Global Environmental Institutions continues to provide the most accessible and succinct overview of the major global institutions attempting to protect the natural environment. Fully updated throughout to reflect the latest environmental issues, the second edition includes substantial new material on developments in international agreements and how institutional mechanisms have evolved in the past 10 years, including the creation of the new Sustainable Development Goals, the Minamata Convention on Mercury, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This second edition maintains the clear structure of the first edition, examining: * the underlying causes of global environmental problems * the creation of global environmental institutions * the effectiveness of action undertaken by these institutions. Providing an overview of the United Nations Environment Programme and the other entities within the UN that play important roles in global environmental governance, it also examines institutions clustered by issue area, introducing institutions that focus on protecting endangered species and biodiversity, govern the ocean environment (focusing on the atmosphere), and regulate the transboundary movement of hazardous substances. Concluding with an updated chapter on emerging issues and future directions drawing on the latest scholarship in the field, and written by an acknowledged expert in the field, Global Environmental Institutions is essential reading for students of environmental politics and international organizations.