This study systematically examines how states implement and comply with international environmental accords. The culmination of a massive theoretically based empirical research project, it shows how and why implementation and compliance vary among countries and treaties and change over time.

The book focuses on compliance in eight countries (Brazil, Cameroon, China, Hungary, India, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United States) and the European Union and on five major accords: the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972); the International Maritime Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matters (1972); the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (1973); the International Tropical Timber Agreement (1983); and the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987). This venture is designed as a resource for scholars interested in compliance in general, in international environmental issues, and in international law.

A framework for analysis, Harold K. Jacobson and Edith Brown Weiss
how compliance happens and doesn't happen domestically, David Vogel and Timothy Kessler
managing compliance - a comparative perspective, Abram Chayes et al
contingent knowledge - implications for implementation and compliance, Sheila Jasanoff
the five international treaties - a living history, Edith Brown Weiss
the United States - taking environmental treaties seriously, Michael J. Glennon and Alison L. Stewart
the European Union and compliance - a story in the making, Alberta M. Sbragia and Philipp M. Hildebrand
Japan - consensus-based compliance, James V. Feinerman and Koichiro Fujikura.