Although negotiations leading to an MEA’s adoption and the careful drafting of its provisions are vital elements in ensuring its implementability, the ultimate responsibility for complying with its terms generally rests with the Parties. Implementation at the national level is at the core of an MEA’s effectiveness, and each Party to an MEA is responsible for complying with the obligations it imposes and for taking the necessary measures to bring about that compliance.
There are a number of processes by which a State can become party to an MEA, including ratification, accession, acceptance, and approval. These are summarised in the “Primer on Negotiating and Ratifying MEAs,” at the beginning of Chapter I.
Given the central role of national implementation, the Guidelines place particular emphasis on the variety of measures and approaches a State can take to ensure that it meets its obligations under an MEA. These measures cover a wide range of activities: from formal institutional and legal review to public awareness campaigns. The measures set forth in the Guidelines devoted to national implementation may be tailored to suit the needs of an individual State, but each one is worthy of consideration, as each offers a different and unique avenue for improving implementation at the national level. Guidelines 18
-32 set forth many of these national measures. In some cases, national measures to promote implementation — namely for a Party to comply with its obligations under an MEA — are also included in the chapter of the Guidelines addressing enforcement. In these instances, the full discussion of the measure is included only in one chapter, with a cross-reference from the other chapter.
As a practical matter, States can reduce the likelihood of non-compliance with the obligations of an MEA after ratification by undertaking the necessary national measures (and subnational measures, as appropriate) to implement the MEA before becoming party to the agreement. Accordingly, Guideline 8 of the UNECE Guidelines for Strengthening Compliance with and Implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in the UNECE region provides that:
All legal and other appropriate measures required to implement the agreement should be in place, in order to ensure that a Party is in a position to comply with its international obligations at the time of entry into force of the MEA for that Party.