22 June 2012: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EU’s Committee of the Regions (CoR). The MoU seeks to strengthen the role of local and regional authorities within the policy decision-making process, and emphasizes the importance of placing sustainable cities at the heart of the global strategy on sustainable development.

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), which convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012.

According to UNEP, the MoU defines five areas for cooperation: multilevel environmental governance; green economy and resource efficiency; climate change mitigation and adaptation; biodiversity and ecosystems management; and decentralized cooperation for development. [UNEP Press Release]