On 18 January 2007 at UN headquarters in New York, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) resumed informal consultations on environmental governance.

Among the delegations speaking, the EU stressed the importance of an effective institutional framework for the environment, advocating upgrading UNEP into a UN Environment Organization with a revised and strengthened mandate, and adequate resources, underlining that this would ensure stronger system-wide coherence in the area of the environment. Regarding partnerships, the EU said that the institutional framework for the UN’s environmental activities would benefit from engaging civil society, private business and the science community, and suggested that the Commission on Sustainable Development’s experience be used as a best practice. The G-77/China sought clarification on a number of issues, including the expected outcomes of the process, how it related to other reform processes including that on System-Wide Coherence, and the reason why the Co-Chairs have decided to focus on implementation at the country level rather than at the global level. The G-77/China also expressed concern about dealing with the issue of environment in isolation from the economic and social pillars of sustainable development. Two additional meetings are scheduled for 23 and 25 January 2007.
Links to further information
Statement by the EU
Statement by the G-77/China