EU & MS Statements for the first informal substantive consultation on UNGA resolution 73/333
Opening Statement
Dear Co-Facilitators,
Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I have the honour to deliver this opening statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. Ukraine aligns itself with the Statement.
The European Union and its Member States would like to thank the co-facilitators for preparing their outline document and the UNEP secretariat for organising this present substantive consultation on the follow-up to General Assembly Resolution 73/333.
We welcome that we will now focus on the substance of the political declaration to be prepared. While the Covid-19 crisis affecting the world has brought to the spotlight a multitude of social and economic issues, the environmental challenges the world is facing remain at least as pressing as they have been before: Collective action is required to address environmental challenges that are of global concern. The European Union and its Member States stress the potential role of this process in raising the profile of environmental issues on the global, regional, and domestic levels in order to increase political will and ambition to protect the environment.
We envisage as outcome of this process a political declaration that is ambitious and really fulfils the mandate of strengthening the implementation of international environmental law and international environmental governance as set forth by General Assembly Resolution 73/333. To reach this aim, we believe that the political declaration should address all of the recommendations and provide concrete and action-oriented responses to fulfil them. We would not see merit in repeating or reformulating the already agreed recommendations. Responses to fulfil the recommendations, which are formulated in an actionable way and provide for a follow-up mechanism are most likely to add real value for the environment.
The European Union and its Member States want to stress the need for the political declaration to further the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs. We would like to see the declaration highlight the importance of the environmental dimension of the SDGs and the need for enhancing synergies among the environmental, economic and social dimensions. We think this process can constitute a positive contribution to the international environmental governance by strengthening UNEP and UNEA. Further, we hope it will encourage coordination and cooperation between multilateral environmental agreements and with UNEP and UNEA, in turn, while maintaining the independence of the multilateral environmental agreements.
We also hope the process will result in strengthening the implementation of international environmental law. It should foster mainstreaming of environmental policy into all relevant sector policies and programmes and support and strengthen national administrations in their efforts to implement international environmental law. We are keen to discuss the extent to which principles of international environmental law can help in the implementation of environmental law. We would also like to look into ways to strengthen the financial base of UNEP and the MEAs, like looking at new approaches to resource mobilisation and at innovative finance mechanisms.
We are hoping for a fruitful meeting that will provide a solid basis for the co-facilitators to work on substantive building blocks for the future declaration. We would like to draw your attention to the written input of the EU and its Member States in response to the questionnaire provided by the co-facilitators.
In terms of the process, the European Union and its Member States would like to reiterate the offer by the government of Sweden to host a UN high level meeting in Stockholm in 2022. This meeting, which is to commemorate the 1972 Stockholm Conference, could provide an opportunity to adopt the political declaration.
Agenda Topic 4. Statement on cluster "Governance" (Recommendations 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18)
Dear Co-Facilitators,
Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States regarding the cluster international environmental governance and on the responses to recommendations 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 18.
The EU and its MS would like to secure UNEP’s and UNEA’s central role in overseeing the environmental dimension of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda through this and other ongoing processes. [Recommendation 6]
Within the UN System, it is key to strengthen the role of UNEP in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. The EU and its MS support UNEP's engagement with the Resident Coordinators while avoiding increased need for regional and national presence. [Recommendation 6]
UNEP should intensify its dialogue with other UN entities, bringing its environmental expertise into ongoing negotiations of specific sectors and thereby contributing to more coherent international policy-making. [Recommendation 6]
Furthermore, UNEP should build on its mandate as chair of the Environment Management Group and strengthen its efforts to engage the specialized agencies to collaborate more actively in the EMG. [Recommendation 18]
Through enhanced coordination and collaboration with MEAs, UNEA could be the central platform for crosscutting issues of specific global environmental work streams. The impact of decision-making by UNEA could be fostered by ensuring proper follow-up actions to decisions and resolutions of UNEA. [Recommendation 6]
The EU and its MS stress the importance of achieving policy coherence, creating synergies and fostering cooperation across MEAs and their scientific and subsidiary bodies. This could increase efficiency both at international and at the national level and create valuable co-benefits. The SDGs are an important harmonizing framework in this regard. [Recommendations 9, 10]
The "synergies process” established by the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) is a good example to advance policy coherence, reduce administrative burdens and improve implementation of the MEAs. (recommendation 10).
Streamlining reporting and monitoring processes should be further encouraged and best practices of institutional set-up can help facilitate it. [Recommendation 12]
Furthermore, keeping in mind the independence of the MEAs, the EU and its MS see a lot of potential for improving international environmental governance through enhanced coordination between UNEP, UNEA and MEAs taking into account ongoing processes like the CPR-based review. [Recommendation 11]
Agenda Topic 4. Statement on cluster "Means of Implementation" (Recommendations 7, 13, 15, 16)
Co-Facilitators,
Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States on the recommendations relating to the strengthening of implementation of international environmental law including its means of implementation and on the responses to recommendations 7, 13, 15 and 16.
The aim to strengthen the implementation of international environmental law was one of the drivers leading to the adoption of UNGA resolution 73/333 and is of utmost importance for achieving our environmental targets.
The EU and its MS would like to stress the importance of mainstreaming environmental considerations at all levels in order to strengthen the implementation of international environmental law. All MS should be encouraged to mainstream the environment into relevant sectoral policies, programmes and development action plans and to prioritize the environment appropriately in their national policies. [Recommendations 7, 15]
A wide involvement of stakeholders, including the national scientific community, the judiciary and the private sector contributes to the implementation of environmental commitments. They should be better and more adequately involved at all levels which requires availability of information e.g. on implementation. [Recommendations 7, 16]
Strengthening national administrations and environmental policy departments is crucial for the successful implementation of international environmental law. UNEP should continue and enhance its support to countries in capacity building, institutional strengthening and information sharing through the Montevideo Programme as well as through regional and sub-regional offices. With regard to MEAs, implementation and compliance committees can play an important role in assisting Parties in the implementation of their commitments. [Recommendations 7, 13]
Financial resources are essential for the implementation of international environmental law. However, actions to strengthen implementation at national level do not always require additional financial support, but can often be advanced by greater coordination between different funding sources and their more efficient and effective use. [Recommendation 7]
Financial and other resources can and should come from a wide variety of sources, instruments and channels. MS should be encouraged to mobilize private finances and innovative finance mechanisms and to use the potential of domestic resources and development funding more efficiently. To achieve this, environmental considerations need to be taken into account in relevant sectoral policies and programmes at all levels. Further domestic resources through sustainable fiscal reforms could be explored. [Recommendation 7]
UNEP needs adequate resources for its tasks. Therefore, all MS should contribute with a fair share, to ensure stable and sufficient funding through the Environment Fund. [Recommendation 7]
The EU and its MS will continue their support to strengthen the implementation of international environmental law. With the European Green Deal currently in development, the EU intends to scale up its efforts, both internally and with partners across the world, in order to reconcile the economy with our planet and to achieve a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and a global transition to a climate neutral and resource efficient economy.
Agenda Topic 4. Statement on cluster "Environmental Rule of Law" (Recommendations 8, 14 and 17)
Dear Co-Facilitators,
Distinguished delegates and colleagues,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States regarding the cluster environmental rule of law and on the responses to recommendations 8, 14 and 17.
In this cluster, we would like to focus on ways to ameliorate the effective implementation of international environmental law.
Relevant measures could be approaches to strengthen environment departments of government, enhancing coordination with relevant other government departments, as well as involving stakeholders, such as the national scientific community, the judiciary and the private sector in the context of implementation.
Existing and agreed principles of international environmental law are an important building block for environmental governance and they contribute to the overall objective of environmental protection. A common understanding as to how principles could be interpreted within a specific context may be beneficial.
The European Union and its Member States aim to identify approaches to increase the knowledge about principles, their application in the respective contexts and their role in implementing environmental law at the national level. In our written input, we have made a number of specific recommendations as to how States and members of Specialized Agencies could make more intensive use of principles of international environmental law. [Recommendation 8]
We would like to stress that it is not our intention that the negotiations on the political declaration should lead to a legally binding pact on this issue.
We would like to recall that one significant aspect is the full recognition and incorporation of environmental principles into the national legal systems.
The European Union and its Member States would also like to see a focus on the potential contribution of the Montevideo Programme to furthering the environmental rule of law. In our written submission, we have identified several instances in which the Montevideo Programme could help in that regard: Strengthening institutional capacity-building, facilitating education and training in the field of environmental law and offering technical assistance can be considered as some of the successes of the Montevideo Programme and we would like to see these activities strengthened and built upon. [Recommendations 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 and 17]
The Montevideo Programme could also host discussions on principles of international environmental law, their interpretation and implementation. We see merit in a specific focus on training for legal professionals such as judges, prosecutors and other enforcement officials as well as national stakeholders. This could translate into approaches furthering the ambitious development and implementation of environmental law, adding to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and into strengthening country-level capacity. [Recommendation 17]