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.
Upcoming events
UN Climate Change Conference Baku - November 2024
Key expected outcomes of COP 29 include a new collective quantified goal on climate finance to replace the current USD 100 billion per year goal and guidance on operationalization of the new loss and damage fund (including eligibility criteria).
Events and Articles
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UN World Data Forum 2023
At the third in-person UN World Data Forum in Hangzhou, China, delegates will seek solutions to challenges identified by the global data and statistics community, including developing more inclusive data as well as maximizing the use and value of data for better decision making.
The Environmental Negotiation Leaps of 2022
Never in the history of humanity has the world faced so many environmental threats. Climate change is now called a climate emergency. We are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. Our oceans are being choked with plastic, and we continue to produce toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans and wildlife. For millions of people, access to fresh water and sanitation is a growing challenge. The basic human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights are at risk. As Article 3 of the Declaration states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Sadly, too many lives are being lost because of our profligate abuse of the natural environment.
United Nations Biodiversity Conference - OEWG 5/CBD COP 15/CP-MOP 10/NP-MOP 4
At the conclusion of an often fractious two-week meeting and after four years of negotiation, parties adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, a historic package of measures that addresses the dangerous loss of biodiversity and the need to restore natural ecosystems and will guide biodiversity policy through 2030.
19th Meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties (CITES CoP19)
Delegates adopted 46 proposals to increase or decrease controls on international trade in wildlife and wildlife products, bringing many species of sharks, lizards, turtles, fish, birds, frogs, and plants under the Convention’s control to ensure the sustainability of these species in the wild while allowing their international trade.
Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference - November 2022
For the first time, countries agreed to recognize the need for finance to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, and quickly established a fund and the necessary funding arrangements, with the details to be worked out over the coming year.
14th Session of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP14) of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention)
Delegates adopted 21 resolutions, including several intended to increase the scope and diversity of engagement in the work of the Wetlands Convention. These included promoting the role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in wetland management, connecting with youth, and expanding synergies and cooperation with other multilateral environmental agreements.
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.
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).
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.
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.