UN proposes WTO-style environment watchdog

A global environmental watchdog modelled on the powerful World Trade Organisation (WTO) could be formed as part of any international climate change treaty, according to environment ministers meeting in Bali last week who agreed to form a new working group to investigate proposed reforms to environmental governance procedures.

Speaking to reporters at the close of the meeting, Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), signalled there was growing support for the formation of a new World Environment Organisation (WEO).

"The status quo... is no longer an option," he said of the current international environmental governance regime. "Within the broader reform options, the WEO concept is one of them."

He added that the 135 nations present at the meeting had agreed to establish a new high-level ministerial group to assess proposed reforms, which will convene within a few months.

Concerns over environmental governance emerged as one of the main sticking points at last year's Copenhagen Summit, where US negotiators insisted that countries should agree to some form of inspection scheme designed to ensure they are making good on commitments to cut emissions. The proposals drew an angry response from emerging economies such as China, which insisted that any such regime would impinge upon their sovereignty.

Any proposals for a WEO are likely to face similar concerns and Steiner was unable to provide details as to whether the proposed watchdog would have the power to impose punitive measures against countries that breach environmental rules in a manner similar to the WTO.

However, the formation of the new working group, which comes just days after the launch of a similar group tasked with investigating approaches to increasing flows of climate funding for developing countries, will fuel optimism that international n egotiations are regaining momentum after the Copenhagen Summit.

The UNEP meeting closed with the release of a formal declaration for the first time in 10 years, which set out a series of detailed policies, including commitments to ensure earthquake-stricken Haiti is redeveloped in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Significantly, the declaration also proposed that environment ministers meet again in June to discuss plans to develop a panel of scientists similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to address biodiversity challenges.