Problems and Perspectives of a Global Pact for the Environment

This contribution aims at illustrating the current developments regarding the Global Pact for the Environment initiative, set forth, under French proposal, by the 2018 General Assembly resolution A/RES/72/277. An overview of the draft Pact is provided before starting analysing the content of the UN Secretary-General's Report on "Gaps in international environmental law and environmental-related instrument: towards a global pact for the environment", which was requested by the mentioned resolution. On the basis of this report, an ad hoc Open-ended Working Group, set up by the General Assembly, discussed possible options to address those gaps and made recommendations in May 2019 on the convening of a UN High Level Meeting in 2022, recalling the fiftieth anniversary of the Stockholm Declaration. Notwithstanding the momentum which was created around this environmental initiative, the ad hoc Working Group endorsed the approval of a simple political declaration, instead of, regrettably, the adoption of a binding international instrument for a better protection of the environment.