Highlights for Monday, 18 March 2019
The second substantive session of the Ad hoc Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) established pursuant to UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 72/277 was opened on Monday morning by Co-Chairs Amal Mudallali, Lebanon, and Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Portugal, who called for a results-oriented discussion on possible options to address possible gaps in international environmental law. Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, United Nations Environment (UNEP), welcomed delegations and invited them to observe a moment of silence for those lost in the Ethopian Airlines disaster and in the Christchurch mosque shooting in New Zealand. Msuya recalled the OEWG mandate and plans for just one more substantive meeting before the process reports to the UNGA. She called for meaningful and substantive deliberation and a consensus-based recommendation to the UNGA. After a general discussion, delegations broke into an informal session and began to respond to guiding questions posed by the Co-Chairs. The questions focused on options that can be considered to address gaps or challenges related to principles of IEL, and the objectives of such options, and respective methodologies; and issues related to governance, coordination and the risks of incoherence.Delegations discussed, inter alia:
The OEWG’s mandate from UNGA;
The preparedness of the OEWG to move on from a discussion of gaps to options;
The utility and possible design of a binding or non-binding legal instrument;
The nature of gaps in IEL and possible responses, including methodologies;
Existing, emerging and new principles for consideration with regard to IEL;
Approaches to strengthened coordination of and synergies among multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the role of institutions such as UNEP and the UN Environment Assembly; and
The importance of an inclusive process that takes into account the principle of participation by indigenous peoples and local communities
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the 2nd Substantive Session of the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group Towards a Global Pact for the Environment. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page.
A moment of silence in memory of the people lost after the Ethiopian Airlines 302 crash and the terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Fernando Coimbra, Brazil, and Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UNEP
Fernando Coimbra, Brazil, with Co-Chair Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Portugal
Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UNEP
Dmitry Maksimychev, Russian Federation
Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt
Co-Chair Amal Mudallali, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon, and Jamil Ahmad, UNEP
Elizabeth Mrema, Director of the Law Division, UNEP
Djerang Saglar, Chad
Fernando Coimbra, Brazil
Vigen Ananyan, Armenia
From L-R: André Costa Lapeira, Portugal; Peter Pitrez, Portugal; Michał Łyszczarz, Poland; and Marek Rohr-Garztecki, Poland
Stadler Trengove, UN Legal Officer, with Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UNEP
Camila Zepeda Lizama, Mexico
Co-Chair Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Portugal
Co-Chair Amal Mudallali, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon
Madina Ganou Diaby Kassamba, Burkina Faso
Aldo Claure Banegas, Bolivia
Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia
Delegates conferring during lunch break
Marcelo José Cousillas, Uruguay
Co-Chair Amal Mudallali, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon, and Alexis Lamek, France
Alejandro Montero, Chile
Raoul Renard, International Chamber of Commerce
Meles Alem, Ethiopia
Around the Venue
