Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) are a subset of the universe of international agreements. What distinguished them from other agreements is their focus on environmental issues, their creation of binding international law, and their inclusion of multiple countries. Over the years, many MEAs have been negotiated and agreed at the international and regional levels. Some have a few Parties; some have almost global participation.

Some of the more familiar MEAs that have been adopted in recent years include

• the 1989 Basel Convention on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention)
• the 1998 UN/ECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention)
• the 1998 Agreement on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PIC Convention or Rotterdam Convention); or
• the 2001 Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs Convention or Stockholm Convention), which entered into force in May 2004.

MEAs come in a variety of forms. They can be:

• Global: for example, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel Convention) applies throughout the world;
• Regional: the Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Waste within Africa (Bamako Convention) applies only within the African region.

If you want to read more about the multilateral agreements related to Persistent Organic Pollutants click here Multilateral Agreements