Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission and the United Nations Environment Programme

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner and EU Commissioner for Environment Janez Potočnik signed on 25 June in Nairobi, a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce the collaboration between the European Commission and UNEP in the field of environment and climate change.

The agreement - signed in the margins of the first United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi - lays the basis for strengthened cooperation between UNEP and the European Commission at global and regional levels. It builds upon a previous MoU signed in 2004. 

The new MoU reflects the two institutions' shared priorities and responds to the outcome of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012, which strengthened the role of UNEP as the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda. It will contribute to a coherent and comprehensive approach to sustainable development and poverty eradication within the Post-2015 Agenda, and strengthen both Parties' capacity to ensure that environmental concerns are better reflected in broader policy-making.