GW Law Library: Library Guides: International Environmental Law: Treaties & Agreements

Databases

Congress.gov: Senate Treaty documents
- This link opens in a new window
Treaty documents are available for all treaties submitted to the Senate since the 94th Congress (1975-1976).
more...less...
Treaties submitted prior to the 94th Congress are included if they were pending in 1975. Congress.gov tracks all Senate action on treaties. Treaties remain in the Committee on Foreign Relations until the Senate has completed action by agreeing to the resolution of advice and consent to ratification or by returning the treaty document to the President.
GovInfo: Congressional Documents (Senate Treaty Documents)
- This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 94th Congress, 1975-76 to date.
The Congressional Documents collection consists of House Documents, Senate Documents, and Senate Treaty Documents. Senate Treaty Documents contain the text of a treaty as it is submitted to the U. S. Senate for ratification by the President.
United Nations Law Collection (UNTS)
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
(HeinOnline)
The collection contains exact reproductions of major United Nations legal publications.
more...less...
This includes the complete collection of the United Nations Treaty Series, the League of Nations Treaty Series, the Monthly Statement of Treaties & International Agreements, UNCITRAL Publications, UNIDIR Publications, the United Nations Legislative Series and much more.
U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library (TIAS & UST, Stat.)
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
(HeinOnline)
Includes all U.S. treaties, whether currently in-force, expired, or not-yet officially published, the United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (commonly referred to as the "Blue set"), and treaty collections published by Bevans, Miller, Malloy and others.
International Legal Materials (ILM)
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Published by the American Society of International Law (ASIL), this journal is an unofficial source for current and historical treaties, as well as judicial and arbitral decisions, national legislation, international organizations resolutions and other documents.
ProQuest Congressional
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive source for Congressional documents.
more...less...
Includes treaties, bills, hearings, testimonies, legislative histories and Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports.
United Nations Treaty Collection
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Consists of three parts: The United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General, and Texts of Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties.
U.S. Treaties & Other International Agreements
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window

Websites

InforMEA
- This link opens in a new window
(United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs))
Provides information on MEAs, such as treaty texts and decisions and resolutions adopted by the Governing Bodies of MEAs.
more...less...
Party information, such as contacts, national reports and national plans submitted under MEAs is also included.
ECOLEX: The Gateway to Environmental Law (FAO, IUCN & UNEP)
- This link opens in a new window
(FAO, IUCN and UNEP)
Includes information on treaties, international soft-law and other non-binding policy and technical guidance documents, national legislation, judicial decisions, and law and policy literature.
FAOLEX Database
- This link opens in a new window
(Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO))
FAOLEX contains treaties, laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources from all over the world.
more...less...
Most of the material comes from the official gazettes sent by FAO's Member Nations pursuant to Article XI of the FAO Constitution. Records are provided in either English, French or Spanish and the full text of the document is provided in the original language or in the language of communication used by the originating country.
FLARE Index to Treaties
- This link opens in a new window
(The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London)
A searchable database of basic information on over 2,000 multilateral treaties concluded from the 1600s and a number of bilateral treaties signed between 1353 and 1815, with links to the full text, where available.
International Environmental Agreements (IEA) Databases Project
- This link opens in a new window
(University of Oregon)
Lists of international environmental treaties, conventions, and other agreements with links to text, membership, performance data, secretariat, and summary statistics.
List of IMO Conventions
- This link opens in a new window
(International Maritime Organization (IMO))
Provides a list of IMO Conventions with links to treaty texts.
Minamata Convention on Mercury
- This link opens in a new window
(U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP))
This website includes the text of the convention, conference of the parties (COP) proceedings and information on implementation.
Minamata Convention on Mercury
- This link opens in a new window
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA))
A multilateral environmental agreement that addresses specific human activities which are contributing to widespread mercury pollution. Provides a history of the convention and links to related resources.
Oceans & Law of the Sea
- This link opens in a new window
(United Nations)
Provides the text of the convention and related agreements as well as information on oceans and Law of the Sea in the General Assembly, bodies that established the convention, and settlement disputes.
Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database
- This link opens in a new window
(Oregon State University (OSU) College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, in collaboration with the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering)
Treaty Office
- This link opens in a new window
(Council of Europe)
Provides the text of all Council of Europe treaties, their explanatory reports, status of signatures and ratifications, declarations and reservations made by States, and notifications issued by the Treaty Office since 2000.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- This link opens in a new window
Provides the text of the convention and related agreements, conference of the parties (COP) proceedings, and documents and decisions.
The Water Convention and the Protocol on Water and Health
- This link opens in a new window
(United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Information provided includes an introduction to the convention, status of ratification, implementation, and meeting proceedings.

Print

Documents in European Community Environmental Law
- This link opens in a new window
A companion volume to the second edition of Phillippe Sands' "Principles of International Environmental Law" and Sands and Galizzi's "Documents in International Environmental Law."
more...less...
It comprises extracts from EC treaties, regulations, directives, decisions, and other acts of EC institutions.
Documents in International Environmental Law
- This link opens in a new window
Companion volume to "Principles of International Environmental Law, 2d ed." by Philippe Sands.
more...less...
Contains selected treaties and documents with editorial introductions.
International Environmental Law: Basic Instruments and References (1992)
- This link opens in a new window
Text of international environmental agreements and instruments. Includes signatories and status information.
International Environmental Law: Basic Instruments and References, 1992-1999
- This link opens in a new window
Text of international environmental agreements and instruments. Includes signatories and status information.
International Environmental Soft Law: Collection of Relevant Instruments
- This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1993-2002.
Legally non-binding instruments from international environmental conferences or other international organizations.
International Protection of the Environment: Conservation in Sustainable Development
- This link opens in a new window
Decisions and action plans that implement Agenda 21.
more...less...
These legal and administrative decisions fall between hard law of treaties and the soft law of policy decisions; chronological index.

Citing Treaties

Bluebook Rule 21.4: Treaties and Other International Agreements
- This link opens in a new window
Frequently-Cited Treaties & Other International Instruments: International Environmental Law
- This link opens in a new window
(University of Minnesota Law Library)
Provides a list of treaties frequently cited in law review articles, along with links to these treaties in PDF format, when available electronically.
NOTE: Citations provided do not necessarily follow the current edition of Bluebook.
Introduction to Basic Legal Citation by Peter W. Martin (online ed. 2020)
- This link opens in a new window
(Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute (ILL))
See: § 2-360. Treaty Citations
Citation primer that introduces The Bluebook through concise rule summaries that are linked to numerous examples.

Related Guides

Bluebook and Citation Resources
- This link opens in a new window
(GW Law Library)
International Human Rights Law Resources
- This link opens in a new window
(GW Law Library)
Treaties and International Agreements
- This link opens in a new window
(GW Law Library)
e-RG Electronic Resource Guide (ERG): Law of the Sea
- This link opens in a new window
(American Society of International Law (ASIL), 2015)
International Environmental Law Research Guide
- This link opens in a new window
(Georgetown Law Library)

These linked icons indicate your access to the resources discussed in this guide.
	Library Collection
	Website
	Subscription Database (Law School Only)
	Subscription Database (University-wide)
	Bloomberg Law (Password Required)
	Lexis (Password Required)
	Westlaw (Password Required)