Working methods

The Secretariat of Governing Bodies and Stakeholders of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) regularly communicates with Member States and observers on a range of issues. In this regard, delegations are reminded that UNEP has transitioned to the e-deleGATE platform as the main e-mailing system with Member States, observer States and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) with observer status with the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).

Major groups and Stakeholders do not have access to e-deleGATE at the moment and will therefore continue receiving emails from the Secretariat as before.

Visit our e-deleGATE FAQ section for more information.

To ensure effective management of the incoming correspondence, in particular formal letters and notes verbales, Member States and observers are encouraged to direct their correspondence to the following email addresses of UNEP.  

*Please note that additional accounts are available related to UNEA preparations and will be shared closer to UNEA: Contacts 

Based on established practice, the UNEP Secretary will no longer circulate individual communications, including formal letters and Notes Verbales from Member States, non-Member States, the European Union as well as other intergovernmental organizations to the members of the CPR and the environmental focal points, with the exception of the following: 

• Communications from the President/Chair of an intergovernmental body for which UNEP serves as the Secretariat.
• Subject to a decision by the Secretariat, invitations to UNEP-relevant meetings, side events and receptions. Furthermore, delegates are also invited to use the United Nations Journal at Nairobi to inform Member States and Stakeholders of such meetings/events. 

The UNEP Secretariat will continue to make available relevant and timely information from the Executive Director and Division Directors on issues related to UNEP, UNEA, the CPR, Multilateral Environmental Agreements, or other intergovernmental processes. 

The UN Journal for Nairobi provides a calendar of official meetings of the governing bodies of UNEP as well as other meetings organized by UNEP and held in Nairobi.

Our meeting portal enables you to search for meetings by date and type, providing access to essential information about the meeting, along with documents shared before, during, and after the meeting.

The roadmaps provide a regular update on key meetings of Governing Bodies, including meetings in preparation for the next session of the UN Environment Assembly and other meetings relevant for the Assembly.

The UNEP Secretariat maintains:

1. a directory of all members accredited to the Committee of Permanent Representatives
2. a directory of Ministers of Environment and Focal Points

It is the sole responsibility of Permanent Missions to inform UNEP of any changes regarding the information displayed in both directories. All changes should be submitted via a Note Verbale sent by email to the Secretariat of Governing Bodies and Stakeholders at unep-sgb@un.org.

The final outcome of the Consensual Process for Review by the Committee of Permanent Representatives as endorsed in paragraph 1 of UNEA decision 5/4 provides measures for the improvement or the efficiency and effectiveness of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the United Nations Environment Assembly and its subsidiary bodies.

In paragraph 41 (j) of the Chair’s Summary of the 9th annual subcommittee meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and endorsed at the Resumed 160th Meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives the Committee recommended that the CPR Bureau supported by the Secretariat : 

1. Prepare a strategically planned roadmap for CPR quarterly and subcommittee meetings, indicating provisional relevant agenda items, well in advance of the meetings; 
2. Develop a standing agenda for quarterly CPR meetings that will include a report of the CPR subcommittees with recommendations for consideration by the CPR, quarterly reports to the CPR, relevant audits and evaluation reports, and preparations for UNEA-6; 
3. Prepare annotated agendas well in advance to the meetings that provides information on background documents, focus of the discussion and possible recommendations; 
4. Prepare background documents well in advance that will include possible recommendations; and 
5. Clearly outline agreed recommendations and decisions in the report of the CPR, with the understanding that there is a specific agenda item during which those recommendations are agreed upon.”

The guidance on the organization of work for the Committee of Permanent Representatives contains consensual conclusions, such as working timelines and arrangements, pertaining to the implementation of paragraph 41 (j) referred to above. This guidance was endorsed by the CPR as its resumed 162nd meeting.

On 12 September 2024, the CPR, at its 167^th quarterly meeting, adopted the recommendation on lessons learned from the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEP/CPR/167/7/ADD.1/Rev.1) which provides guidance to Member States, the UNEA President, the Bureaux of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and the United Nations Environment Assembly and the Secretariat in preparing for future UNEAs.

The repository lists all the resolutions, decisions and declarations adopted since 1973 from the sessions of the Governing Council (GC) and of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). The table can be filtered by name of the session, year of the session or type of document. It is also possible to search for key words in the title.