecological data
insurmountable?
This thesis aims to advance understanding of the linkages between institutional and
ecological effectiveness and to explore how an integrated assessment of both can be
undertaken. Putting forward a model for an integrated assessment of institutional and
ecological effectiveness, and using a mixed methods approach, this study analyses a
compliance mechanism under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) as a case study to evaluate both the institutional
and the ecological effectiveness of this regime, and how these are linked with variables
that may be intervening in the relationship.
The results suggest that, although CITES is widely considered to be institutionally
effective, its ecological effectiveness is questionable. The discrepancy can, to a large
extent, be explained by two main categories of intervening variables: the complexity and
nature of the problem, and domestic or national-level factors. The integrated assessment
uses ecological and quantitative data to help increase our understanding of the nature and
extent of institutional and ecological effectiveness, and illuminates any gaps between
them. The analysis demonstrates that extending evaluations to include environmental
impacts can provide a more accurate picture of overall effectiveness of regimes, and offers
researchers and practitioners a basis for developing ideas and actions aimed at improving
regime functioning.