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The article discusses the United Nations' activities and conventions pertaining to environmental policies and laws. The forums include United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) ninth session of its Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum and Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, UNEP's International Conference on Chemicals Management, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety Convention and the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Curitiba, Brazil.

This article presents the resolutions that addressed different global issues in environmental laws and policies adopted from the 2005 World Summit Outcome conference. This includes: the issues regarding the values and principles of the summit, the developments in different projects that they have launched, the peace and collective security, human rights, the rule of law, Economic & Social Council, Security Council, Human Rights Council, secretariat and management reform, system-wide coherence, and the strengthening of the United Nations.

The article reports on international developments relevant to environmental law and policy. The International Whaling Commission's 57th annual meeting which was held in June 2005 in Ulsan, Republic of Korea, has focused on issues on anti-whaling and pro-whaling nations. The meeting also discussed issues on conservation and on proposals to lift the 20-year moratorium on commercial whaling. In other news, the Elisabeth Mann Borgese Medal was awarded by the President of the International Ocean Institute to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

This article highlights the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction from January 18-22, 2005 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The meeting brought together Member States, United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations, academics and other actors involved in disaster reduction. The conference aims to increase the international profile of disaster risk reduction and promote its integration into development planning and practice, and to identify gaps related to vulnerability, risk assessment and disaster management.

The article reports on developments and activities of the United Nations. According to a report issued on December 9, 2003 by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the world's population is projected to rise to nine billion by 2300. The UN Secretary-General on an occasion told that institutional investors could have "a decisive impact" on future greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental performance of major companies. On October 22, 2003, at its Extraordinary Meeting, the Working Group of Senior Officials decided that the Sixth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" is to take place in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, in September or October 2007.

This article highlights the United Nations Conference for the negotiation of a successor agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, which met at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from February 14-18, 2005. Delegates continued their discussion of bracketed text from the First Part of the Conference, held in Geneva in July 2004. At that session, some progress was made in agreeing on the text for a new agreement. Many proposals on the unresolved issues were tabled during the meeting, but delegates were unable to reach agreement on a number of cross-cutting proposals.

This article highlights a country-led initiative (CLI) in support of the United Nations Forum on Forests on the future of the international arrangement on forests (IAF), which was held from January 25-28, 2005 in Zapopan-Guadalajara, Mexico. The CLI had a double purpose: to elaborate the critical elements that countries would like to see included in a future IAF, and to provide an informal contribution that will help provide a basis for the decision concerning the future of the IAF.