The co-operation is designed to speed-up the delivery of the commitments made at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Areas selected for immediate cooperation include:
- sustainable production and consumption,
- assistance to developing countries in reaching environmental-related targets,
- supporting the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements (1992 convention on biodiversity and agreements on regional seas),
- global access to clean water and sanitation,
- sustainable energy,
- chemicals.
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said "UNEP's mandate and goals match the EU's environmental policies. [...] By joining forces we will be in a better position to cope with today's environmental problems".
Last week, UNEP issued a global call to re-double efforts to assess the quantities of methyl bromide, an ozone-depleting pesticide used to kill pests on big export crop shipments.
