Modalities for engaging Major Groups and Stakeholders in UN Environment Programme's work at policy and programmatic level build on Rule 70 of the Rules and Procedures of the United Nations Environment Assembly, and are reflected in UNEP's Stakeholder Engagement Handbook.
In response to the Rio+20 outcome document “The Future We Want” and its paragraph 88(h) and UNEP's Governing Council Decision 27/2 on institutional arrangements, paragraph 7: Mechanisms for Stakeholder Engagement in UN Environment Programme, a process was initiated in 2013 to enhance UN Environment Programme's existing Stakeholder Engagement Policy and to broaden its scope.
While the Member States were so far not able to agree on a new Stakeholder Engagement Policy Document, UN Environment Programmme has put in place various new approaches towards Stakeholder Engagement that respond to the intentions of “The Future We Want” and the related Governing Council decision, namely:
- While respecting the inter-governmental nature of the process, representatives of Major Groups and Stakeholder accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme may participate in all public meetings of the Committee of Permanent Representatives, including subcommittee meetings, briefings, etc. In such meetings, they have the opportunity to make oral statements, including via video connection.
- Representatives of Major Groups and Stakeholders accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme have the opportunity to provide written and oral input to all deliberations of the United Nations Environment Assembly and its subsidiary organs, including to working groups. These statements are distributed by the Secretariat to the Member States and are uploaded on the relevant websites for consideration by other stakeholders.
- Representatives of Major Groups and Stakeholders accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme have access to information relevant to the work of the Governing Bodies. This information is distributed to the Member States and at the same time to accredited organizations. Furthermore, they may request access to the Committee of Permanent Representatives website and portals.
- Organizations working in the environment and/or sustainable development and that meet the other accreditation criteria will be granted accreditation.
- The granting of consultative status to a non-governmental organization by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is considered as evidence of having an international scope of work but does not replace the need to apply for a separate UNEA accreditation as organizations have to work in the area of the environment/sustainable development.
- Working with international partners, including from the United Nations, is considered as sufficient international scope of work to meet the related accreditation criteria. NGOs do not necessarily have to prove that they have a physical presence (e.g. an office) in more than one country. In practice, this means that organizations with a mainly national scope of operations can be considered for accreditation.
- Organizations from a country that does not require formal registration in order to make an organization a legal entity within that country are not required to provide a certificate of formal registration in order to obtain accreditation. However, it is required to provide other forms of evidence that proves the existence of the organization.
In addition, the Executive Director put in place a new Access-to-Information Policy which is one of the most advanced within the United Nations System, giving access to most information held by the United Nations Environment Programme.
More information on the process of developing a new Stakeholder Engagement Policy, including related drafts, expert reports and assessments can be found here.
