IEA Project Contents

  • Environmental agreements currently in the database: (to find out more about the rules used to code agreements as 1) Bilateral/Multilateral/Other, 2) as Agreements/Non-agreements, and 3) as Environmental or not, see the Definitions page.).
Summary Statistics for Environmental Agreements
2296 BEA - Bilateral Environmental Agreements
1451 MEA - Multilateral Environmental Agreements
250 Other (non-multi, non-bi) Environmental Agreements
Summary Statistics for Environmental NON-Agreements (e.g., Declarations, Memoranda of Understanding)
213 BEN - Bilateral Environmental Non-binding Instruments (non-agreements)
235 MEN - Multilateral Environmental Non-binding Instruments (non-agreements)
99 Other (non-multi, non-bi) Environmental Non-binding Instruments (non-agreements)
Membership data for 3850 Environmental Agreements is available.
  • Agreement Lists: IEAs sorted by type (Multilateral, Bilateral, Other) and by Signature Year and Subject. 
  • IEA Lineages: IEAs in "lineages" of legally-related IEAs, to document legal developments from "original" agreements in an issue area through all subsequent agreements, protocols, amendments, etc. 
  • Coded IEAs: Each provision of over 150 "original" multilateral IEAs (MEAs) has been  "coded" into one or more of 33 categories that foster comparison of agreements based on the similarities and differences in their specific provisions.
  • Performance Data: The Database provides a repository for and access to an unprecedented number of datasets on environmentally-related behaviors or environmental quality indicators that are directly "mapped" to IEAs that have targeted those behaviors or environmental amenities. 
  • Secretariats: The Database provides up-to-date links to those secretariats responsible for the IEAs in the Database.
  • Search Capabilities: The Database allows searches of information in the database and full text searches of all agreements for which electronic texts are available, allowing the user to generate agreement lists that meet their own research needs.

Data Quality Caveats

  • The Dataset currently focuses on MEAs and MEA-related data is, in most cases, quite reliable.  Data is less reliable for BEAs and other agreements (e.g., those between countries and international organizations and non-legally binding instruments. For all data, however, note that the IEA Project, makes no guarantees of data accuracy (though we try our best). 
  • The Database seeks to provide a historical record of agreements signed. It is NOT a list of agreements in force, since it includes agreements that never entered into force, have been terminated, etc. 
  • Dates are presented in YYYYMMDD format.  Avoid misinterpreting dates: 19890705 represents 5 July 1989 NOT 7 May 1989!