The first part of the First Global Meeting of National Focal Points under the Fifth Montevideo Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo Programme V) will convene virtually after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will elect officers and designate the steering committee for Programme V implementation to serve until the end of the Second Global Meeting of National Focal Points. The session will also:

• consider a Secretariat report outlining the status of Programme V implementation, activities and funding;
• provide initial guidance on a limited number of focused and feasible initial priority areas for the implementation of Programme V, to be reviewed at the in-person meeting;
• provide input on arrangements for partnerships and stakeholder engagement for implementation;
• consider the Secretariat’s presentation on draft modalities of work for the steering committee for implementation; and
• consider the secretariat’s note outlining the status of nominations of national focal points.

Montevideo Programme V is an intergovernmental programme designed to guide the identification and implementation of priority actions in the field of environmental law to be undertaken by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for the decade beginning in 2020. UNEP serves as the Secretariat for the Programme.

The First Global Meeting of National Focal Points, originally scheduled for March 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has since been split into two parts: the virtual session, which will convene from 2-4 June 2021 and an in-person segment in 2022 at a location and date to be determined.

IISD, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, will provide daily digital updates and a summary report following the closure of the virtual portion of the First Global Meeting of National Focal Points for Montevideo Programme V. Our summary report will be available on Sunday, 6 June 2021.

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