Location
Room 108
Start Date
2-7-2012 11:20 AM
End Date
2-7-2012 12:40 PM
Description
In June 2012 world leaders will gather again in Rio de Janeiro for the Earth Summit 2012 to secure renewed political commitment to the global agenda of sustainable development, of which environmental affairs are considered an integral part. One of the main topics under discussion at the Rio+20 summit is the possible creation of a World Environment Organisation or a World Sustainable Development Organisation. The last 20 years scholars and states alike have made a wide range of proposals (internalisation-based environmental organisation, an umbrella organisation for sustainable development, a new specialised agency for the environment, or an upgraded UNEP, ...), and some have even suggested that no changes to the present system are needed. Proposals intend to create the WEO as a UN Specialised Agency rather than a Programme, or to provide the structure with universal membership, or to change the funding base upon which UNEP works. Virtually all proposals for institutional change assert that the role and authority of UNEP must be strengthened, its financial basis expanded and made more predictable, and the coordination across the UN system for environmental affairs enhanced. These changes would ensure that environmental policy and law-making at UN level would be more effective, faster, more coherent and more ambitious.
It is hardly surprising to find that political progress towards a unified vision is lacking. Also in Rio later this year this will turn out to be one of the most divisive political issues, mainly because the proposals are very divergent in terms of level of ambition of reform, the mandate that is set for the new organisation, the level of authority bestowed upon it, or the format it would be given.
The main research question in the paper will be: ‘What do we want our environmental institutions to do?’ The paper starts from the premise that a WEO will be created, and assesses the legal challenges for such an institutional reform. Firstly, a more detailed definition of the WEO will be proposed. This definition is based upon a cross section of a selection of proposals for a WEO, and identifies a number of core elements any new organisation for the environment must incorporate if it hopes to rally widespread support. Secondly, an analysis will be made of the challenges the creation of this WEO will likely encounter, together with an assessment of the added value of a WEO to the existing framework at the UN level. Finally, the political realities of the process leading to the Rio+20 summit and its likely outcomes will be discussed.
Presentation
Included in
Legal Challenges in the Creation of a World Environmental Organization
Room 108
In June 2012 world leaders will gather again in Rio de Janeiro for the Earth Summit 2012 to secure renewed political commitment to the global agenda of sustainable development, of which environmental affairs are considered an integral part. One of the main topics under discussion at the Rio+20 summit is the possible creation of a World Environment Organisation or a World Sustainable Development Organisation. The last 20 years scholars and states alike have made a wide range of proposals (internalisation-based environmental organisation, an umbrella organisation for sustainable development, a new specialised agency for the environment, or an upgraded UNEP, ...), and some have even suggested that no changes to the present system are needed. Proposals intend to create the WEO as a UN Specialised Agency rather than a Programme, or to provide the structure with universal membership, or to change the funding base upon which UNEP works. Virtually all proposals for institutional change assert that the role and authority of UNEP must be strengthened, its financial basis expanded and made more predictable, and the coordination across the UN system for environmental affairs enhanced. These changes would ensure that environmental policy and law-making at UN level would be more effective, faster, more coherent and more ambitious.
It is hardly surprising to find that political progress towards a unified vision is lacking. Also in Rio later this year this will turn out to be one of the most divisive political issues, mainly because the proposals are very divergent in terms of level of ambition of reform, the mandate that is set for the new organisation, the level of authority bestowed upon it, or the format it would be given.
The main research question in the paper will be: ‘What do we want our environmental institutions to do?’ The paper starts from the premise that a WEO will be created, and assesses the legal challenges for such an institutional reform. Firstly, a more detailed definition of the WEO will be proposed. This definition is based upon a cross section of a selection of proposals for a WEO, and identifies a number of core elements any new organisation for the environment must incorporate if it hopes to rally widespread support. Secondly, an analysis will be made of the challenges the creation of this WEO will likely encounter, together with an assessment of the added value of a WEO to the existing framework at the UN level. Finally, the political realities of the process leading to the Rio+20 summit and its likely outcomes will be discussed.