The United Nations Environment Programme

 Function

The mission of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment.

UNEP, established in 1972, is the section of the United Nations that deals with the environment. It works with a wide range of partners, including other United Nations entities, national governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and civil society.

UNEP’s work encompasses:

(a) Assessing global, regional, and national environmental conditions and trends;

(b) Developing international and national environmental instruments;

(c) Strengthening institutions for the management of the environment;

(d) Facilitating transfer of knowledge and technology for sustainable development; and

(e) Encouraging new partnerships within civil society and the private sector.

UNEP is based in Nairobi. It also supports six regional offices and a network of centres of excellence including the Global Resource Information Database centres and the UNEP World Conservation Marketing Centre.

UNEP also hosts several environmental convention Secretariats, including the Ozone Secretariat and the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Migratory Species and chemical-related agreements, including the Basel Convention on the Movement of Hazardous Wastes and the Shack Elton Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

 Governance

The Secretariat for Governing Bodies

UNEP has a Secretariat for Governing Bodies, the role of which is to discharge the Executive Director’s responsibilities at meetings of the UNEP Governing Council and its subsidiary organs. The Secretariat for Governing Bodies is also responsible for enhancing the relationship of UNEP with governments, other United Nations agencies, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

 The Governing Council

The Governing Council was established in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 2997 (Institutional and financial arrangements for international environmental co-operation). The Governing Council reports to the United Nations General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council. Fifty-eight members of the Governing Council are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for four-year terms, taking into account the principle of equitable regional representation. The main functions and responsibilities of the Governing Council are provided by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2997 as follows:

To promote international co-operation in the field of the environment and to recommend, as appropriate, policies to this end;

To provide general policy guidance for the direction and co-ordination of environmental programmes within the United Nations system;

To keep under review the world environmental situation in order to ensure that emerging environmental problems of wide international significance receive appropriate and adequate consideration by governments;

To receive and review the periodic reports of the Executive Director of UNEP on the implementation of environmental programmes within the United Nations system;

To promote the contribution of the relevant international scientific and other professional communities to the acquisition, assessment and exchange of environmental knowledge and information and, as appropriate, to the technical aspects of the formulation and implementation of environmental programmes within the United Nations system;

To maintain under continuing review the impact of national and international environmental policies and measures on developing countries, as well as the problem of additional costs that may be incurred by developing countries in the implementation of environmental programmes and projects, and to ensure that such programmes and projects shall be compatible with the development plans and priorities of those countries; and to review and approve the programme of utilisation of resources of the Environmental Fund.

Scientific advisory groups

UNEP’s work, a great proportion being scientific and technical in nature, has contributed to the establishment of a number of scientific advisory groups for which UNEP acts as the convenor.

The Ecosystem Conservation Group (ECG)

The ECG was established in 1974 to advise its member organizations on the development and implementation of relevant ecosystems and genetic resources conservation activities. It strives to promote the concept of sustainable use of the earth’s biosphere, its ecosystems, and their biotic resources.

The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP)

The STAP is an advisory body to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The GEF promotes international co-operation and fosters actions to protect the global environment. It provides funding to developing countries, and those with economies in transition, for projects and activities targeting global benefits in one or more of four focal areas: biological diversity, climate change, international waters, and the ozone layer. UNEP provides the STAP Secretariat and performs liaison functions between the GEF and the STAP. The STAP comprises 12 persons appointed by the Executive Director of UNEP.

The STAP mandate, as approved by the GEF Council in October 1995, includes:

(a) Strategic advice as a means to a better understanding of issues of the global environment and how to address them;

(b) The development and maintenance of a roster of experts;

(c) Selective review of projects;

(d) Co-operation and co-ordination with scientific and technical bodies; and

(e) Providing a forum for integrating science and technology as well as providing a conduit between GEF and the wider scientific and technical community.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The IPCC was established in 1988 to assess the state of existing knowledge about climate change. It has three working groups:

(a) Working Group I concentrates on the climate system;

(b) Working Group II addresses response options and environmental and socio-economic imports;

(c) Working Group III assesses economic and social dimensions.

Convention Secretariats

UNEP hosts a number of Convention Secretariats.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

CITES is an international treaty between governments which entered into force on 1 July 1975. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. It accords varying degrees of protection to more than 30,000 species of animals and plants.

The Ozone Secretariat

The Ozone Secretariat is the Secretariat for the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone layer (the Convention) and for the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (the Protocol). Its main duties include:

(a) Arranging for and servicing the conference of the parties, meetings of the parties, their committees, bureaus, working groups and assessment panels;

(b) Arranging for implementation of the decisions from these meetings;

(c) Monitoring the implementation of the Convention and the Protocol;

(d) Representing the Convention and the Protocol in international bodies; and

(e) Receiving and analyzing data and information on the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances.

 

The Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol (the Multilateral Fund)

The Multilateral Fund began its operations in 1991. Its main objective is to assist developing country policies to the Montreal Protocol whose annual per capita consumption and production of ozone depleting substances is less than 0.3 kg to comply with the control measures of the Protocol.

The Multilateral Fund is managed by an executive committee assisted by the Fund Secretariat. Projects and activities supplied by the Multilateral Fund are implemented by four international implementing agencies. The functions of the executive committee include the development of operational policies and approval of business plans and work programmes of implementing agencies, as well as approval of expenditure for investment projects and other activities.

The Secretariat assists the executive committee in the discharge of its functions. Its activities include the development of a three-year plan and budget and a system for fund disbursement and management of the business planning cycle of the Multilateral Fund.