“Treaty congestion” in contemporary international environmental law

The rapid expansion of international environmental law in recent decades has led to what some commentators have termed “treaty congestion”. Arguably the number of international instruments has hampered implementation. In particular, the lack of coordination in the face of proliferation and the lack of capacity challenge the operationalization of international environmental obligations by necessary and suffi cient laws, policies, programs and plans. This contribution considers the issue of treaty congestion, and makes suggestions for how it might be overcome.