The increasing interdependence of societies partially due to transboundary environmental impacts and the recognition of the need for concerted action to solve them have led to the development of multilateral environmental instruments. These include the determination of common principles, general objectives, specific goals, tasks, and their means of implementation. This process is a crucial part of environmental globalization, and its outcomes are the basic components of global environmental governance that were achieved in the course of shorter or longer-term deliberations/negotiations and through a series of compromises. The concreteness of the content of these documents approved by the international community and the ‘ambition level’ of the agreed goals and commitments have varied substantially by time and according to the specific issue being addressed and largely depended on the degree of scientific certainty about the environmental problem in question, its cause-effect relationships and the preparedness of the decision-making representatives of the negotiating parties to act amidst a multitude of interests and priorities. On the whole, all these internationally endorsed legal and policy instruments are aimed at regulating activities that trigger dangerous environmental processes, moderating their harmful effects, and preventing any further such potential hazards. We summarize below (without claiming completeness) some of the key non-binding (‘soft’) and binding legal instruments and policy frameworks that form the basis of international environmental policy cooperation.