The UN General Assembly consultations on International Environmental Governance (IEG) resumed on 26 October 2007, at UN headquarters in New York, US, to hear member States giving a second round of responses to Co-chairs Maurer and Heller’s Options Paper.

The EU said that a step-by-step approach and a broader transformation of the IEG system, including the establishment of a UN Environment Organization (UNEO), are two complementary approaches to strengthening IEG. The EU also distributed a report containing a detailed reaction to the Options Paper. Favoring an integrated and holistic approach, the G77/China advocated not separating discussions on the Building Blocks from the boarder transformation of the IEG system. The Russian Federation expressed doubt that the process of reviewing the Building Blocks could be concluded by the end of 2007, as proposed in the Options Paper. Co-chair Maurer noted that the two main proposals made by member States in relation to the Options Paper, looking at the issues in an integrated and holistic manner, and addressing some issues where progress could be more easily achieved, are not necessarily contradictory. He said that no more meetings are scheduled in the near future. Finally, Maurer recalled that the Joint Inspection Unit will soon produce a management review of environmental activities in the UN system, noting that a briefing on this will be arranged once the report is released.
Links to further information
Center for UN Reform Education News release, 26 October 2007
The EU report on the Options Paper