In accordance with the recommendations of
the United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972,
the General Assembly, in resolution
2997 (XXVII) of 15 December 1972, established
UNEP, mandating its Governing Council, to
"promote international cooperation in
the field of the environment and to recommend,
as appropriate, policies to this end, and
to provide general policy guidance for the
direction and coordination of environmental
programmes within the UN system". The
Assembly further decided that the Executive
Director of UNEP would be entrusted with,
inter alia, the responsibility to “coordinate,
under the guidance of the Governing Council,
environmental programmes within the UN system,
to keep their implementation under review
and to assess their effectiveness, and to
advise, as appropriate and under the guidance
of the Governing Council, intergovernmental
bodies of the UN system on the formulation
and implementation of environmental programmes”.
In resolution 2997 (XXVII), the General
Assembly also established the Environment
Coordinating Board (ECB), initially under
the auspices and within the framework of the
Administrative
Committee on Coordination (ACC).
ECB was made up of the Executive Heads of
the UN agencies and was chaired by UNEP's
Executive Director. Its principal mandate
was to ensure cooperation and coordination
among all bodies concerned in the implementation
of environmental programmes and to report
annually to UNEP's Governing Council. ECB
was supplemented by the mechanism of environmental
focal points within each agency. In 1978,
when the ACC assumed the functions and responsibilities
of the ECB (General Assembly resolution 32/197
VII), each agency appointed a Designated Official
on Environmental Matters (DOEM), to work with
and advise UNEP's Executive Director.
United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED)
UNEP played a pivotal role in coordinating
the UN system's preparations for UNCED, held
in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The DOEM regularly
reviewed the collective environmental work
of UN bodies and agencies in preparation for
UNCED and were involved in discussions on
post-UNCED institutional arrangements. UNCED
in adopting Agenda
21 (in chapter 38, paragraph 21), reaffirmed
UNEP's coordinating role, stating that, "in
the follow-up to the Conference, there will
be a need for an enhanced role for UNEP and
its Governing Council. The Governing Council
should, within its mandate, continue to play
its role with regard to policy guidance and
coordination in the field of the environment,
taking into account the development perspective".
Agenda 21 further stipulated that UNEP should
concentrate, inter alia, on "promoting
international cooperation in the field of
environment and recommending, as appropriate,
policies to this end".
Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable
Development (IACSD)
In Agenda 21 (chapter 38,
paragraph 17) the ACC was called on to "consider
establishing a special task force, subcommittee
or sustainable development board, taking into
account the experience of DOEM". In response,
the ACC, at its 1992 Spring session, decided
to establish an ACC Task Force at the level
of Executive Heads of FAO, UNESCO, WHO, the
World Bank, WMO, UNDP and UNEP, with UNCED
as an ex officio member, to consider UNCED
follow-up issues. The ACC adopted the report
of the Task Force at its 1992 Autumn session
and decided to establish the Inter-Agency
Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD)
to identify major policy issues relating to
the follow-up of UNCED and advise ACC on ways
and means of addressing them so as to ensure
effective cooperation and coordination of
the UN system in the implementation of Agenda
21. IACSD, which reported directly to the
ACC, was open to all ACC members and, as observers,
related organizations such as the World Tourism
Organization, and the Global Environment Facility
(GEF).
To effectively implement the functions of
IACSD, a system of task managers was established
for thematic areas. UNEP served as task manager
for atmosphere, toxic chemicals, hazardous
wastes, desertification and drought, and biodiversity.
As such, UNEP took the lead in preparing reports
to the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) on these issues. UNEP
also contributed to reports for which other
UN partners and/or inter-agency bodies serve
as task managers, but where UNEP was also
playing a significant role, inter alia, oceans
and seas, freshwater, land-management, forests,
trade, and biotechnology. UNEP contributed
extensively to the reports prepared on Agenda
21’s cross-sectoral chapters, such as,
consumption and production patterns, human
settlements, integrated decision-making, health,
major groups, finance, technology, science,
education and awareness, capacity-building,
institutional arrangements, international
legal instruments, information for decision-making,
and small island developing states (SIDS).
UNEP also contributed to reports, information
documents and initiatives for the CSD’s
consideration of major groups or economic
sectors, for example, industry, tourism, agriculture,
and transport and energy. Reports to CSD were
prepared through processes of consultation
and information exchange between UN agencies,
international organizations, interested government
agencies and a range of other institutions
and individuals. IACSD ceased to exist after
the review of ACC in October 2001 established
the UN System Chief
Executives Board (CEB) for Coordination
- formerly the ACC – and its
High Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP).
Five-Year Review of UNCED
The 19th special session of the General Assembly
for the overall review and appraisal of the
implementation of Agenda 21, held in June
1997 in New York, adopted the
Programme for the Further Implementation of
Agenda 21, which reaffirmed (in paragraph
123) that “the role of UNEP, as the
principal UN body in the field of the environment,
should be further enhanced. Taking into account
its catalytic role, and in conformity with
Agenda 21
and the Nairobi
Declaration on the Role and Mandate of
UNEP, adopted on 7 February 1997, UNEP is
to be the leading global environmental authority
that sets the global environmental agenda,
promotes the coherent implementation of the
environmental dimension of sustainable development
within the UN system, and serves as an authoritative
advocate for the global environment".
