Phase III: Fulfilling the Resolution (Sept. 2018 - Dec. 2018)

• Author: Maria Antonia Tigre
• Pages: 47-100

47

Chapter 3: Phase III: Fulfilling the

Resolution (Sept. 2018 – Dec. 2018)

After Resolution No. 72/2771 was adopted, steps were taken to comply

with the requests of the UN General A ssembly (UNGA). is chapter

focuses on the rst steps of compliance with the mandate of the UN

Secretary-General (UNSG) and the open-ended working group (OEWG).

Phase III, entitled Fullling t he Resolution, starts from the appointment of

the Co-Chair s of the OEWG in June 2018, and extends to the publication of

a commentary on the UNSG’s Report by the International Council of Envi-

ronmental Law (ICEL) in December 2018. Section I relates to the UNGA

choosing the permanent representatives of Portugal and Leba non to lead the

consultation on gaps in international environmental law in Nairobi. Section

II briey summarize s how the activities of the OEWG were nanced. Part III

focuses on the OEWG’s September 2018 organizational session, held in New

York to decide on a tentative calenda r of meetings and programme of work

for the Nairobi substantive sessions.

Section IV relates to the publication of the UNSG’s Report at the end of

November 2018. As the rst publication on international environmental law

at the Secretary-General’s level, the report represented a landmark for the

improvement of the eld. rough a dialogue between principles, gaps and

institutions, it set a blueprint for the progressive development of international

environmental law. Section V provides a commentary on the report, high-

lighting its most signica nt conclusions. In December 2018, ICEL published

a Note on the Report, as well as charts on the regional application of each

principle included in the Global Pact. e Note is reproduced at the end of

this chapter. Section VI includes a brief commentary on the aftermath of

ICEL’s Note.

e timeline below portrays Phase III.

1. UNGA, Towards a Global Pact for the Environment, UN Doc. A/RES/72/277 (10 May 2018).

48 Gaps in International Environmental Law

Figure 3: Phase III Timeline “Fulf‌illing the

Resolution” (June – Dec. 2018):

June 2018

Appointment of

the Co-Ch airs

Sept . 2018

Organizational

Session

Nov. 2018

Publicatio n of

the UNSG’s

Report

Dec. 2018

ICEL Note on

the Report

and Event

I. June 2018: Appointment of Co-Chairs of the

Working Group

rough the Resolution No. 72/277, the General Assembly requested its

President to appoint two Co-Chairs to oversee consultations of the OEWG.

It required one to be chosen from a developing country and the other from a

developed c ountry.2 On June 24th, 2018, UNGA’s President Miroslav Lajca k

appointed the permanent representatives of Portugal, Mr. Francisco António

Duarte Lopes, and Lebanon, Ms. Amal Mudal lali, to lead consultations on

gaps in international environmental law.3 e Co-Chairs were a ssisted by the

legal representatives Sérgio Car valho and Youssef Hitti.4 e working group

was responsible for negotiating a nal text wit h the 193 member states.5 Dur-

ing this process, the work ca rried out by the legal e xperts and the UNSG was

used as a basis for discussions, which continued between States in collabora-

2. Id. para. 6.

3. Miroslav Lajcak, (All Permanent Representatives and Permanent Observers to the United Nations ed.,

e President of the General Assembly, 2018), available at https://www.un.org/pga/72/wp-content/

uploads/sites/51/2018/06/Letter-to-MS-4-June.pdf (last accessed June 14, 2019) (appointing Ambas-

sadors Duarte Lopes and Mudallali as co-chairs of the ad hoc working group on the Global Pact for

the Environment negotiations).

4. Amal Mudallali (@AmbMudallali). “It was a great honor and pleasure to work on the negotiations

for a Global Compact for the Environment with my friend & colleague amb. Francisco Duarte Lopes

@Portugal_UN and his team especially Sérgio Carvalho who did a great job with Youssef Hitti our

legal advisor & expert.” July 10, 2019. Tweet.

5. Isabelle Hanne, A l’ONU, la France Pose les Jalons d’un Pacte Mondial Pour l’Environnement, L-

 (Sept. 20, 2017), http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2017/09/20/a-l-onu-la-france-pose-les-

jalons-d-un-pacte-mondial-pour-l-environnement_1597671. Léia Santacroce, Le Pacte Mondial Pour

l’Environnement Sur de Bons Rails, GEO (Sept. 20, 2017), http://www.geo.fr/photos/reportages-geo/

le-pacte-mondial-pour-l-environnement-sur-de-bons-rails-179100.

Chapter 3: Phase III: Fulf‌illing the Resolution (Sept. 2018 – Dec. 2018) 49

tion with stakeholders from civil society.6 e United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) was a sked to work closely with the General Assembly

to guide the working group.7

e Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations, Fran-

cisco António Duarte Lopes, presented his credentials to Secretary-General

António Guterres on September 13th, 2017. Mr. Duarte L opes is a career

diplomat and previously served at Portugal’s Ministr y of Foreign Aairs in

Lisbon. He had posts in Pakista n and Denmark, previously served a s Direc-

tor for Institutional Aairs at t he Foreign Minist ry, coordinator at Portugal ’s

Permanent Representation to the European Union, diplomatic adviser to the

Prime Minister, Chief of Sta to the Secretary of State for European Aairs

and Director-General for European Aa irs. He was promoted to the rank of

Ambassador in December 2015.8

e Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations, Amal

Mudallali, presented her credentials to Secreta ry General António Guterres

in January 15th, 2018. She is the rst woman to have been appointed by the

Lebanese government as Ambassador to the United Nations.9 Ms. Mudallali

was the principal adviser on America n Aairs for Prime Minister Saad Har iri

of Lebanon since 2005. From 2013 to 2016, she was also a senior scholar at

the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., focusing on A merican-

Arab relations, the Middle East, Iran-Arab and Russian-Arab relations, the

United Nations, and nuclear proliferation in the region. She was the founder

and president of Bridges International Group, a political consulting rm

based in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on strengthening the relation-

ship with the U.S. administration, Congress, the policy community, and

the media. Between 2000 and 2005, she served as a foreign policy adviser

to Prime Minister Raq Hariri. From 1998 to 2005, she also ser ved as his

spokesperson for foreign press and headed his international press oce. Prior

6. Gary Tabor, President Macron Announces Global Pact for the Environment, L DC

F (July 24, 2017), https://www.leonardodicaprio.org/president-macron-announces-global-

pact-for-the-environment/. Speech by M. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic: Summit on the

Global Pact for the Environment, F D (Sept. 19, 2017), http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/

en/french-foreign-policy/united-nations/united-nations-general-assembly-sessions/unga-s-72nd-session/

article/speech-by-m-emmanuel-macron-president-of-the-republic-summit-on-the-global-pact.

7. UNGA Resolution, supra note 1, para. 8. UN E, UN Environment New York Oce,

Gisele Bündchen Joins Heads of State to Launch the Global Pact for the Environment, http://www.

unep.org/newyork/events/gisele-b%C3%BCndchen-joins-heads-state-launch-global-pact-environ-

ment (last accessed Feb. 19, 2019).

8. United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases, New Permanent Representative of Portugal

Presents Credentials (United Nations BIO/5022, Sept. 13, 2017), available at https://www.un.org/

press/en/2017/bio5022.doc.htm.

9. e Kahlil Girab Chair for Values & Peace, Women Leaders, Dr. Amal Mudallali, available at https://

pioneersandleaders.org/women-leaders/dr-amal-mudallali (last accessed July 21, 2019).