UN Updates On Process Towards 2022 Declaration

On 21 May 2021, co-facilitators Saqlain Syedah and Ado Lohmus sent a letter detailing the next steps of the UN process resulting from the adoption of the Resolution 73/333 by the UN General Assembly on August 30, 2019.

The missive postponed the second substantive consultation, which was initially planned in June 2021, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. It will tentatively be held tentatively in early November 2021 to allow for an in person or a hybrid format meeting.

Until then, the co-facilitators will convene a series of online informal workshops  on 9 June, 22 June and 7 July. Governmental and non governmental stakeholders will meet virtually to address, inter alia, (i) the inputs received to the first draft of the building blocks; (ii) questions of governance; (iii) questions on environmental law; and (iv) means of implementation.

These workshops represent milestones to prepare the upcoming second consultation. Participants will  have the opportunity to exchange views on the second draft of the Political Declaration. After these workshops, the co-facilitators will circulate a revised draft of the building blocks and a roadmap. These documents will serve as a basis for in-person consultations.

Pursuant to Resolution 73/333 of 30 August 2019, two co-facilitators were appointed to conduct the informal consultations on the implementation of this resolution. These are Saqlain Syedah, High Commissioner and Permanent Representative of Pakistan, and Ado Lohmus, Permanent Representative of Environment of the Republic of Estonia.

The first informal substantive consultation took place virtually in July 2020. As a result, the co-facilitators circulated a first draft of the building blocks of a Political Declaration reflecting the outcomes of this first informal consultation, and proposed a roadmap for the upcoming consultations and meetings. Few months later, States and civil society submitted comments on the draft Declaration. Building on these inputs, the co-facilitators proposed a second version of the draft declaration.