The twenty-fourth session of the UNECE CEP took place on 29 - 31 January 2019 in  Geneva and attracted over 50 participants from across the pan-European region, as well as the Romanian Presidency, DG ENV, EEA, representatives from WHO, UN Environment, EcoForum, OECD, UNECE and the conventions.

 The Committee on Environmental Policy (CEP) is the overall governing body of the UNECE environmental activities. CEP works to support countries to enhance their environmental governance and trans boundary cooperation as well as strengthen implementation of the UNECE regional environmental commitments and advance sustainable development in the region. 

The main aim of CEP is to assess countries' efforts to reduce their overall pollution burden and manage their natural resources, to integrate environmental and socioeconomic policies, to strengthen cooperation with the international community, to harmonize environmental conditions and policies throughout the region and to stimulate greater involvement of the public and environmental discussions and decision-making. 

 Among the issues discussed at the 24th session were the mid-term review report on the establishment of the Shared Environmental Information System, the future pan-European assessment, implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, progress made in the 3rd cycle of the Environmental Performance Reviews, as well as activities to support countries in their efforts to green their economies and achieve sustainable development.

Agenda, meeting documents, background information and presentations from this session are available on the UNECE page.

In the margins of the UNECE CEP, the Executive Heads of UNECE, UNEP/Europe and the EEA met to refresh their commitment to sharing of environmental information across pan-European region. More information available here.