Environmental Governance Programme

UNITAR’s Environmental Governance Programme (EG) develops methodologies, facilitates research, and provides project support to strengthen capacities for effective engagement of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders in environmental policy-making and implementation. Programme activities are linked to the implementation of international environmental agreements, including Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Environmental Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). Methodologies developed through the Programme recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach to environmental governance is not suitable and thus seek to ensure that national and local needs, circumstances and contexts are fully taken into account.

 

The backbone of the Programme comprises a series of pilot projects in the UNECE region, Latin America and Africa which provide support to countries in assessing and strengthening their capacities to implement the Aarhus Convention and Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, through collaboration of government with non-governmental stakeholders. Responding to requests that have emerged through the projects, the Programme has commenced developing more specialized guidance and training materials. These include, for example, a tool kit to strengthen capacities of civil servants to develop effective stakeholder engagement plans; an e-learning course on public participation in environmental decision-making; and a methodology to assist countries in preparing a climate change governance self-assessment. At the international level, the projects contribute to the global efforts of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop global guidelines concerning the implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.

 

Complementary to national level activities, the Programme facilitates international knowledge exchange among governance practioners and scholars concerning the interface of environmental governance, public participation and environmental sustainability. Following the organization of a successful UNITAR/Yale Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy in May 2008, UNITAR and Yale are exploring organizing the Conference biennially, with the next Conference foreseen to take place in 2010. In addition, official side events featuring programme activities and results were organized at the 16^th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the 12^th Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in 2008.