The Note is being released in conjunction with the 10 December 2018 event at the United Nations sponsored by the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations, the Permanent Observer Mission of IUCN to the United Nations, and the International Council of Environment Law - “Strengthening Implementation of International Environmental Law: Commentaries on the UN Secretary General’s Report on International Environmental Law.”

This historic Note is an independent assessment by a working group of expert members of the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), the International Group of Expert for the Pact (IGEP), and WCEL. The Note is signed by an initial group of 27 experts.

The Note responds to the Secretary-General’s historic first Report of 3 December 2018 on international environmental law, calling it a “welcome analysis of legal endeavors worldwide to protect the Earth’s environment.” The Note explains how and why the forthcoming consultations on the Pact in Nairobi could reach consensus on the codification and progressive development of core principles of international environmental law. 

In addition, ICEL has released a series of twelve Charts, which for the first time set forth in one place most if not all of the environmental law principles that States have already accepted in their international agreements.  The charts that show the linkages among the Draft Global Pact for the Environment and the Sustainable Development Goals, general principles of international soft law, multilateral environmental agreements, and various regional environmental agreements. They have been prepared by ICEL (an expert international organization established in 1969 and in consultative status with UN ECOSOC since 1973), together with the Vance Center for International Justice (sponsored by the New York City Bar Association), and White & Case, an International Law Firm.  The Charts are intended to be a public resource and reference specifically for the UN Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group.  The charts are available, without charge, through the Law Library of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University (New York), at https://libraryguides.law.pace.edu/icel and on the WCEL website.