Die UN-Konvention über Biodiversität und ihre Zusatzprotokolle

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Abstract The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is a multilateral environmental agreement which aims to protect global biodiversity. With its more than 195 contracting parties by now, the treaty, which entered into force in 1993, is the heart of the legal program for the conservation of the earth´s natural resources. However, the agreement has been the subject of widespread – especially legal – criticism since its establishment. It is often doubted that the treaty possesses sufficient legal effects. The author of this book examines this criticism and – for the first time ever – he comprehensively and precisely analyzes the legal content and effects of this agreement including its protocols. The legal effects of the treaty regime on various actors are analyzed on the basis of the following aspects: the certainty and definiteness of the contractual obligations, the question of the legally binding nature of COP decisions, the possibilities of judicial assertion for the relevant actors as well as the content and legal effects of the contractual compliance system. The analysis reveals that the sweeping statement of an absolute legal weakness of the CBD regime’s steering effects has to be denied. The book is a contribution to international environmental law as well as to the general discussion on compliance in international law.