Governance

The current system of global environmental governance reflects the challenge of assembling cooperation among the international community, even on environmental matters that all agree require common action. There are three elements to global environmental governance. One element is comprised of intergovernmental organizations within the United Nations system, led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which are responsible for developing and coordinating environmental and sustainable development policy at the international level. A second element is the framework of international environmental law, which takes the form of a large number of environmental treaties. These treaties, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, are legally binding agreements that call on countries to take joint action on environmental problems. A third element is the financing mechanism to build capacity to carry out treaty commitments, to supplement national efforts toward sustainable development in poorer countries, and to support the UN agencies and treaty secretariats that coordinate and carry out environmental efforts. These include the bilateral development assistance, the World Bank, other regional development banks, UN funds like the UN, the Global Environment Facility, philanthropies, and the private sector.

Events and Articles

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34th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MOP34)

Despite phasing out 98% of ozone depleting substances worldwide relative to a 1990 baseline and making major inroads in avoiding catastrophic climate change, parties grappled with recent scientific findings, whether and how to build on the Protocol’s success to tackle other environmental issues, and delivering on the Kigali commitments.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 31 October 2022 - 4 November 2022

2022 SDG Moment

The UN Secretary-General said this year’s SDG Moment arrived at a moment of “great peril” for our world and encouraged leaders to avoid the temptation of leaving development priorities for a sunnier day. The 90-minute event highlighted a few SDGs as particularly critical to achieving the world's ambitions for a better future, such as climate action (SDG 13) and equality (SDGs 5 and 10).
Event 19 September 2022

5th Local and Regional Governments Forum on the 2030 Agenda

Meeting at the intersection of interconnected crises—the COVID-19 pandemic; climate change; wars, including in Ukraine—many delegates raised the resulting challenges faced by local and regional governments while also pointing to innovative solutions they carry, including how to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.
Event 7 July 2022 - 12 July 2022

High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2022)

“Our world is in deep trouble—and so too are the Sustainable Development Goals,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, setting the tone for this year’s review of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a time of significant international crisis, uncertainty, and upheaval.
Event 5 July 2022 - 15 July 2022

2022 CCICED Annual General Meeting

Convening on the 30th anniversary of this unique institution, many point to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development's success informing China’s policies on environment and development. Rich exchanges on issues ranging from nature-based solutions to greening the supply chain launch Phase VII of CCICED's work.
Event 13 June 2022 - 16 June 2022

Face-to-Face Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS COPs)

The Basel Convention flexed its institutional muscle, while the Rotterdam Convention managed to add just two of the seven chemicals proposed to its prior informed consent procedure. The Stockholm Convention continued to list new chemicals, but it now faces the downstream consequences of that success: new chemicals bring added implementation challenges.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 6 June 2022 - 17 June 2022

Stockholm+50

Amid a global pandemic and a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, there was a renewed sense of urgency around “implementation, implementation, implementation” at the Stockholm+50 conference, predicated on fairness and inclusion.
Event 2 June 2022 - 3 June 2022

15th Session of the Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD (COP 15)

Following two weeks of high-level discussions and negotiations, delegates adopted 38 decisions to improve drought resilience, reduce land degradation, invest in land restoration efforts, and improve synergies with the climate change and biodiversity conventions.
Conference of the Parties (COP) 9 May 2022 - 20 May 2022

UNEA's Role as a Governance Architect

Once called “the world’s parliament on the environment,” the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) has a unique role in global environmental governance. It is high-level and universal—the only forum for stakeholders from all countries to discuss the environmental challenges we face.
Article