UNEP has in the past three decades been in the forefront of (i) assisting governments in the developing countries and those with economies in transition in building technically skilled personnel to negotiate and adopt MEAs and (ii) coordinating technical and financial assistance to assist these countries in the formulation of national environmental laws and regulations.
Through UNEP’s Global Training Programmes in environmental law and policy that began in 1993, the organisation has helped to develop capacity both at international and national levels. According to Dr. Klaus Töpfer, former Executive Director of UNEP, “The objectives of the training programme are: to inform participants about legal and institutional developments in the field of environmental law both at the international and national levels; to promote a greater interest and commitment to using environmental law as an instrument for translating sustainable development policies into action; and to enable participants to take initiatives on a more informed basis in their respective home countries in the development and implementation of environmental law.” The faculty for these Global Training Programmes have included resource persons from UNEP, the MEA Secretariats (who present their respective MEAs), and other recognised experts.
Efforts to build capacity in environmental law and institutions are among the most important activities that can be jointly undertaken by developed and developing countries. Officials from developing countries need to be particularly active, not just in taking advantage of existing programmes, but in ensuring that capacity-building initiatives are tailored to meet their needs. Capacity building and strengthening exercises work best when they are the result of true partnerships between the developed and developing world.
Many MEAs provide financial means for assisting countries, particularly developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to implement their commitments under the MEA. For example:
- Articles 20 and 21 of the Convention on Biological Diversity provide for Financial Resources and a Financial Mechanism to enable developing country Parties to meetthe agreed full incremental costs to them associated with implementing measures to fulfill the CBD’s obligations and to benefit from its provisions.
- Article 10 of the Montreal Protocol established a Multilateral Fund that is financed by non-developing country Parties and voluntary and in-kind contributions to assist developing country Parties.