[Apologies for cross-posting]
Dear colleagues, We are organising a *section on environmental negotiations* at the upcoming 5th Pan-European Conference on International Relations that will take place in Potsdam, Germany, 5–9 September 2023. We hope many of you consider submitting a proposal for this section, described in more detail below. Panel and paper abstracts are *due on 15 March*, please submit via http://pec2023.eisa-net.org/abstract-submission/ *S16: Multilateral environmental negotiations and agreements : participants, processes, performance* Cross-border environmental problems abound – as do multilateral efforts to address them. We most often talk about the climate and biodiversity crises, but other equally pressing environmental problems exist, such as plastic pollution, air pollution, and chemical waste, to name but a few. These problems are inherently transboundary and interdependent in nature, and hence require a multilateral approach. The number of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) has grown enormously over the past decades and new internationally legally binding instruments continue to be negotiated. Nevertheless, ambitious and effective outcomes are often lacking, while the state of the environment continues to degrade. How can we better study MEAs and assess their performance, given the long-term and complex nature of multilateral environmental problems? Under what circumstances and why do environmental negotiations underperform? To what extent has their success rate changed over time? Given the slow (or no) progress of several MEAs, are multilateral environmental negotiations and agreements still worth pursuing and studying? If so, how should we do so? What is the role of, and links to, non-state participants in these negotiations? This section aims to explore these questions. We argue that precisely because many MEAs and their negotiations fail to achieve the desired results in a timely manner, it is necessary to dive deeper into MEAs to explore their functioning, participants, and performance, including through new scientific methods. We already have some panels in mind (listed below), and welcome contributions to those, but also welcome proposals for other panels, as well as papers not directly connected to these panels. *1.* *Stability and change in MEAs* While most multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are characterised by long periods of institutional stability after their rules of procedure are ‘set in stone’, from time to time changes occur in their institutional set-up. This panel explores how such institutional stability is actively maintained by underlying processes, and under what circumstances change takes place. *2.* *Assessing the ambition and performance of MEAs* Environmental negotiations are often reproached to be ineffective talkshops that do not produce tangible outcomes. However, assessing the performance of those negotiations and the underlying agreements is a complex task. This panel explores approaches to measure, assess and explain the ambition and performance of MEAs, either individually or in a comparative way. *3.* *New approaches to studying environmental negotiations* Multilateral environmental negotiations have changed enormously over the past decades, thanks to new technologies (e.g., WhatsApp, social media) or the growing role of non-state participants. Maybe we should similarly change the way we study environmental negotiations? What are the benefits of new methods or data? This panel seeks to explore innovative methods and approaches to analysing environmental negotiations. *4.* *Stakeholder engagement, in theory & in practice * The engagement of stakeholders beyond state governments in MEAs has ballooned in recent years, both as a topic of interest for academics and as a varied and multifaceted practice in the field. This interdisciplinary panel seeks to bring together theoretical and practical insights on the drivers, modalities and impacts of stakeholder engagement across a broad range of MEAs. We look forward to your contributions! Lisanne Groen, Carola Klöck, Paula Castro & Hayley Walker -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/697ccb5c-7aad-418f-983b-1d957e22a3c2n%40googlegroups.com.
