How many IOs are there in the world?

More than 300

Types of IOs

IGOs INGOs

● Is an NGOs
● Active in at least 3 countries
● Established by intergovernmental
● Have a constitutions allowing for
agreements
periodic elections of the governing
● Have at least 3 member states
body
● Have activities in several states
● No attempt to distribute profit
among members

Public International Organizations Private International Organizations

● Based on formal agreements

between nation states
● Organizations acting at the
● Include 3 or more nation states
international level
● Having international or
● Members are mainly private actors
supranational national characters
● Have a permanent Secretariat

International Bureaucracies/
International Organizations International Public Administration
(IPA)

● “hierarchically organized group of

● Institutional agreements that
international civil servants with a
combine:
given mandate, resources,
● A normative framework
identifiable boundaries, and a set of
● Member states
formal rules of procedures within
● A bureaucracy
the context of a policy area.”

Based on geographical range

● Global international organizations

● Regional international organizations
 ● Sub- regional international organizations

Based on purpose:

● Multi-purposes
● Single-purposes

Characteristics of IOs?

- Members including states and/or private actors

- Active in 3 or more countries
- Have a body of govern (exp: Secretariat)

The concept of networks on IOs

- International organizations can also be seen as networks of organizations

- Key features:
● Toward addressing a complex problem (problems) that require
collaborations of several actors
● Require high interdependency between actors
● Complex interactions between actors
- Organizations have members with different interest and objectives
- Sometimes, these interest and objectives are not aligned with the organizations
- Diversity in culture → conflicts
- Method of operations, degree of hierarchy → speed of process
- Different stakeholders, funders → different degree of power
- To solve issues that cannot be resolved by one member
- Interdependent → interactions among members to exchange resources and
negotiate share purposes

History of IOs

The earliest modern precedents to today’s IGOs:

- The Concert of Europe (1815-1914) - The balance of power that existed in Europe
from the fall of Napoleon to the outbreak of WWI. This was a result of a custom,
following the era of Napoleon and the French Revolution, adopted by the old great
powers of Europe. The Concert would meet from time to time in an International
Conference, or Congress, in order to plan a solution by mutual agreement (concert),
whenever some problem arose that threatened peace between European nations. A
mechanism to enforce the decisions of the Congress of Vienna.

- The Congress of Vienna - A forum for international collaboration on European

security and commerce. A multipurpose IGO created by the European great powers to
reestablish order and stability on the continent after the Napoleonic Wars.

- The League of Nations (1919 - 1939) - President Woodrow Wilson considered its
architect, established after WWI, having universal membership, predeceasing the UN.
The UN embraces most of the League’s principles and structures.

- Failure of the League: politically challenged by the Japan-China conflict in Manchuria

(1931) and the Italy-Ethiopia conflict (1935). The outbreak of WWII ended the League’s
history. However, its legacy lives on.

- The post WWII era – massive proliferation of IGOs and other IOs (over 20,000).

From the League of Nations to UN:

Creation of the UN System in 1945. The founders – victorious allies of WWII – meet in
San Francisco to found a multipurpose IGO first envisioned by the League of Nations.

UN designed to be the center of multilateral diplomacy in postwar world politics. Aiming

at restoring peace and maintaining security, establish friendly relations among nations,
address economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems, and to promote respect for
universal human rights.

Universal membership, currently up to 192 countries (all countries in the world, except
Vatican and Kosovo)

Headquartered in New York. 6 official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French,

Russian and Spanish.

The UN system structured around five principal organs, together with its several agencies
and autonomous organizations, comprise the UN family of IGOs.

No IOs before 1815. Technical IOs until 1914.

The Hague Tribunals in 1899. League system in interbellum. US - sponsor IOs after
1945. Regional organizations in the 1970s,1990s and 2000s. Innovative global
governance: regimes, private authority, INGOs.
IOs as response to problems:

- International commerce (since 1815)

- Refugees and migration (since 1921)
- Human rights violations (since 1946)
- Environmental problems (since 1972)

Conditions to create IOs

- Problem condition
- Cognitive condition
- Hegemonic condition
- Read “Why states act through formal IOs”

GLOBAL IOs..

History of UN

● The failure of the League of Nations

○ The changes in members
○ The rule of unanimity
○ The disarmament
○ The failure to guarantee collective security

● The League was formally dismantled on April 18, 1946, when it was succeeded by
the newly organized United Nations.

● 1942 the Atlantic Charter:

○ Territorial aggrandizement
○ Self-determination
○ Remove trade and travel barriers, promote collaborations between states
○ Freedom from fear and want
○ Abandon the use of force and disarmament
● Aug-Oct 1944 Dumbarton Oaks
● Feb 1945 Yalta Conference
● April 1945 United Nations Conference
The UN system

● The General Assembly – serves as quasi legislative body, functions assigned by

the UN Charter are fivefold: (head of states)
○ Deliberates and considers any issue that arises under the Charter. Addresses
any issues related to international peace, security and disarmament and
brings to the attention of the Security Council. Its decision, however, is
non-binding.
○ Responsible to initiate studies and make recommendations for promoting
political cooperation
○ Responsible for promoting international cooperation in economic, social,
cultural, educational and health fields.
○ Drafts and approves the UN budget.
○ Oversees the UN bureaucracy.
 Based on liberal democratic principles of political equality and majority rule.
Simple majority vote deciding most issues. 2/3 required to decide on important
issues.

● The Security Council – main organ with primary responsibility to maintain

international peace and security
- Unlike the Assembly the Security Council's decisions are binding on member
states.
- Limited membership: composed of permanent and non-permanent elective
members, headed by a president, an office that rotates among members.
- Permanent members (P5) include five great powers victors of WWII: US, UK,
Russia, France and China (total 15)
- Each P5 possesses the right of veto over the Council decision, which allows one
member to kill the Council action.
- Ten elected members selected from and by the Assembly
- Absent a veto, Security Council resolutions are passed by an affirmative vote of
nine members.

● The International Court of Justice (ICJ) - known as World Court is the primary
judicial organ of the UN, based in the Hague, Netherlands.
- Main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by member states and to
give advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized
international organs, agencies and the UN General Assembly.
- Composed of fifteen judges elected to nine year terms by the Un General
Assembly and the UN Security Council from a list of persons nominated by the
national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
- Elections take place every three years, with one-third of the judges retiring each
time, in order to ensure continuity within the court.

● The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – composed of 54 member states,

assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social
cooperation and development.
- ECOSOC’s functions include information gathering, advising member nations,
and making recommendations.
- The president is elected for a one-year term and chosen amongst the small or
middle powers represented on ECOSOC.
- ECOSOC meets once a year in July for a four-week session.
 ● The Secretariat - one of the principal organs of the United Nations and it is
headed by the UN Secretary General, assisted by a staff of international civil
servants worldwide.
- It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by UN bodies for their
meetings and carries out tasks as directed by the UN bodies.
- António Guterres: current UN Secretary-General

Current challenges to UN System:

- Tendency towards failure in decision making in the Security Council due to the
veto right of each P5, the interests of which often overlap.
- Tension between the UN and US, which is the largest contributor but also the
largest debtor to the UN.
- US withdrawing from Kyoto Protocol and International Criminal Court.
- 9/11 raises questions about the appropriate role of the UN.
- US invasion of Iraq in 2003 without UN authorization.

REGIONAL INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ..

What defines a region?

- Region are social spaces → the definition of regions, although having a

geographic reference, is politically contested
- Regions can be the basis for the economic and social interaction, environmental
processes, or the construction of identity

Regional Governance

- Some issues can be better managed at the regional rather than the global level
- The level of regional governance is uneven throughout the international system

Challenges in Regional Governance

Countries are unwilling to cooperate because of national pride, political tension, lack of
trust, high coordination cost among large number of countries

Countries rather prefer one-off negotiations

International and regional cooperation agreements are typically harder to achieve than
national ones → lack of courts or higher authorities → the enforcement is ambiguous and
weak at international level → agreements are self forcing
Regional governance has been conceptualized in close connection with the discussion
about the erosion of the concept of sovereignty

State sovereignty may thus be limited by the need to comply with rules produced
regionally

Cooperative decision-making on a regional basis can be seen as a way to strengthen the

sovereignty of territorial states

The European union

- The EU is a comprehensive, multipurpose regional organization that has been

under construction since WWII.
- The EU traces its origins to the European Coal and Steel Community formed
among 6 countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and West
Germany) in 1951 and the treaty of Rome extending this cooperation to atomic
energy (EURATOM) and establishing the European Economic Community in
1957.
- It is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in
Europe. It was established by the treaty of Maastricht (city in Amsterdam), which
was signed in February 1992 and came into force in November 1993.
- The EU operates through a hybrid system of intergovernmentalism and
supranationalism. In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member
states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without
unanimity between all national governments.

(EU map & institution images)

- The institutions are not concentrated in a single city: they are instead based across
three cities, Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.
- The Treaty of Amsterdam (arranging locations) states that the Commission and
Council would be based in Brussels, the Courts in Luxembourg and the Parliament
in Strasbourg.
- However some departments of the Commission and meetings of the Council take
place in Luxembourg, while the Parliament has its committees and some sessions
in Brussels and its secretariat in Luxembourg.
- Of the new institutions, the Central Bank is based in Frankfurt, while the European
Council is based in Brussels, but has some extraordinary meetings elsewhere.
● The European Council – Intergovernmental body of the EU, consisting of heads
of EU member states/governments and representing the political leadership of the
EU.
- Formally established by the Single European Act in 1985 and strengthened by the
Maastricht Treaty in 1992.
- The European Council meets twice a year with representatives of other EU
institutions to coordinate EU policy with national policies and interests.
- Influential body as most of the political and military decisions are still made at the
national level.
- Current Presidency taken after France: The Check Republic, President Mirek
Topolanek.

● The Council of Europe (Council of Ministers) – another intergovernmental body

of the EU, a chief decision making body made up of relevant ministers (depending
on a subject matter discussed in the Council) from the governments of the member
states.
- Not all members in The Council of Europe are EU members
- The Council is thus a fluid body whose composition changes depending on the
issue area.
- The Council is a political institution, often influenced by individual national
interests as members of the Council represent their national governments to the
EU.

● The European Commission – supranational body and the bureaucratic arm of the
EU, generator of most of the proposals and initiatives.
- Formally reporting to the Council of Ministers, but yet exercising a great deal of
autonomy.
- The Commission members (25 appointed for four year terms) are responsible to
further the interests of the EU as opposed to the interests of their own countries.
- Power to initiate policy proposals. Power to execute EU policies. Power to control
- guardian of EU Treaties.
- Current president: Ursula von der Leyen

● The European Parliament – responsible for overseeing the Commission, although

its legislative powers are limited.
- Advises Council and Commission on proposals and approves the Commission’s
overall budget.
- 732 MEPs - directly elected by the voters in Europe.
 - The Parliament represents Europe's broad political spectrum: European Socialists,
the Christian Democrats, the Greens, etc…
- Voting involves all three: Commission (normally initiated legislative proposals),
EP (passes the law) and Council (passes the law).
+ Co-decision process, involving two readings and seven steps.
+ Assent, EP obtains Council’s assent before deciding on certain important
issues
+ Consultation, based on the Commission’s proposal, Council consults EP,
ECOSOC and Committee of the Regions.
- The Parliaments power and influence remains symbolic in comparison with the
Commission and the Council.
- President: Roberta Metsola

● The European Court of Justice – created by the Treaty of Paris in 1958 to

adjudicate any legal dispute
- Located in Luxembourg, Luxembourg
- Composed of 27 justices appointed by their national governments who are assisted
by 8 Advocates-Generals.
- The Judges and Advocates-Generals are appointed by common accord of the
governments of the member states and hold office for a renewable term of 6 years.
- It is the responsibility of the Court of Justice to ensure that the law is observed in
the interpretation and application of the Treaties of the EU and of the provisions
laid down by the competent Community institutions.

INTER-REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS..

APEC
- The idea of APEC was first mentioned by former prime minister of Australia Bob
Hawke during a speech in Seoul, Korea, on 31 January 1989
- In the same year, 12 Asia-Pacific countries launched the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC), to foster trans pacific economic cooperation
- 12 founding members: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Indonesia; Japan;
Korea; Malaysia; New Zealand; the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and the
United States with headquarter in Singapore
- Aims: to create greater prosperity for the people of the region by promoting
balanced, inclusive, sustainable, innovative and secure growth and by accelerating
regional economic integration.
 ● APEC’s Structure
- APEC is not a legally speaking international organization. It is an international
forum, where member economies in the region could cooperate in trade and
investment liberalization
- It operates on the basis of non-binding commitments, open dialogue and equal
respect for the views of all participants
- Decision-making is reached by consensus

(APEC structure in diagram & map)

ASEM
- Established in 1996 with a summit in Bangkok that brought together leaders of 10
East Asian states (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea) and 15 EU member states plus the President
of the European Commission
- Is an informal forum for dialogue and cooperation, bringing together 53 partners
from across Europe and Asia, including 2 institutional partners: the EU and the
ASEAN Secretariat
- Representing about 60% of the world’s GDP, population and global trade
- Main purpose: to provide a platform for fostering political dialogue, strengthening
economic cooperation and tackling global challenges.

(ASEM partners on map)

● ASEM’s Structure
- ASEM was designed to be loose and non-binding and was principally designed as
a channel for dialogue
- It has no permanent secretariat of its own → not an international organization by
definition
- ASEM works through meeting and activities organized at different levels:
+ The ASEM Summit is a meeting between the 51 Heads of State or
Government, the President of the European Council, the President of the
European Commission, and the Secretary-General of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The summits are held every second
year, in Asia and Europe alternatively
+ Ministerial Meetings are organized in-between the ASEM Summits,
gathering ministers of foreign affairs, finance, economics, etc.
 + Senior Officials' Meetings (SOM) bring together high-level civil servants
from the Foreign Ministries of all ASEM partners for the overall
coordination of the ASEM process.
+ Other activities and initiatives are organized by ASEM partners on a wide
range of issues of mutual interest.

COLLECTIVE SECURITY: NATO..

NATO
- 1948 British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin introduce the policy of Western Union
→ called for the creation of a Western European system of countries to counter the
communist threat
- 1949 The North Atlantic Treaty was signed → the establishment of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization with 12 members
- Headquarter: Brussels, Belgium
- NATO is a consensus-based alliance, where decisions reflect the membership's
collective will
- Member: 30 members, latest member is North Macedonia (2020)

(NATO’s membership expansion)

● NATO’s Principle
- Article 4: NATO serves also as a place for discussion about political and military
issues or threats
- Article 5: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in
Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all…”
- “The Alliance was so successful as a deterrent that it never resorted to Article 5 or
deployed the substantial military forces under its umbrella during the Cold War”

(Lindley - French, 2007)

(History of NATO Timeline)

● NATO after Cold War

- The dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the “reassessment” of the role of the
Alliance
- 9/11 terrorist attacks: NATO broadened its structures, established new
partnerships, and developed new tools to achieve its strategic goals
- Russian - Ukrainian War: NATO adopts the 2022 Strategic Concept
● ISAF: International Security Assistance Force
- The ISAF mission was launched by UN Security Council to punish Al-Qaeda for
the 9/11 attacks and to defeat the Taliban regime in Afghanistan
- Later, the mission changed to securing Kabul and its surroundings from Al-Qaeda
and Taliban.
- In 2003, NATO took over the operation from the UN (upon the request of the
government of Afghanistan) and the ISAF mission had expanded through all the
territory of Afghanistan → train and develop the Afghan National Security Forces
to be able to provide security across the territory of Afghanistan

● Finance

- NATO’s budget comes from contributions from member countries. Member

countries contribute to these budgets based on their relative economic size
- NATO’s budget is composed of three separate accounts dedicated to common
alliance activities: funding civilian and military headquarters and certain security
infrastructure
- However, the primary financial contribution made by member states is the cost of
deploying their respective armed forces for NATO-led operations. These expenses
are not part of the formal NATO budget

(Structure of NATO map)

WTO AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS ..

- Headquarter: Geneva, Switzerland

- Established in 1 January 1995
- Membership: 164 members representing 98 per cent of world trade

● History of GATT/WTO
- After WWII, the tendency was to establish international organizations in the
search for a new kind of global economic stability
- 1947 at Geneva Conference countries signed the General Agreement on Tariffs
and Trade (GATT)
- 1947-1948 Havana Conference was held to draw up the final text of the Havana
Charter in order to establish International Trade Organization(ITO) => in the end
the establishment of ITO was postponed indefinitely => GATT regulate
international trade
- 1994 Uruguay Round of Trade Talks: The World Trade Organization (WTO) was
established

● Fundamental principle of WTO

- Non-discrimination:
+ Most-favored Nations: formal agreements between any two member
countries had to apply to all members
+ National Treatments: any member of the WTO had to treat foreign firms in
the same way as domestic firms with regard to trade
- Reciprocity: if one country made tariff concessions, another country had to do the
same
- Transparency: protectionist measures employed by governments should be clearly
stated and take a visible form
- Enforcement and dispute settlement

● Functions of WTO
- Administering WTO trade agreements
- Forum for trade negotiations
- Handling trade disputes
- Monitoring national trade policies
- Technical assistance and training for developing countries
- Cooperation with other international organizations

(Structure of WTO map)

● Dispute Settlement Mechanism

- Dispute settlement mechanism is the central pillar of the multilateral trading
system → new comparing to GATT → rare areas in public international law where
we have a mechanism that provides binding third-party adjudication of disputes
between sovereign states
- Approximately 600 cases of disputes. The United States and the European Union
are by far the biggest users of the system
- The cases are reviewed by a standing Appellate Body Decisions by the Appellate
Body are final and binding.
- Only states can “sue” or “be sued”

● 3 Principle of WTO’s trade dispute settlement

 - Acceptance of Multilateral Adjudication: Members must not take any actions
regarding alleged breaches of trade rules without going through the WTO dispute
settlement system
- Prohibition on Counter Retaliation: If a respondent state has lost its case but
maintains its breach of trade rules, it must accept retaliation - most often in the
form of higher tariffs - and cannot threaten counter retaliation
- Regulating Remedies: Member countries must accept the WTO’s authority to
determine the appropriate level of retaliation

● The Breakdown in Norms: The Case of The United States

- In June 2018, the U.S. government imposed unilateral sanctions against China for
allegedly engaging in unfair trade practices with regards to intellectual property
and state subsidies (Section 301)
- The United States has also imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from
WTO members, in the name of national security (Section 232)
- Trump Administration has been blocking appointments to the WTO’s
seven-member Appellate Body that rules on trade disputes → The Biden
Administration has not shown any sign of reversing these decisions.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS: IMF AND WORLD BANK ..

● History of IMF and World Bank

- Bretton Wood Conference (formerly known as UN Monetary and Financial
Conference) was held from 1st to 22nd July 1944 → the establishment of IMF,
IBRD and ITO
- IBRD later joins with IDA to become the World Bank

IMF

- International Monetary Fund - IMF is the intergovernmental organization that

oversees the global financial system by following the macroeconomic policies of
its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rate and the
balance of payments.
- It is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing international
exchange rates and facilitating development through the enforcement of
liberalizing economic-policies on other countries as a condition for loans,
restructuring or aid.
- IMF is a forum of national economic policies, international monetary and
financial systems, which involves active dialogue with each member country.
- Headquarter: Washington D.C, US

● IMF’s Finances

Quotas:

- The IMF's resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as their
capital subscription when they are members.
- Quotas broadly reflect the size of each member's economy: the larger a country's
economy in terms of output and the larger and more variable its trade, the larger its
quota tends to be. They also help determine how much countries can borrow from
the IMF and their share in allocations of special drawing rights or SDRs (the
reserve currency created by the IMF in 1969).

Gold:

- The IMF holds a relatively large amount of gold among its assets, for reasons of
financial soundness, also to meet unforeseen contingencies.
- The IMF holds 90.5 million ounces (2,814.1 metric tons) of gold, worth about
$120.1 billion, making it the third-largest official holder of gold in the world.

● Membership
- There are two types of members:
- Original members: All those countries whose representatives took part in Bretton
Wood Conference and who agreed to be the members of the fund prior to 31st
December, 1945.
- Ordinary members: All those who became its members sub - sequentially.
- Bank has the authority to suspend any member and similarly members are free to
resign.

● Purpose
- Promote international monetary cooperation.
- Expansion and balanced growth of international trade.
- Promote exchange rate stability.
 - The elimination of restrictions on the international flow of capital.
- Help establish a multilateral system of payments and eliminate foreign exchange
restrictions.
- Make resources of the Fund available to members.
- Shorten the duration and lessen the degree of disequilibrium in international
balances of payments.
- Promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly
exchange arrangements
- Foster economic growth and high levels of employment.
- Temporary financial assistance to countries to help the balance of payments
adjustments

● Operations
- Monitoring economic and financial developments and policies, in member
countries and at the global level, giving policy advance to its members
- Lending to member countries with balance of payments problems, supporting
adjustment and reform policies aimed at correcting the underlying problems.
- Technical assistance and training to help governments to implement sound
economic policies.

History of Bretton Woods System

Gold standard (commodity) Fiat system

● Each national currency was backed by the quantity ● Currencies are not backed
of gold held by the country’s central bank by physical commodity but
● Currencies were freely convertible into gold on people’s faith in the
● Lower inflation government

Special drawing rights

- The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to

supplement its member countries’ official reserves. The SDR is not a currency in
literal sense but rather an accounting unit for IMF transactions with member
countries – and a stable asset in countries’ international reserves.
- The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies - the U.S. Dollar, the
Euro, the Chinese Renminbi, the Japanese Yen, and the British Pound Sterling

WORLD BANK
- The World Bank is an international organization which provides loans and grants
to countries
- The World Bank operates as a development agency with a mission statement that
says ‘”our dream is a world without poverty”
- Their main purposes are
- Headquarter: Washington D.C, US
- Members: 189 countries (must join IMF to join WB)

● Roles and Functions

- The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and
knowledge for developing countries
- The World Bank Group provides financing, policy advice, and technical assistance
to governments, and also focuses on strengthening the private sector in developing
countries
- This is done through providing countries with grants and funds, sharing
information with various entities through policy advice, research and analysis, and
technical assistance as well as offers advice and training for both the public and
private sectors

● Finance
- The World Bank, in its early form of the IBRD, was largely dependent on selling
bonds to raise the bulk of its loan capital. The rest of the available funds came
from the subscriptions of member countries.
- Now, the WB's financial reserves come from several sources - from funds raised in
the financial markets, from earnings on its investments, from fees paid in by
member countries, from contributions made by members and from interest
acquired after countries pay back their loans
- The Bank has a large financial reserves, which make it is possible for them borrow
money at low interest rates from capital markets all over the world to then lend
money to developing countries on very favorable terms

● Voting Power
- The number of shares a country has is based roughly on the size of its economy.
The United States is the largest single shareholder, followed by Japan, Germany,
the United Kingdom, and France
- A country contributes more to the WB will have more voting power (similar to the
IMF)

● World Bank Group Institution

 - The World Bank consists of the IBRD and IDA while the World Bank Group
comprises of 5 institutions
- The World Bank is owned by its member countries represented by a Board of
Governors, which meets once a year, and a Board of Directors, which conducts
day-to-day business.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION ..

Introduction

- 1943: The United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt called a United Nations
Conference on Food and Agriculture
- 44 governments gathered in Hot Springs, Virginia from 18 May to 3 June → The
Constitution of the Food and Agriculture Organization established the Food and
Agriculture Organization in Quebec City, Canada on October 16, 1945
- The oldest of UN’s specialized agencies that leads international efforts to defeat
hunger
- Member: 194 member states and the European Union
- The main task of FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations) is to ensure food security (agriculture, rural development, forestry and
fisheries)

Main Functions (Article 1)

- The collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of information relating

to nutrition, food, and agriculture (including fisheries and forestry)
- The promotion of various national and international efforts and activities relating
to knowledge production on food, nutrition, and agriculture, the conservation of
natural resources, the improvement of agricultural methods
 - The provision of technical assistance at the request of member states

Codex Alimentarius

- Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) was established by the Food and

Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the World Health
Organization (WHO) in 1963
- Members: 165 countries; about 160 international IGOs and NGOs contribute to
the work
- The Codex Alimentarius (food code) is a collection of international food
standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and recommendations developed by the
(CAC) to protect the consumers' health and ensure fair practices in the food trade

Example: Food Labeling Requirement

Name of the food. List of ingredients. Net content and drained weight. Name and address
of manufacture. Country of origin. Lot identification. Date making and storage
instructions. Instruction for use

(17 SDGs)

FAO and SDGs

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has chosen Goal 2
of the SDGs, as its flagship goal

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: UNEP/UNFCCC ..

(Timelines)

Kyoto Protocol

- Signed in 1997 but only came into force in 2005

- Only countries included in Annex 1 (developed countries) were required to reduce
their emission:
● US by 7%
● EU by 8%
● Japan by 6%
● Russia by 0% (no increase)
- In the end, the US did not ratify the treaty

Paris Agreement
 - The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change
- The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature
rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial
levels
- The Paris Agreement works on a 5- year cycle of increasingly ambitious climate
action carried out by countries. By 2020, countries submit their plans for climate
action known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

UNEP
- In 1972, 113 governments came together in Stockholm to establish the
international architecture for addressing global environmental problems → United
Nations Environmental Programme
- “The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been the global
authority that sets the environmental agenda, promotes the coherent
implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development
within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the
global environment.”
- Headquarter: Nairobi, Kenya
- Members: 193 countries
- 95% of their fund comes from voluntary contribution of member states

● Structure
- UNEP has 7 divisions that are working under the leadership of a Senior
Management Teams
● Communication Division
● Corporate Services Division
● Economy Division
● Ecosystems Division
● Governance Affairs Office
● Law Division
● Policy and Programme Division
● Science Division
- In 2012, the UN Environment Assembly was established. UNEA meets to set
priorities for global environmental policies and develop international
environmental law. Decisions and resolutions taken by member states at the
Assembly also define the work of UNEP

UNFCCC
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
entered into force on 21 March 1994. UNFCCC is the parent treaty of the Kyoto
Protocol and the Paris Agreement
- Members: 197 countries ratified, near universal membership
- The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity
tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change
- Headquarter: Bonn, Geneva

● Conference of Parties (COP)

- COP is the decision-making body responsible for monitoring and reviewing the
implementation of the UNFCCC
- The COP has met annually since 1995
- COP 21 in Paris (France) has led to the first international climate agreement- The
Paris Agreement

INGOs: International Non-governmental Organizations..

- A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is neither a part

of a government nor a conventional for-profit business.
- are generally private, voluntary organizations whose members are individuals or
associations that come together to achieve a common purpose, often oriented to a
public good
- Diverse entities in size, source of funding, membership, etc
- NGOs may be funded by governments, foundations, schools, businesses or private
people.
- Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax
exemption based on recognition of social purposes. Others may be fronts for
political, religious, or other interests.

● History
- The term "non-governmental organization" was first coined in 1945, when the
United Nations (UN) was created
- According to the UN any kind of private organization that is independent from
government control can be termed as ‘NGO’
- In some countries the term NGO is applied to an organization that in another
country would be called an NPO (non profit organization).

● Definition and Characteristics

- Rely on soft power
- Flexible and independent from states, compare to IGOs
- Most have limited economic resources → compete for donors

● Roles
- Advocate for specific policies and offer alternative channels of political
participation
- NGOs are also the primary actors at the grassroots level in mobilizing individuals
to act
- NGOs take the place of states, either performing services that an inept or corrupt
government is not providing or stepping in for a failed state.
- Working in networks and coalitions to enhance each other’s power