international action being taken to promote the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle and waste in ways that lead to the prevention and minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment, including oceans and marine biodiversity. The Conventions contribute to making consumption and production International environmental agreements date back at least a century. In the last 30 years, however, MEAs have proliferated as environmental protection has become a major issue worldwide.4 The 1992 Rio Conference (UNCED), and the 1972 Stockholm Conference (UNCHE) before it, reflected the rise of concern for the global An international environmental agreement or sometimes environmental protocol, is a type of treaty binding in international law, allowing them to reach an environmental goal. In other words, it is "an intergovernmental document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or managing human impacts on natural resources." agreements which give countries incentives to both join and abide by such agreements. Economists have emphasized two important features: agreements must be profitable, that is there must be potential gains to all signatory countries; more importantly, in the absence of any international authority, agreements must be self-enforcing, i.e. there International environmental agreements which promote cooperation among countries represent a key instrument to limit environmental degradation that crosses national bor-ders. Since 1970, the number of agreements has increased rapidly. As of 2015, 1998 treaties were signed in total by 238 countries. Little is known about the overall structure