To coordinate the participation of your country, or for any questions, please contact the Forum Secretariat at unep-rolac-forumofministers@un.org.
The Forum of Ministers of Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean (the Forum) is the region’s longest standing and most important space for political dialogue and collaboration on environmental matters. It was established in 1982. That year, UNEP´s Governing Council, through resolution 5, section 3, recommended to the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) that they periodically convoke an intergovernmental regional meeting on the environment to establish policies and a strategy in this field. It also requested the Executive Director of UNEP to lend the support of UNEP´s LAC Office as the Permanent Secretariat.
The Forum has been composed of the 33 countries of the region since its creation.
The twenty-three meetings held to date have consolidated the Forum as the most representative and important political gathering on environmental policies and responses with broad consensus at the regional level.
The meeting of the Forum is held every two years and intersessional meetings with the Bureau of the Forum and the High Level Officers are held in-between.
Video about some recent achievements of the Forum
UNEP Governing Council resolution 5, section 3, of 1982 “recommending to the Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean that they periodically convoke an intergovernmental regional meeting on the environment in Latin America and the Caribbean in order to establish policies and a strategy for the region in this field and requesting the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to lend the support of the Permanent Secretariat for these intergovernmental regional meetings, through the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
UNEA Resolution 2/2, 2016: Role and functions of the regional forums of ministers of environment and environment authorities
“Welcoming the progress and achievements of regional forums of environment ministers to which the United Nations Environment Programme provides support and recognizing those forums as important platforms for strengthening the engagement of countries in the preparation of and follow-up to sessions of the United Nations Environment Assembly …
… 1. Requests the Executive Director, within the mandate of the United Nations Environment Programme, and in accordance with the programme of work and budget to support and to facilitate convening and/or strengthening the existing regional forums of ministers of environment and environment authorities”.
The main role of the Forum is to provide a space for the Ministers of Environment of the region to set the priorities for environmental action and to collaborate in the implementation of programmes, projects and approaches to address those priorities.
The Forum also serves as the regional gathering for discussion and preparation of consolidated views and inputs from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA Resolution 2/2), and the Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean on Sustainable Development. These connect the regional and global environmental agendas.
The Forum has also been able to channel international cooperation activities and financing into environmental areas in the region.
The Forum is composed of the thirty-three (33) Ministers of Environment of the LAC region or their designated representatives. This is the decision-making body.
The Forum elects eight (8) members to compose its Bureau, two from each sub-region: Mexico and Central America, Andean countries, Southern Cone, and Caribbean. The Bureau members serve for 2 years, between meetings of the Forum, and they elect one country to serve as President for the same term. The Presidency rotates between the four sub-regions.
The Forum may also establish Working Groups and Networks to deliver on specific mandates and tasks. Some Working Groups are of temporary nature, while others have a long trajectory. They meet regularly according to work plans established by the groups themselves.
The High-Level Officers (HLOs), who are representatives of the Ministers, also meet regularly to provide feedback and guidance to the work of the Working Groups and support the activities around the meetings of the Forum. They meet regularly to discuss progress.
Furthermore, the work of the Forum is strengthened through the collaboration with other international organizations which make up the Interagency Technical Committee (ITC).
UNEP, through the Latin America and the Caribbean Office, acts as the Secretariat to the Forum and supports the activities of all Working Groups, the Bureau, and the HLO meetings.
The current President of the Forum is the Minister of Environment of Peru, Mr. Juan Castro Vargas, who is holding this role until the end of the of the XXIV Meeting of the Forum, which will be held in 2025.
The current Bureau of the Forum is composed by the following countries:
Dominica Chile Peru Costa Rica
Belize Brazil Colombia El Salvador
The Latin America and Caribbean Office of UNEP acts as the permanent secretariat to the Forum and its different bodies.
Located in Panama City, Panama, the office leads UNEP´s engagement with the countries of the region on environmental issues, in close collaboration with other United Nations entities, international development organizations and local stakeholders.
Sub-regions
Voluntary contributions to the Environment Fund
LAC countries are invited to voluntarily contribute to the Environment Fund to support environmental action in the region. The following document summarizes the relevant information regarding the importance of these contributions.
The information on the suggested voluntary contribution for each country is available in the following webpage, in the column "VISC" (Voluntary Indicative Scale of Contributions).
