• Overview

Once a year, the Major Groups and Stakeholders Branch in conjunction with the Regional Offices convenes Regional Consultative Meetings with Major Groups and Stakeholders (RCM) in all six UNEP regions.

These consultations taking place in 2013 will be in preparation of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEA) to be held from 23-27 June 2014 in Nairobi, Kenya. The UNEA replaces the Governing Council, which was established as a 58-member body in 1972 to promote international environmental cooperation and coordinated environmental activities within the UN system. Forty years later, at the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the international community decided to strengthen and upgrade UNEP including through the establishment of universal membership in the Governing Council. As a follow up to this decision, the Governing Council held its first session with universal membership in February 2013, where countries agreed to rename the Governing Council as the “United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme”. Subsequently, the General Assembly adopted a resolution formally changing the designation to UNEA (67/251).

The Regional Consultative Meetings will also provide an opportunity for Major Groups and Stakeholders to prepare their inputs into the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF) which are to precede the UNEA. Furthermore, they serve as capacity building and networking exercises for Major Groups and Stakeholders in the regions, and constitute platforms for Regional Offices to engage with their civil society partners.

Presentations