The Seventh Edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO) was mandated by UNEA through resolution 5/3, that was approved in March 2022.
In the resolution, the United Nations Environment Assembly,
“Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to establish an ad hoc intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder advisory group, governed by the rules of procedure of the Environment Assembly, ensuring geographic balance across all United Nations regions and also ensuring disciplinary and gender balance.”
As a result of a call for nominations that was issued in June 2022, UNEP received 52 nominations from Member States and 37 nominations from accredited stakeholders. The nominations were thoroughly reviewed by the Secretariat, and, after further informal consultations of Member States representatives, a final group was identified.
The group includes 25 Member States experts (5 per UN region) and 10 representatives from Major Groups and Stakeholders. The members have been carefully selected taking into account gender, geographic and disciplinary balance.
This group will bring crucial policy expertise to guide the Executive Director and the team of experts in the production of the GEO-7. The main tasks of the IMAG include:
- Providing advice to draft the scope of the GEO;
- Providing advice on needs related to capacity building, knowledge generation and support for policymaking;
- Providing advice on the development of the workplan and budget and setting out a programme of activities;
- Interacting with assessment authors and the Multi-disciplinary Expert Scientific Advisory Group (MESAG) to provide relevant advice to the Executive Director.
The IMAG met for the first time at UNEP’s Headquarters in Nairobi, on Friday 21 October 2022, with the objective of discussing their role and responsibilities as well as next steps.
This first face to face meeting of the IMAG took place after the second Ad-hoc Open Ended Meeting of the GEO-7 process, the scoping meeting, which was held on 17-20 October, in a hybrid format.
The second face to face meeting of the IMAG will take place in Bangkok, Thailand from the 14-16 March 2023.
