The fourth programme on the Development and Period Review of Environmental law was adopted by the Governing Council decision 25/11 as a broad strategy enabling the international community and UN Environment to formulate activities in the field of environmental law for the decade beginning in 2010. Over the last eight years, the Montevideo Programme IV has been responding to the evolving needs of individual countries and the international community in the field of environmental law.
The assessment comes as a result of a resolution adopted in May 2016, during the UN Environment Assembly, inviting Member States to designate national focal points to collaborate with and guide UN Environment in strengthening the application of the programme, and to monitor and evaluate its implementation.
The first global meeting was held in September 2018, in Geneva, Switzerland, and brought together 59 governments and several other stakeholders from UN sister organizations and non-governmental organizations, as well as independent environmental law experts. Lessons drawn from the assessment will inform the development a new phase of the programme on environmental law for the period 2020 – 2030, which is expected to be results-based and driven by country needs and priorities that also align with international objectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals and other important international commitments including the UN Environment Assembly.
UN Environment, as the Secretariat and leading entity in the area of environmental law, will continue to assist governments in the development of international legal instruments in the field of the environment, to address gaps and weaknesses in existing international environmental law and to respond to new environmental challenges.
Know more about the Montevideo programme and Montevideo IV.
