Deadly Diseases and the Collective Adoption of International Environmental Agreements

Transboundary pollution problems cause some of the world’s deadliest diseases such as lung disease, heart diseases, and cancers. However, there is a gap in the Global Environmental Politics (GEP) literature regarding whether deadly diseases compel the timely adoption of regulatory transboundary pollution laws. This is however important because regulating transboundary pollution problems contributes to the control of deadly diseases. Hence, deadly diseases caused by transboundary pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, oil pollution, and other toxic chemicals are analysed in relation to the timeliness of their regulation under 6 environmental laws. The findings demonstrate that the most toxic pollutants were overall regulated within a shorter time, therefore indicating to the GEP literature that deadly disease is a motivating factor for collective environmental regulation. And likewise, global environmental governance ought to take a more active than precautionary approach to health when formulating environmental laws.