Resolutions
of major significance to UNEP
By its resolution
53/187 of 15 December
1998, entitled, “Report
of the Governing Council of the United Nations
Environment Programme”,
the General Assembly welcomed the report of
the Governing Council (GC) at its fifth special
session and the decisions contained therein.
The Assembly particularly recognised decision
SS.V.2 on the revitalisation, reform and strengthening
of UNEP, including the areas of concentration
of the activities as proposed by the Executive
Director in keeping with the spirit of the
Nairobi Declaration, and the
other UNEP priority areas as established by
the GC at its nineteenth session.
In the same resolution, the Assembly welcomed
the adoption by the Conference of the Plenipotentiaries
at Rotterdam on 10 September 1998 of the Convention
on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for
Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides
in International Trade, and took note of the
fact that the functions of the Secretariat
of the Conventions are jointly performed by
the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
and UNEP as an interim arrangement pending
the final decision to be taken by the parties
to the Convention on the location of the Secretariat.
The Assembly further welcomed the holding
of the first session of the Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee for an internationally
legally binding instrument for implementing
international action on certain Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs) which took place
in Montreal in June 1998, and welcomed the
positive role played by UNEP in the field
of environmental management of chemicals and
especially the efforts undertaken by UNEP
as the Secretariat of the Convention for the
negotiations on a convention on POPs.
Furthermore, the resolution emphasised that
UNEP has been and must continue to be the
principal United Nations body in the field
of the environment and that its role is to
be the leading global environmental authority
that sets the global environmental agenda
and promotes the coherent implementation of
the environmental dimension of sustainable
development within the UN system and that
serves as an authoritative advocate for the
global environment. The Assembly also welcomed
decision SS. V/6 of the Governing Council,
as well as the decisions of the April 1998
meeting of the Assembly of the Global Environment
facility (GEF) and the October 1998 GEF Council
meting regarding UNEP’s role on the
GEF and welcomes further collaboration with
the GEF on freshwater resources such as the
global international water assessment and
on activities aimed at combating land degradation
as the relate to the focal areas of the GEF.
In the resolution, the Assembly encouraged
the Executive Director to continue with the
on-going reform of the UNEP and recognised
as reflected in the Nairobi declaration, that
in order to operationalise its mandate, a
revitalised UNEP needs adequate, stable and
predictable financial resources, and in this
regard, recognised the interrelationship between
the excellence, relevance and cost-effectiveness
in programme delivery, confidence in the organisation
and a consequent increase in the ability of
the Programme to attract funding. The Assembly
further encouraged the Executive Director
to intensify his efforts to mobilise additional
financial resources from other donor sources,
as appropriate, in order to support the implementation
of the priority areas of UNEP in line with
the Nairobi declaration and subject to the
agreement of the Governing Council.
By its
resolution 53/186 of
15 December 1998, entitled “International
Institutional Arrangements related to Environment
and Development”, the General
Assembly, recalling the Programme for the
Further Implementation of Agenda 21, in particular
Part IV thereof entitled “International
institutional arrangements”, and its
decision 52/445 on progress in the implementation
of conventions relating to sustainable development,
took note of the report of the Secretary-General
(A/53/477).
This report was prepared by UNEP, at the request
of the Secretary-General, in consultation
with the Department for Economic and Social
Affairs (UN/DESA) and the Secretariats of
the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
The Assembly further emphasised that policy
decisions under the Conventions are undertaken
by their respective Conference of Parties
(COPs), which are autonomous governing bodies.
Noting that various Conventions related to
environment and sustainable development are
at different stages of their implementation,
the Assembly recognised its role in fostering
progress in the implementation of the conventions
and the commitments contained therein. The
Assembly also reaffirmed the need, as stipulated
in Part IV of the Programme for the Further
Implementation of Agenda 21, for greater coherence
in various intergovernmental organisations
and processes, through better policy coordination
at the intergovernmental level, continued
and more concerted efforts to enhance collaboration
among secretariats of relevant decision-making
bodies.
In the resolution the Assembly encouraged
the COPs, and permanent secretariats of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC); the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification
and/or Drought, particularly in Africa (UNCCD),
to examine appropriate opportunities and measures
to strengthen their complementarities, and
better scientific assessment of ecological
linkages between the three conventions. The
Assembly further requested the Secretary-General
to prepare a report for submission to the
fifty-fourth session of the Assembly, identifying
action undertaken to implement Part IV (A),
in particular paragraph 119 of the Programme
for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21,
as well as the areas requiring further consideration
and work, taking into account the roles of
the relevant organisations and institutions
of the UN system as stated in Part IV of the
Programme for the Further Implementation of
Agenda 21.
