Testing a methodology for reviewing national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in Estonia and Tanzania

The report evaluates a new audit methodology designed to assess how countries implement clusters of related multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Testing in Estonia and Tanzania focused on four biodiversity-related MEAs: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Ramsar Convention, CITES, and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). The methodology uses 15 categories to score implementation as strong, moderate, or weak. In Estonia, implementation was generally high, with 'Cross-border cooperation' being the strongest area. In Tanzania, overall effectiveness was moderate, with a strong legal framework but weaknesses in enforcement and monitoring. The report concludes that the methodology is a useful, relatively easy-to-apply tool for both national governments and international secretariats to identify implementation gaps and streamline reporting.

• The tested methodology assesses national implementation across 15 categories divided into 'implementation effectiveness' and 'objective-led effectiveness', scoring countries as 'strong', 'moderate' or 'weak' based on predefined benchmarks for 'ideal implementation'.
• In Estonia, the overall implementation effectiveness of biodiversity MEAs was evaluated as relatively high, with 'Cross-border cooperation' being the strongest category and no categories receiving a 'weak' score.
• Estonia's implementation challenges include a lack of formal coordination across the cluster of MEAs, difficulty in evaluating specific funding allocations per convention, and a high percentage of protected species and habitats remaining in unfavourable status as of 2013.
• Tanzania's overall implementation effectiveness for the four biodiversity MEAs was ranked as moderate, characterized by a strong legal and policy framework but weak law enforcement and a lack of systematic monitoring systems.
• Tanzania faces significant implementation barriers including corruption, which is cited as the primary obstacle to effective law enforcement, and a heavy reliance on multilateral and bilateral donors for financing.
• The methodology is deemed useful for reviewing the coherence of MEA clusters and could reduce the costs and burden of national reporting if widely adopted, though it requires close stakeholder engagement to accurately trace real-world outcomes.

APA

Kuldna, P., Peterson, K., Senyagwa, J., & Noel, S. (2014). Testing a methodology for reviewing national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in Estonia and Tanzania. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NEW/sei-pr-2014-12-mea-implementation.pdf

Chicago

Kuldna, Piret, Kaja Peterson, Jacqueline Senyagwa, and Stacey Noel. Testing a methodology for reviewing national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in Estonia and Tanzania. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2014. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NEW/sei-pr-2014-12-mea-implementation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kuldna |first1=Piret |last2=Peterson |first2=Kaja |last3=Senyagwa |first3=Jacqueline |last4=Noel |first4=Stacey |title=Testing a methodology for reviewing national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in Estonia and Tanzania |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2014 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NEW/sei-pr-2014-12-mea-implementation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kuldna2014testing, author = {Kuldna, Piret and Peterson, Kaja and Senyagwa, Jacqueline and Noel, Stacey}, title = {{Testing a methodology for reviewing national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in Estonia and Tanzania}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2014}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/NEW/sei-pr-2014-12-mea-implementation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }