Monitoring and compliance mechanisms

Abstract

This chapter provides a general perspective of monitoring and compliance mechanisms in multilateral environmental agreements related to the protection of biodiversity. Starting with the specificities that explain the emergence of endogenous enforcement solutions in this sort of treaties, it makes a conceptual distinction between monitoring and compliance mechanisms. On this basis, it appraises their institutional design and procedural outline, as well as the nature of the measures that these mechanisms issue in order to elicit compliance and enforce treaty obligations. It concludes with an overall assessment of these mechanisms’ performance providing a final reflection on new and remaining research directions.