Summary

During the past 20 years, nations have signed an increasing number of agreements on an array of environmental concerns ranging from acid rain to marine pollution. The agreements generally call for the parties to report annually on implementation. In response to congressional concerns about how well these reporting obligations are being met, GAO discusses (1) whether the agreements are specific enough to allow implementation to be measured and whether parties are reporting required information and (2) how the administrative bodies for the agreements monitor implementation. GAO also identifies proposed measures for strengthening monitoring and implementation.

GAO found that: (1) six of the eight agreements specify how implementation is to be measured and require parties to provide information periodically; (2) not all parties report complete and timely information; (3) reporting required information is a big problem for developing countries, since they lack the infrastructure and resources to report such information or otherwise implement the agreements; (4) secretariat officials believe they are aware of important implementation problems, but do not have the authority or resources to monitor implementation by verifying reported information or independently assessing countries' compliance; (5) secretariat officials for three agreements believe that funding is inadequate to allow them to carryout their assigned duties or to assist parties in carrying out the agreements; and (6) several international environmental experts have proposed measures to strengthen oversight and parties' capability to comply with agreements.