Montego Bay, 2 April 2015 - The role of the environmental rule of law in the post-2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals was the focus of discussions at the first Inter-American Congress on the Environmental Rule of Law held this week in Jamaica.
The meeting, convened by the Organization of American States (OAS), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) was the first major result of the recently established partnership between UNEP and OAS. The two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year, pledging to collaborate in fostering the development and implementation of environmental rule of law and promoting sustainable development.
Over 120 participants drawn from Chief Justices, Parliamentarians, Attorneys General, Prosecutors, high level practitioners, civil society organizations and inter-governmental organizations attended the Congress, which was opened by the Most Honourable Portia Simpson Miller, Prime Minister of Jamaica.
The meeting focused on thematic and procedural elements of the environmental rule of law in the Americas and provided an opportunity to work towards achieving a common understanding of the concept of the environmental rule of law.
Water resources management; trade, investment and environment; conflict prevention over natural resources; environmental enforcement; and access to justice in environmental matters were some of the specific topics discussed.
The Congress further built on UNEP's World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability in June 2012 and the Global Symposium on the Environmental Rule of Law, which was held during the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in June 2014. It also marked the integration of UNEP's objectives in the area of environmental rule of law into the work of a regional organization - the OAS.
Building and strengthening strategic partnerships such as the collaboration between UNEP and the OAS and the importance of regional environmental law networks such as the Inter-American Congress was also emphasised.
The meeting recommended that the environmental rule of law be included in the OAS sustainable development agenda and for the Organization and its partners to hold the Congress on a regular basis, as a platform to exchange information and experiences amongst the judiciary, the executive and the legislature in the region.
About the Organization of American States (OAS)
The Organization of American States is the world's oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington, D.C., from October 1889 to April 1890. The Organization was established in order to achieve among its member states-as stipulated in Article 1 of the Charter-"an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence."
