The Ad Hoc Multidisciplinary Group on Environment (GME) will hold its first meeting from 25 to 27 September 2024 in Strasbourg. This GME marks a new step in the Council of Europe’s intensified efforts to address environmental challenges and their impact on human rights, as set forth in the Reykjavík Declaration adopted at the 4th Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government in May 2023. The Summit affirmed that “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of human rights by present and future generations.”
The GME was established by the Committee of Ministers on 17 May 2024, to develop a Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment. It forms part of the Reykjavík process, which aims to strengthen the Council’s commitment to protecting human rights in the face of the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss.
The GME will bring together representatives from its Member States, various bodies and sectors of the Organisation, as well as civil society, to ensure that the outcomes have a real and innovative impact.
At its first meeting, the GME will identify challenges of the triple planetary crisis: pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss, for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in member States, and discuss elements for the Strategy and lay the groundwork for future sessions.
For more details, please visit the dedicated webpage.
