Working with international organisations

Negotiators meet at UNEP’s headquarters in Nairobi. Photo: Loïc Viatte

In our Nordic cooperative efforts we generate knowledge needed for EU work, for example. We also engage in European environmental cooperation with non-EU European countries, and in global cooperation to improve the environment for the poor as well as for ourselves.

Nordic cooperation

Increasingly the environmental working groups of the Nordic Council of Ministers are preparing input to EU deliberations on common Nordic issues. Topics studied include marine environmental regulations and environmental impact of products.

The Arctic Council

The main tasks of the Arctic Council are to protect the Arctic environment and to promote the economic, social and cultural development of the Arctic region.

The Barents Euro-Arctic Council

The focus of cooperation on the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) is Northwest Russia and the northernmost regions of the Nordic countries. The Council’s environmental group works to abate major emission sources in the region.

UNECE

The scope of environment cooperation by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) extends as far abroad as Central Asia. A long-term project of the UNECE is that of harmonising environmental legislation throughout Europe.

OECD

In its environmental role, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) analyses inter alia relations between environmental and economic development. It also conducts reviews of its members’ environmental policies.

UNEP

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) coordinates the development of global environmental programmes. We monitor in particular issues relating to the evaluation of the environment and to the early prediction of environmental degradation.