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Some MEAs such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have Module
more general applicability, others are more specific and therefore one could not expect to be signed
by all countries. Also, being a signatory to an MEA alone does not necessarily lead to enforcement, so 5
more detailed analysis of specific policy measures would be required.

Abu Dhabi, UAE
Figure 22 Stages in the policy life cycle (from Pearson 2005)

Public concern and political weight

Recognition Formulation Implementation Control

Stages in policy cycle

While a policy can be described as an interrelated set of decisions and goals, a policy instrument
is a tool or a mechanism used as a means to accomplish a policy goal(s). There are myriad ways
to categorize policy instruments. Table 7 presents one such categorization according to economic,
regulatory, expenditure and institutional policy instruments (IISD and TERI 2003).

Policy analysis is meant to help understand why ineffective policy happens. Ineffective policy can be a
result of many things, such as relevant actors being ignored, a misunderstanding of the policy context,
policy goals not being supported, and/or a misreading of the politics of the issue (Najam 1995; Najam
2000).

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