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The meeting of the senior government officials expert in environmental law on the midterm review of Montevideo Programme IV continued on Thursday, 10 September in Montevideo, Uruguay. The day’s discussions focused on identifying and debating priority areas for action in the field of environmental law for the period up to 2020, bearing in mind Montevideo Programme IV.
In the morning, debate focused on the topic as a whole. Issues discussed included: the importance of addressing corruption that hinders effective implementation; land and soil degradation; the need for special courts to ensure environmental justice is accessible; the effect of elections and changes in government regimes on environmental law; and, the role of civil society as “watchdogs.”
In the afternoon, specific areas of priority for action were considered. These included combating environmental offences and crimes, addressing drivers of environmental offences and crimes, strengthening public access to justice in environmental matters, enhancing water security in the face of climate change and other environmental pressures, standards and procedures for extractive industries, and the issue of plastic and marine wastes.
As part of the afternoon discussions, a number of explicit points were raised. Specific aspects of legislation were discussed, including, inter alia, detailing types of criminal activities so that a benchmark exists, and setting out dispute resolution mechanisms. Tools to assist in implementation were also suggested, including using UNEP’s guidelines on access to justice, compiling compendia of national texts, and creating databases of relevant case histories.
A drafting group met into the evening to formulate conclusions and recommendations for consideration in plenary on Friday.
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