Linda Maria Spielmann is a senior consultant at the Association of Cooperatives Bavaria (GVB) and works with cooperative banks on sustainability and other topics. Previously, she was a senior consultant with the ESG Advisory Financial Services team at BDO. Before that, she was a research associate and Lecturer in International Relations at University of Bamberg, Germany.

• Introduction 1. Towards a New Understanding of MEAs 2. Redefining MEAs as Authoritative International Organisations 3. A Theoretical Framework for Informal MEA Authority Expansion 4. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 5. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement Conclusion

Linda Maria Spielmann is a senior consultant at the Association of Cooperatives Bavaria (GVB) and works with cooperative banks on sustainability and other topics. Previously, she was a senior consultant with the ESG Advisory Financial Services team at BDO. Before that, she was a research associate and Lecturer in International Relations at University of Bamberg, Germany.

• Introduction 1. Towards a New Understanding of MEAs 2. Redefining MEAs as Authoritative International Organisations 3. A Theoretical Framework for Informal MEA Authority Expansion 4. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 5. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement Conclusion

Linda Maria Spielmann is a senior consultant at the Association of Cooperatives Bavaria (GVB) and works with cooperative banks on sustainability and other topics. Previously, she was a senior consultant with the ESG Advisory Financial Services team at BDO. Before that, she was a research associate and Lecturer in International Relations at University of Bamberg, Germany.

• Introduction 1. Towards a New Understanding of MEAs 2. Redefining MEAs as Authoritative International Organisations 3. A Theoretical Framework for Informal MEA Authority Expansion 4. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 5. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement Conclusion