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"Food security, food safety, healthy consumption habits, and environmental sustainability are essential to the well-being of societies worldwide. Yet, progress in fostering sustainability in the global agrifood system has been slow at best and significant challenges remain. First, food insecurity remains a problem for millions of people, while its range and consequences have been aggravated by the recent food crisis (FAO 2008b). Second, repeated food scandals and health scares constitute additional challenges for food governance (World Bank 2005). Food is the number one cause of premature death in the western world due to the increasing consumption of fattier, saltier, and sweeter foods and drinks (Popkin 2002). Even in many Asian countries obesogenic diets are becoming more prevalent (Florentino 2002; IOTF 2005). Third, threats to the provision of adequate amounts of nutritious food are expected to multiply as a result of climate change (European Commission 2008a). At the same time, the food sector itself is a major contributor to direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (FAO 2008a). Fourth, alternative food products – while promising environmental and health benefits in relation to their conventional equivalents – are also associated with costs. In India, thousands of farmers have reportedly committed suicide, partly as a result of debt due to unfair biotech deals (Nagaraj 2008).(...)" [authors remark]

International environmental institutions are key for addressing global environmental problems, such as overfishing, climate change and biodiversity loss. Yet, as the overexploitation of natural resources as well as unsustainable practices of governance, settlement, and economic activities have been established over long periods of time, international environmental institutions are challenged to provide global environmental protection. These difficulties are amplified by the often-lacking cooperation and coordination of international environmental institutions in a fragmented global governance structure. Thus, integration is an indispensable part for achieving global environmental protection. Although both academics and practitioners are increasingly calling for more global environmental protection, there is no simple one-size-fits-all solution available that could ensure such an endeavor. What is needed is a thorough understanding of individual institutional specifications, interactions and interconnections and even systemic dynamics that emerge from institutional linkages over time. Institutional change analysis allows to study these aspects in a comprehensive way and to examine integration efforts of international environmental institutions over time. Rather than taking snapshots of international environmental institutions, this dissertation looks at longitudinal developments towards global environmental protection. Therefore, to discern high expectations and policy objectives from what is really happening, this dissertation addresses the following research question: How do international environmental institutions change and integrate in global governance? This dissertation draws a distinction between how international environmental institutions drive a process of integration in a larger institutional context which is external to them and how they integrate rules which are internal to them. The answer to the question emerged from four studies. Study 1 synoptically reviewed institutional change and integration in the global food governance system. It showed that actors are important for altering global governance processes. Especially, the role of private actors and governments needs to be taken into consideration for understanding the rules of the game. Study 2 provided findings that policy integration is a key institutional change process for global governance. Yet, most international environmental institutions do not integrate their institutional activities but remain in silos, which is a barrier to the achievement of global environmental protection. Study 3 shows in detail that an international environmental institution has the potential to be a driver of global environmental protection through policy integration while being challenged by multiple barriers at the same time. Thus, for international environmental institutions to alter global governance processes, they must actively take efforts in enabling and fostering policy integration as well as international cooperation and collaboration. Study 4 provided support for the idea that institutional change is a gradual transformational process in which there can be multiple variations of rule dynamics over time. Study 4 showed that bridging historical institutionalism and organizational science can bring new insights into institutional change at the sub-institutional level, i.e., internal developments of an organization. This dissertation postulates that international environmental institutions are central for altering global governance processes. Yet, the studies have shown that international environmental institutions are struggling at various fronts when it comes to a successful integration of policies, but also cooperation and coordination efforts.