International Environmental Cooperation and The Global Sustainability Capital Framework: 1 - Introduction

This chapter discusses the need for international environmental cooperation (IEC) in a context of our common vulnerabilities and contingent survivability. This chapter explains the importance of international environmental agreements (IEAs) as a core instrument of IEC. This chapter looks at the growth in the number of IEAs over the decades, as well as the levels of differential participation in the IEAs. Participation in IEAs varies both in terms of the number of IEAs ratified and the type of IEAs. This chapter also introduces the Sustainability Capital Framework (SCF) as a core framework for guiding sustainable development, and for delimiting the boundaries of global sustainability. Finally, this chapter provides an overview of the organization of the book.