UN ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE REFORM PLAN: AMBITIOUS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000483 SIPDIS SIPDIS NAIROBI FOR USREP UNEP STATE FOR IO/EDA, OES/ENV E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV UNGA SUBJECT: UN ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE REFORM PLAN: AMBITIOUS INCREMENTALISM REF: SNOWDEN-TUMINARO E-MAIL 6/14/07 ¶1. This is an action request - please see para 8. -------------- Summary -------------- ¶2. The two co-chairs of a UN environmental governance reform process released an Options Paper June 14 offering their summary of states' views on micro- and macro-reform, and recommending further action. The co-chairs urge the General Assembly in its 62nd session this fall to approve a number of reforms that can be achieved within existing mandates and without structural reform, and to begin negotiations in the 63rd GA on those reforms that would alter existing architecture. The co-chairs term their approach "ambitious incrementalism." Responses to the Options Paper are requested in July ahead of a plenary meeting slated for September. End summary. -------------- Options and Action Plan -------------- ¶3. Flowing from the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document's call for exploring the possibility of improving international environmental governance, the General Assembly President in January 2006 appointed two Co-Chairs to lead an Informal Consultative Process on the Institutional Framework for the UN's Environmental Activities. The current co-chairs, Swiss PermRep Peter Maurer and Mexican PR Claude Heller, distributed on June 14 the "Co-Chairs' Options Paper" that summarizes the views of member states and plots out an aggressive agenda for taking action on the reform proposals. (Note: USUN forwarded the Options Paper to IO by e-mail.) ¶4. The Options Paper contains two preamble sections providing a scenesetter introduction and description of the current system of international environmental governance (IEG). The bulk of the Options Paper is Section III, which lists suggestions for improving the current system within existing mandates and without a complete overhaul of the IEG architecture. These suggestions are divided among seven "building blocks" or thematic clusters (e.g., scientific assessment, coordination, capacity-building, partnerships, financing). The co-chairs' recommendation at the end of Section III is that the 62nd General Assembly convening this fall take action to institute or give political backing to agreed elements among the seven building blocks. ¶5. Section IV of the Options Paper is devoted to farther-reaching proposals seeking radical restructuring of the IEG architecture and mandates, and for which there remain divergent viewpoints. The co-chairs propose continuing informal consultations on this aspect of reform, but also urge the 62nd GA to agree on terms of reference for formal negotiations on these transformational reforms that should begin during the 63rd GA. ¶6. The co-chairs urged delegations to study the Options Paper carefully, and encouraged them to solicit reactions from both their national governments and their domestic NGO community. The co-chairs invited responses in July, and plan to hold a plenary meeting in September prior to the start of the 62nd GA. -------------- Merging UN Reform Tracks -------------- ¶7. Anticipating questions as to how this reform process will relate to that of the High-Level Panel on System-wide Coherence (HLP),the co-chairs stated that their process would complement the other, but remains a separate track from the HLP consultations being chaired by Barbados and Luxembourg. After the meeting, a Barbados rep informed select delegates informally that a brief meeting on the HLP's environment-related findings will likely be scheduled in July in New York (unfortunately, when many delegates are in Geneva for ECOSOC negotiations) at which it is hoped and expected that states will agree that the Swiss/Mexican-chaired process shall be the sole venue for environmental governance reform discussions. -------------- Action Request USUN NEW Y 00000483 002 OF 002 -------------- ¶8. Mission requests the Department's reaction to the Options Paper for use during the month of July. KHALILZAD