19 November 2014: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Organization of American States (OAS) signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on fostering sustainable development and cooperate on implementation of environmental rule of law. The MoU was signed at the UN’s Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo, in Washington, DC, US. The agreement seeks to build on the cooperation begun by OAS and UNEP in the lead-up to the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) and the World Conference on Justice, Governance, and Law for Environmental Sustainability.

Areas of common interest identified between UNEP and OAS include: development of an Inter-American Judicial Capacity Building Program on Environmental Rule of Law and establishment of an Inter-American Congress on Environmental Rule of Law; strengthening parliamentary capacity and best practices on environmental rule of law; supporting implementation of the Inter-American Strategy for Public Participation in Sustainable Development Decision-Making; implementing multilateral environmental agreements; and exchanging information on sustainable consumption and production (SCP).

Hugo de Zela, OAS, said during the signing ceremony on 19 November 2014, “This agreement is fundamental to continuing the Organization’s work in member States with Judges, Parliamentarians and Civil Society Organizations which are strategic partners to advancing the environmental rule of law.” He expressed his hope that the agreement would contribute to overcoming the “greatest challenge of our century – implementation.”

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, remarked on the importance of partnership between the two actors. “By joining hands we are creating a platform and also a network for the judiciary which is becoming an ever more important part of trying to provide countries and societies with legal recourse on issues related to the environment,” he said.

The GSSD Expo convened on 17-21 November 2014. [OAS Press Release] [UNEP Press Release] [GSSD Expo Information]