The participants are encouraged to attend the meeting in person. Those who registered but could not travel to Geneva will be able to listen to the meeting remotely without presenting possibility. To connect to the meeting remotely, the link to the Zoom platform will be provided to the registered participants shortly before the meeting.

The organization of work will be as follows:

4 April 2023, 3–6 p.m. Geneva time

5 April 2023, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 3 –6 p.m. Geneva time.

Each session will feature brief introductory presentations sharing experiences of the Parties to the Convention and stakeholders related to the agenda items followed by contributors’ interventions and interactive discussion.

Delegates who are interested to make a presentation or intervention at the meeting are kindly invited to contact the secretariat (public.participation[at]un.org) as soon as possible, before 6 March 2023, briefly outlining the title and focus of the presentation or intervention with relation to the agenda items.

Interpretation in Russian, French and English will be provided. Interpretation for remote statements will be available only for 30 min per 3 h and it is reserved for the invited speakers who cannot attend for serious reasons.

The list of speakers will be released shortly before the meeting.

Written input

Participants may wish to submit their written statements regarding the recent developments related to access to justice in environmental matters and summaries of cases related to climate change, biodiversity protection and energy-related cases which may have precedence in the legal system (see the template and other details from http://www.unece.org/env/pp/tfaj/jurisprudenceplatform.html ) in electronic form to the secretariat (public.participation[at]un.org) prior to the meeting, before 6 March 2023.

All participants are requested to register online as soon as possible through the link below:

https://indico.un.org/e/15TFAJ

Deadline for registration with financial support: 15 February 2023.

The secretariat will be in a position to support limited number of judges, representatives of judicial training institutions, experts with relevant expertise and representatives from countries with economies in transition, eligible for financial support, selected speakers and NGOs.  Please indicate your request in Indico registration form by the deadline. Representative of Governments are also requested to upload in Indico the duly signed financial support request form available on the meeting’s webpage.

Deadline for registration without financial support: 20 March 2023

We recommend using Google Chrome browser for the online meeting registration. Please ensure that you provide us with your contacts (e.g. postal address, email address) which can be made publicly available through the list of participants.

When registering, please select your preferred participation type to indicate whether you plan to attend in-person or participate remotely and request visa support.

To ensure that you receive all important correspondence about the meeting and all required practical and other arrangements on time, we urge representatives of Governments and stakeholders to register online as soon as possible, even if you hold UNOG ground entry pass.

Delegates are requested to modify registration any time after the registration is submitted in case of changes in their actual remote or onsite participation and other details provided in the registration form.

Provisional agenda is available below. Other meeting documents will be uploaded here as soon as they become available.

The background material for the meeting includes relevant information derived from 2021 synthesis and national implementation reports, survey on measures to enable effective access to justice in environmental matters and analytical studies, the Convention-related case law database as well as the Convention’s Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, relevant Compliance Committee reports, and other material.

Additional material by partners:

Item 2 (a):  Climate Litigation in Europe: A summary report for the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment

Item 2 (b): Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP/15/L25)

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting.

Provisional agenda is available below. Other meeting documents will be uploaded here as soon as they become available.

The background material for the meeting includes relevant information derived from 2021 synthesis and national implementation reports, survey on measures to enable effective access to justice in environmental matters and analytical studies, the Convention-related case law database as well as the Convention’s Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, relevant Compliance Committee reports, and other material.

Additional material by partners:

Item 2 (a):  Climate Litigation in Europe: A summary report for the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment

Item 2 (b): Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP/15/L25)

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting.

Provisional agenda is available below. Other meeting documents will be uploaded here as soon as they become available.

The background material for the meeting includes relevant information derived from 2021 synthesis and national implementation reports, survey on measures to enable effective access to justice in environmental matters and analytical studies, the Convention-related case law database as well as the Convention’s Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, relevant Compliance Committee reports, and other material.

Additional material by partners:

Item 2 (a):  Climate Litigation in Europe: A summary report for the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment

Item 2 (b): Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP/15/L25)

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting.

Provisional agenda is available below. Other meeting documents will be uploaded here as soon as they become available.

The background material for the meeting includes relevant information derived from 2021 synthesis and national implementation reports, survey on measures to enable effective access to justice in environmental matters and analytical studies, the Convention-related case law database as well as the Convention’s Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, relevant Compliance Committee reports, and other material.

Additional material by partners:

Item 2 (a):  Climate Litigation in Europe: A summary report for the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment

Item 2 (b): Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP/15/L25)

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting.

Provisional agenda is available below. Other meeting documents will be uploaded here as soon as they become available.

The background material for the meeting includes relevant information derived from 2021 synthesis and national implementation reports, survey on measures to enable effective access to justice in environmental matters and analytical studies, the Convention-related case law database as well as the Convention’s Implementation Guide, relevant Aarhus Clearinghouse resources, relevant Compliance Committee reports, and other material.

Additional material by partners:

Item 2 (a):  Climate Litigation in Europe: A summary report for the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment published by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment

Item 2 (b): Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP/15/L25)

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting.

COVID-19 information

Delegates are requested to check COVID-19-related rules regularly and prior to arrival to the meeting venue:

for entering Switzerland: https://www.bag.admin.ch/bag/en/home/krankheiten/ausbrueche-epidemien-pandemien/aktuelle-ausbrueche-epidemien/novel-cov/empfehlungen-fuer-reisende/quarantaene-einreisende.html#1918240392 

for Palais des Nations: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/covid-19

Delegated are also requested to check all requirements regarding medical and other relevant insurance prior to the travel. Please be informed that any medical, quarantine or other possible expenses will be borne by your Organisation and/or insurance, as the United Nations do not take any responsibility for possible consequences of the present COVID-19 situation. 

Equipment and software

As per usual practice, the meeting is paperless. ALL participants are urged to bring with them the following equipment:

• Laptop computer (fully charged)
• Adaptor to enable laptops to be connected to the power sockets in Switzerland. Electric current in Switzerland is 230V/50Hz. Sockets fit type C (2-pin) and Type J (3-pin) plugs;
• Long charging cable as the meeting room has limited accessibility to the sockets;
• Have access to the e-mail address included in Indico when completing the registration procedure, so that the secretariat can send correspondence relating to the meetings.

Drinking water

You can drink tap water at the Palais des Nations. As there will be no drinking water served in the meeting room, we encourage delegates to bring reusable bottles or containers for tap water. You can fill them at the drinking water fountain in the Serpent Bar next to the meeting room.

For additional practical information, please consult:  www.unece.org/env/pp/practical

Luggage

Delegates are only allowed to enter the Palais with what is considered as carry-on luggage, e.g. computer bags, rucksacks and hand bags.  There is no luggage storage available at the Palais. Delegates remain responsible for the luggage they bring to the Palais throughout their stay.