The influence of scientists and scientific knowledge on international environmental policy: Canada, persistent organic pollutants, and the Stockholm Conventio

This thesis seeks to enhance our understanding of the role of science in international environmental policymaking through a case study of the influence of scientists and scientific knowledge on Canada's foreign policy with respect to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from shortly before the discovery of the global nature of the problem (around 1980) to the signing of the United Nations Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (in 2001). The influence of different types of scientific knowledge and actions by scientists in the formation and development of Canada's POPs foreign policy is analyzed. A typology of knowledge types and knowledge actions was developed. Three main conclusions were drawn: (1) different types of scientific knowledge influence policy differently; (2) cross-disciplinary transmission of knowledge is a critical action; and (3) there is a dynamic interaction between differing knowledge types and actions that affects policy differently during the various stages of policy development.