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The meeting of the senior government officials expert in environmental law on the midterm review of Montevideo Programme IV resumed on Tuesday, 8 September in Montevideo, Uruguay. Discussions on the midterm review of the implementation and effectiveness of the Montevideo Programme IV resumed in the morning, and continued throughout the day.
In the morning, issues under the third part of Montevideo Programme IV-challenges for environmental law-were addressed. Topics highlighted during the discussion included how to address the challenges of poverty, climate change, and biodiversity conservation. Further topics cited included: how to address payments for ecosystem services; establishing regulatory measures, sanctions and taxes to bolster legislation; and, ensuring public participation when developing environmental laws.
In the afternoon, discussions turned to the fourth part of Montevideo Programme IV—relationships with other fields. The debate addressed the relationship of environmental law with trade, military activities, security, and human rights. Issues touched upon included intellectual property laws, access and benefit-sharing, transparency, and trade and the environment being mutually beneficial.
Chair Cousillas summarized discussions, posing questions to the plenary for their further consideration, including: what legal and jurisdictional conflicts may arise as a result of the relationship between the environment and human rights; why is it difficult to raise awareness on environmental laws and principles within judiciaries; should the scope of liabilities with respect to environmental crimes be expanded to ensure inclusion of, inter alia, civil, administrative and criminal liabilities; are penalties and sanctions the only way to ensure compliance; and, are the instruments needed to address climate change available in current environmental laws or should there be separate climate change laws?
Following the closure of the day’s discussions, delegates attended a side event hosted by the Government of Uruguay on the prospects and challenges of environmental law.
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