GOVERNING COUNCIL OF UNEP SUSPENDS NINETEENTH SESSION

12 February 1997

Press Release
HE/948

GOVERNING COUNCIL OF UNEP SUSPENDS NINETEENTH SESSION

19970212 Ministers Call for Stronger, Revitalized UNEP; Work Programme, Budget for 1998-1999 Approved; Governance Issue to Be Decided

NAIROBI, 11 February (UNEP) -- The nineteenth session of the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was suspended late on Friday, 7 February.

The two-week meeting, which was attended by ministers and high-level government representatives from over 100 countries, produced a strong ministerial statement on the future role and mandate of UNEP. In addition, UNEP's programme of work for 1998-1999 and a budget of $75 million were approved. The green light was given for work to begin on predictable funding of the organization, and a pledging session on 6 February delivered $34 million. The secretariat received much praise with regard to its work on environmental law, chemicals, land-based sources of marine pollution and its new state of the environment report -- the "Global Environment Outlook" (GEO-1). However, governments were not able to agree on the question of the governance of UNEP.

"This Governing Council has been a great success on most fronts", said Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of UNEP. "We have made considerable progress on substantive issues like the chemical agenda. Governments have clearly voiced their desire for a strong, independent, adequately funded global environmental organization."

She added that "UNEP must be equipped and empowered to assume the role as the authoritative voice for the environment. For this to happen, the debate on governance must be resolved -- and resolved quickly. Until it is, financial contributions from some governments may be withheld and UNEP's work for the environment will suffer. Friday night was a sad night for the environment", she said.

Two central policy issues dominated the Governing Council's discussions: the governing structures of UNEP; and the nature and substance of UNEP's participation at the June special session of the General Assembly to review and appraise the implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Rio de Janeiro, 1992).

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With the June meeting in mind, the Governing Council adopted the "Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of UNEP". The document will be sent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan for consideration in the ongoing reform process of the United Nations system. It will also be presented to the high-level segment of the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, to be held in April, and to the Assembly's special session in June.

The Nairobi Declaration states that UNEP is the principal United Nations body in the field of the environment and its leading global environmental authority, serving as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. It notes core elements of a focused mandate, as follows: analysis and assessment; policy advice; promotion of cooperation; international environmental law; and the promotion of greater awareness. Adequate, stable and predictable financial resources are recognized as essential to a revitalized UNEP.

There was much progress on substantive issues during the session. One important decision related to the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA), where priority was given to the implementation of the GPA in UNEP's programme of work, and a request was made for its expansion to all regional seas programmes.

On chemicals, among other recommendations, the Council concluded that international action, including a global legally-binding instrument, was required to reduce the risks to human health and the environment arising from the release of specified persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It requested that an intergovernmental negotiating committee start work by early 1998 on the matter. With regard to the development of an international legally- binding instrument for the application of the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade, the Council requested UNEP, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), to hold a conference where an international legally-binding instrument can be signed still in 1997.

Other decisions dealt with the state of the environment (including the presentation of GEO-1), coordination and cooperation within and outside the United Nations, financial and administrative issues, other programme matters and emerging policy issues, such as the environment and trade agenda.

A special session of Governing Council is scheduled to be held from 12 to 14 November, to review the results and decisions of the Assembly's special session. The twentieth session of the Governing Council will be held from 17 to 28 May 1999.

For more information, contact Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer, New York, tel. (212) 963-8094, fax: (212) 963-7341, e-mail: sniffenj@un.org

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