On 18 December 2018, ACSA was granted successful accreditation an NGO to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). You can read the Letter of Accreditation here.
“But what exactly does that mean?” you ask.
Well, accreditation provides non-governmental organisations with observer status to the Assembly and its subsidiary bodies according to Rule 70 of the rules of procedure of the United Nations Environment Assembly of UN Environment. Accreditation brings many advantages with respect to participation in the work of UN Environment’s Governing Bodies, such as the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) of UN Environment and the Committee of Permanent Representatives.
Accreditation is the main entry point for groups such as ours into policy dialogue at UN Environment. In the process leading up to sessions of the United Nations Environmental Assembly of UN Environment, ACSA and it’s members now have the opportunity:
- To participate in the Regional Consultation Meeting in preparation for the Assembly;
- To contribute to the preparation of Regional Civil Society Statements towards UN Environment and the Assembly;
- To receive unedited working documents of the United Nations Environment Assembly at the same time as the Committee of the Permanent Representatives (CPR);
- To submit to the UN Environment Secretariat written contributions to these unedited working documents for distribution to the Governments through the Committee of the Permanent Representatives (CPR); and
- To participate in the public Meetings of the Committee of Permanent Representatives, the Assembly and the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, an associated meeting of the UN Environment Assembly
And during the session of the Environment Assembly, ACSA can:
· Attend the plenary sessions of the Committee of the Whole and the Ministerial Consultations as observers and to exchange views and interact with Governments present;
· Circulate written statements to Governments, in the form of information documents through the UN Environment secretariat; and
· Make oral statements during the discussions of the United Nations Environmental Assembly of UN Environment.
We can now have a voice at this world table!
ACSA has been added to the List of Accredited Organizations with Observer Status to UN Environment, and we are pleased to announce that 4 of our members (Libby Hepburn, Mendel Wong, Scott Edmunds and Martin Brocklehurst) will be attending the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum (SPBF) on the Environment and the United Nations Environment Assembly 4 to be held in Nairobi from March 8 – 13th, 2019. For more information on what ACSA’s delegation will be contributing, please read Libby’s blog.