Issue International environmental regimes moving toward boundary-based governance

Summary

The report sees international efforts moving slowly toward boundary-based governance. Implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is under way, and the High Seas Treaty marks progress on marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction, though disputes over deep-sea mining show seafloor integrity remains unresolved. Negotiations on a UN plastics treaty reflect growing recognition that novel entities pose a major systemic risk to public health and food systems and need international control across their life cycle. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification, adopted in 1994, helps keep land degradation and drought from escalating into geopolitical and food security risks. The Montreal Protocol's success against ozone depletion shows that boundary transgressions can be reversed. Despite these positive developments, the report judges current efforts to be far from sufficient.