Note No. 5720

                                                            14 March 2002

Note to Correspondents

WORKSHOP ON WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE AT HEADQUARTERS, 26 - 27 MARCH

The United Nations University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law and Policy Studies of the University of Kitakyushu, Japan, will host a workshop sponsored by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership on “The Multilateral Environmental Governance Regime, Structural Integration, and the Possibility of a World Environment Organization.”  The workshop is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 March and Wednesday, 27 March 2002.

On 26 March the meeting will convene at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium at the United Nations Headquarters.  On 27 March it will meet at the Church Center, twelfth floor conference room, 777 United Nations Plaza.

Some of the key questions to be addressed in the workshop include:  What are the strengths of the current system of environmental governance and how can they be enhanced?  What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a more centralized system of international environmental governance?  What role can international judicial mechanisms play in protecting the global environment?  How can international environmental governance be made more efficient and the burdens on developing countries be reduced?  What measures could be taken to address some of the core financing issues?  What practical steps can be taken to help industry and civil society actors play a more positive role in managing the global environment? How do the institutions of international environmental governance fit within the larger global system and within the sustainable development agenda?

Speakers for this workshop will include A.H. Zakri, Director, United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS); W. Bradnee Chambers, Senior Programme Coordinator, UNU/IAS; Peter Haas; Mikoto Usui; Jacob Werksman; Dana Fisher; Satoko Mori; Richard Tarasofsky; Jacob Pauwellyn; Steve Charnovitz; Jonathon Strand; Norichika Kanie; Toru Iwama; Yozo Yokota; Laura Campbell; Shona Dodds; Marc Levy; and Joost Pauwellyn.

For further information please contact the United Nations University Office in New York, tel:  212-963-6387; fax:  212-371-9454; Web site:  www.unu.edu/ona. 

Interested delegations, Secretariat staff, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of the media are invited to attend.  As seating is limited, kindly register online at www.unu.edu/ona.

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