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Friends of the Earth Europe back call by EU Environment Ministers for World Environment Organisation
(Brussels/Berlin, 27 May 2005) Today's demand by the German, French and Spanish Environment Ministers to create a UN World Environment Organisation has been strongly welcomed by Friends of the Earth Europe.
With the support of Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schöder and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Environment Ministers Trittin, Narbona Ruiz and Lepeltier propose the transformation of the UN Environment Programme to a UN Environment Organisation (UNEO) in today's German newspaper Frankfurter Runschau (1). The appeal is published one day after the international conference "Towards a Stronger System of International Environmental Governance" that concluded yesterday in Berlin with the participation of Environment Ministers Trittin, Lepeltier and the Vice Environment Ministers of Kenia and Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Matthai.
The call is made in light of the increasing threat of climate change and rapid deterioration of the world's water resources, urban environments, oceans, forests and other ecosystems, coupled with a weak and ineffective system of international environmental governance. An increasing number of industrialised as well as developing countries including China back the proposal for a UNEO. The aim of the World Environment Organisation would be to provide effective financial, technical and political support to develop appropriate rules and frameworks to balance economic globalisation with global environmental protection.
According to Friends of the Earth, a UN Environment Organisation should also ensure coherent and coordinated improvement and implementation of existing environmental agreements.
Alexandra Wandel, trade and sustainability programme coordinator of FoEE commented:
"In the face of a global ecological crisis there are hundreds of international environmental treaties, that are hardly being complied with. Additionally we face a weak and ineffective system of environmental governance that increasingly is challenged by the World Trade Organisation. Today's proposals to transform UNEP into a powerful UN Environment Organisation must be backed by Ministers from around the world. We urgently need a UNEO to ensure compliance of governments, international economic institutions and transnational corporations with environmental agreements.''
For further information please contact
Alexandra Wandel, trade programme co-ordinator at Friends of the Earth
Phone: +49 172 748 39 53
(1) See http://www.frankfurterrundschau.de/ressorts/nachrichten_und_politik/dokumentation/?cnt=681783
Friends of the Earth
Europe campaigns for sustainable and fair societies and for the
protection of the environment,
unites more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local
groups
and is part of the world's largest grassroots environmental network,
Friends of the Earth International.
