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UNECE/Water Convention - MoP-6 "Achievements, New Tools and Future Challenges" (Francesca Romanin Jacur) 42 UNECE: Aarhus Convention - Compliance Committee "Deliberations" (Elsa Tsioumani) 46 Mauritius/UK - The Chagos Archipelago "Latest Developments" 50 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UN / GA 64th Session - Environmental Policy and Legal Developments (Elisa Morgera) 2 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 1. A Building Block or a Faltering Step? (George de Berdt Romilly and Lorne S. Clark) 11 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 2. At the Limits of Global Diplomacy? (Joanna Depledge) 17 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 3. Success or Failure? (Richard L. Ottinger) 22 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 4. The Birth of a New Era? (Jim MacNeill) 24 CBD / ABS-8 - Moving Towards a Protocol? (Elsa Tsioumani) 26 FAO / 36th Conference - Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing -- A New Treaty 30 UNEP - First Work on Mercury Instrument 31 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 62nd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on September 18 to November 16, 2007 at the UN Headquarters in New York is presented. An overview of discussions on selected general and environmental issues are reported. A brief report on the high-level meeting on climate change on September 24, 2007 under the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is discussed.

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.

UN/ECE• Sofia Ministerial Conference - 'Environment for Europe' 2UN/CSD• Intergovernmental Panel on Forests 6UN/ECA• Functions and Organisation of the Secretariat 9UNCTAD• Policy Debate on Trade, Environment and Development 10UNEP• Rio Follow-Up: Marine Environment 11Basel Convention• Amendment Adopted on Hazardous Waste Export 14FAO• Food Scarcity 14IMO• Report of the 37th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee 16CMS• Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds - Regional Agreement 19 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UNCSD (Rio+20) - A View inside RioCentro 201 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the proceedings of the convention held in Rome, Italy in September 2005 regarding the second Conference of Parties of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade also known as the "PIC Convention." The convention focused on the issues of operationalizing the procedures developed by the nine Intergovernmental Negotiating Committees (INCs) and the need for a funding mechanism that will finance their programs.

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.

Highlights the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which held its 6th session in Vienna from April 28 to May 9, 1997. Issues discussed during the meeting; Issues concerning criminal law measures as means for the protection of the environment dealt with in the meeting; Information on the report `The Role of Criminal Law in the Protection of the Environment,' which was presented by the Secretary-General.

The article offers world news briefs related to environmental policies as of July 2014. The 65th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Switzerland. The second meeting of the United Nation (UN) High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) held in New York. The U.S. President Barack Obama planned to expand the boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

The authors reflect on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD (Rio+20)). They mention several opinions expressed during the event including the criticism of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the final negotiating text, the embarrassment of delegations on the title of the outcome document, and predicament of green growth. They note that the output document titled "The Future we Want" has been finalised during the conference.

The article reflects on the goals achieved and those that have fallen short of the desired results in environmental policies. Several issues that have recent developments have been briefly discussed. The United Nations reported that more landmines came out of the ground than are planted each year. There have been moves made with regard to the international management of chemicals. The International Conference on Chemicals Management is going to be held on Dubai, 4-6 February 2006. The Montreal, Quebec meeting was not as successful as participants had hoped but they were happy with the results.

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.