International governance-environment-
DownloaD Graphic 2
development-trade interlinkages
UN General Assembly
Commission on Sustainable
ECOSOC
Development
International International International
Environment Regime Development Trade Regime
Norms, procedures, rules,
Regime
and principles are operating
UNEP MEAs
Bretton Woods
between regimes
UNDP
WTO
(WB, IMF)
FAO, WHO and others
MEA Liaison
Norms, procedures, rules, Groups
and principles are operating Norms, procedures, rules, and principles
between regimes are operating between regimes
WIPO
Notes: Norms, procedures, rules, and
principles are operating between regimes.
Environmental
UN Development Group Chief Executives Board
Management Group
Green lines represent stronger and more
direct connections. Brown lines represent
less direct links.
Cooperation and Integration Are Essential

There are strong synergies between improving Group, UN Development Group and the liaison
human well-being and reducing vulnerability groups between MEA secretariats, have been
from environment, development and human rights created to bridge independent agencies and
perspectives. In order to achieve sustainable promote greater cooperation. The UN Economic
development, governance must be integrated and Social Council and the UN General Assem-
from the local to the global levels, across a range bly play major roles in coordination, as well as
of sectors and over a longer time frame for policy promoting cooperation with other institutions, such
making. as the WTO and Bretton Woods institutions.
Interlinked environment-development challenges
require effective and coherent governance and
VIDEO EXTRACTED FROM THE GEO4 VIDEO
policy responses within the framework of sustain-
NEWS RELEASE
able development. At the international level, the
key governance and management actors relevant
to the environment are the United Nations, MEAs
and regimes dealing with development, trade,
finance and other international related fields. The
linkages among these bodies are complex and
the systems have been described as fragmented
and overlapping.
With the growth of the number and diversity of
actors and organizations, inter-agency mecha-
nisms, such as the Environmental Management
ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE 47