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International Environmental Policy

International News

Textbook and legal terms do not work well for searching news. Think about the eye-catching news headlines you see.

Top tips:

1. Be aware of bias and the audience targeted when using loaded keywords such as success or failure.

2. Simplify your terms and try to avoid participation, effectiveness, and enter into force. Try instead substituting one of these keywords instead: delegates, discussions, ratification (or ratify), commitment, "dispute settlement," implementation, enforcement, negotiations, compliance, or criticize.

3. You will have the most success if you filter or limit your results for different years to be able to see the full picture (think the year signed, the year entered into force, the year of the next treaty, and/or 2024). So you are not using these keywords but are using the year to bring these issues to you. 

Search example to type into the news database: "Paris Agreement" AND ratification. Then, search all years to see what countries are saying.  

Articles & Reports

Policy Research Tips

1. Search 2-3 databases for articles. You pick from this list:

  • Policy/international law – Scopus or PAIS
  • News sources - see above and pick one
  • Your academic subject (feel free to email Kristan for advice). Select your subject from the drop down list.

2. Search the United Nations for reports, data, and news. See the international environmental policy search engine

3. Policy research can take a bit of trial and error so be patient.