Nairobi/ Ottawa, December
16, 2010 - Over the past four decades
the international community has developed
and adopted Multilateral Environmental Agreements
(MEAs), which under international law are
fundamental for assisting countries to work
together on global environmental issues.
Recognizing that these
agreements will only be effective if they
are properly implemented and enforced, the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
has over the years developed educational
materials and supported various capacity-building
activities focusing on the MEAs.
As part of this continuing
effort to highlight the importance of implementation
and enforcement, UNEP and the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Academy of Environmental Law have created
and are launching today a university-level
course on "Compliance with and Enforcement
of Multilateral Environmental Agreements".
The course has benefited from the input
of many scholars and other experts around
the world working in the field of environmental
law.
The primary target audience
for the course is law students, as well
as students of international relations,
environmental management and other disciplines
linked to the study of the environment.
After completion of the Compliance coursework,
the students will have a better understanding
of international environmental law in general
as well as of the main challenges for effective
compliance and enforcement of the MEAs.
Education has always
been a priority for UNEP. Its annual training
programme with Germany's Dresden University
on environmental management has been ongoing
since 1977. Over the past three years, UNEP
has also worked closely with over 90 universities
across 42 countries in Africa in building
a programme for bringing environmental concerns
and solutions into higher education. Known
as the Mainstreaming Environment and Sustainability
in African Universities (MESA), this successful
project is now being considered for replication
in Caribbean universities under the Mainstreaming
Environment and Sustainability in the Caribbean
(MESCA) partnership programme.
Similarly in China,
UNEP launched an initiative with Tongji
University in May 2002 to create the UNEP-Tongji
Institute for Environment and Sustainable
Development (IESD) that seeks to develop
educational programmes to build research
and technical and managerial skills in developing
countries. UNEP also has partnerships with
the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology,
the Institute of Soil Science and Fertilizer
in the Shannxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences
and the Gansu Research Institute for Water
Conservancy.
Most recently, UNEP
has established a partnership with the University
of Eastern Finland to work on International
Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy.
The full Compliance
course is now available on the websites
of UNEP www.unep.org/DEC/Lecturemanual.asp
and the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
www.iucnael.org
