The importance of economic instruments and other incentives in implementing MEAs is recognized in the text of a number of agreements, and in the discussions and decisions of their respective Conference of the Parties (COP) and other subsidiary bodies. This document looks at the role and importance of economic instruments in the context of three specific biodiversity-related MEAs the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention).