The participants of the conference agreed that the addressing of the shortcomings of international environmental governance does not require a total overhaul of all parts of the current system. Changes should build upon existing structures, including UNEP and the multilateral environmental agreements.
Support for a reform has been increasing significantly. Many participants asked for an upgrade of UNEP. Others underlined that they are still considering their position. About 180 participants, representing more than 35 countries and several international organisations, academia and civil society groups took part in the event.
The conference was opened by the Environment Ministers Jürgen Tritting (Germany) and Serge Lepeltier (France). They were joined by Wangari Maathai, the Vice Environment Minister of Kenya and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.
Wide press coverage of the event documents the public interest in the issue:
- Environment Daily [pdf, 8 KB, English]
- Deutsche Welle [pdf, 7 KB, English]
- ZDF Heute [pdf, 37 KB, German]
- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) [pdf, 36 KB, German]
- Frankfurter Rundschau (FR) [pdf, 47 KB, German]
- Berliner Zeitung [pdf, 60 KB, German]
- Der Tagesspiegel [pdf, 24 KB, German]
- Die Tageszeitung (taz) [pdf, 39 KB, German]
- Die Rheinpfalz [pdf, 23 KB, German]
- Forum Umwelt & Entwicklung [pdf, 16 KB, German]
- Yahoo News [pdf, 23 KB, German]
- Neues Deutschland [pdf, 8 KB, German]
Further information about the conference (summary, presentations, list of participants, etc.) can be found on the event’s website.
The conference was organised by Ecologic and IDDRI – Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales. The event was supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.