The Forum has established Working Groups and Networks to fulfill specific mandates or activities. In addition, the Interagency Technical Committee (ITC) provides additional support for Forum activities.
Below you can find information related to the creation of each Working Group and Network, as well as links to the web page of each Group (when it exists).
List and access to the Working Groups
Currently, the Forum has eleven (11) Working Groups and Networks, plus the Interagency Technical Committee (ITC). Not all groups have a dedicated webpage, in which case, you may contact the group coordinator to obtain information.
The eleven Working Groups and Networks are:
1. Intergovernmental Network on Chemicals and Waste for LAC (contact: Jordi Pon; jordi.pon@un.org)
2. Voluntary coalition for the closure of landfills in LAC (contact: Jordi Pon; jordi.pon@un.org)
3. Working Group on Plastic and Microplastic Pollution, including the marine environment, in Latin America and the Caribbean (contact: Jordi Pon; jordi.pon@un.org)
4. LAC Intergovernmental Network on Air Pollution (contact: Jordi Pon; jordi.pon@un.org)
5. Regional Council of Government Experts on Sustainable Consumption and Production (contact: Beatriz Martins Carneiro; beatriz.carneiro@un.org)
6. Biodiversity Working Group (contact: unep-rolac-forumofministers@un.org)
7. Regional Environmental Information Network (REIN) (contact: Francesco Gaetani; francesco.gaetani@un.org)
8. Environmental Education Network (contact: Beatriz Martins Carneiro; beatriz.carneiro@un.org)
9. Gender and Environment Working Group (contact: Maria Elena Zúñiga; maria.zuniga@un.org)
10. Environment and Emergency Preparedness Network for LAC (contact: Jordi Pon; jordi.pon@un.org)
11. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Working Group (contact: Vincent Sweeney; vincent.sweeney@un.org)
12. Oceans Working Group (contact: Andrea Brusco; andrea.brusco@un.org)
Reference information about the Working Groups and Networks
Group or Network | Decision | Decision description | Year of decision |
Intergovernmental Network on Chemicals and Waste for LAC | Decision 8, XX Meeting | Established the Network | 2016 |
Voluntary coalition for the closure of dumpsites in LAC | Decision 1, XXI Meeting | Invitation to the Secretariat to establish the Coalition | 2018 |
Working Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics | Decision 1, XXII Meeting | IInvitation to the Secretariat to establish a working group or regional node | 2021 |
Intergovernmental Network on Atmospheric Pollution of LAC | Decision 7, XVI Meeting | Established the Network | 2008 |
Regional Council of Government Experts on Sustainable Consumption and Production | Decision 12, XIV Meeting | Established the Council | 2003 |
Biodiversity Working Group | Decision 4, XXI Meeting | Invite the Secretariat of the Forum to support the establishment of a working group with the objective of developing a roadmap to form the Regional Cooperation Program for Biodiversity mentioned in the previous paragraph and present their results at the next session of the XXII Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean. | 2018 |
Regional Environmental Information Network (REIN) | Decision 2, XII Meeting | Requested Costa Rica to coordinate the Environmental evaluations topic integrated in a working group. | 2000 |
Environmental Training Network | IX Meeting | Established the Network | 1995 |
Gender and Environment Working Group | Intersesional Meeting, Barbados, 2019 | Established the group | 2019 |
Environment and Emergency Preparedness Network for LAC | Decision 6, XXII Meeting | Celebrating the creatino of the Environment and Emergency Preparedness Network for LAC at the beginning of 2020. Thanking UNEP for leading the positioning of the Network. | 2021 |
SIDS Working Group | Decision 8, XXII Meeting | Mandate to develop the SIDS II Programme for the Caribbean to contribute to enhancing the implementation of the Environmental Dimension of Sustainable Development in Caribbean SIDS. | 2021 |
Oceans Working Group | Decision 4, XXIII Meeting | Mandate to seek collaboration on the sustainable management of marine areas. | 2023 |
Interagency Technical Committee (ITC)
International institutions have come together to support the work of the Forum as part of its Interagency Technical Committee (ITC).
The current members of the ITC are:
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) | World Bank Group (WB) |
Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) | Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) |
United Nations Programme for Food and Agriculture 
| Panamerican Health Organization 
|
Otras instituciones están en proceso de incorporarse al ITC y están colaborando con él.
Other institutions are in the process of joining ITC and are collaborating with it.
The Forum agreed to establish the CTI at its XI Meeting held in Lima, Peru, from March 10 to 13, 1998. The CTI was created with the purpose of providing technical and operational advice and facilitating the mobilization of financing for the implementation of its agenda. .
The mandate derives from the decision on “Parallel Regional Coordination Mechanisms” (Decision 8), which defines the relationship between the Forum and the CTI, describes the Committee's raison d'être and establishes its link with the regional environmental plan. The most important points of the Decision are:
1- Establish an Interagency Technical Committee under the coordination of UNEP as recommended in the document "Proposal for Strengthening the Forum of Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean and the preparation and implementation of a Regional Environmental Action Plan" (UNEP/LAC- IGWG.XI/4).
2- Make the composition of the Inter-Institutional Technical Committee more flexible to facilitate the technical coordination of the programs carried out by these organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, and thus respond effectively to the priorities agreed upon by the Forum of Ministers.
Subsequently, through Decision 3 of the XVI Meeting of the Forum in 2008, the mandate of the Committee was renewed and a request made for coordination among members and other organizations.
Finally, during the XXIII Meeting of the Forum in October 2023, FAO and PAHO were included in the Committee.
