Further to the Reykjavík Summit Declaration and its Appendix V, by decision of the Secretary General, the Secretariat was reorganised in order to strengthen and better coordinate the existing activities of the Council of Europe related to the environment, with the creation of a new “Directorate of Social Rights, Health and Environment” and a new “Department on the Reykjavík Process and Environment” within DGI, to make the environment a visible priority for the Organisation, with a view to promoting co-operation among member States.

The Department set up an Inter-Secretariat Task Force on the Environment to help focus, streamline and coordinate the Organisation’s activities. It carried out a review of existing and planned environmental activities as well as proposals for new cross-sectoral initiatives within the Organisation. The collected information, presented as a compendium, constituted the basis for formulating proposals for elements of a Council of Europe strategy on the environment.

At the Ministerial session on 17 May 2024, the Committee of Ministers decided to entrust the elaboration of the strategy and an action plan to an ad hoc intergovernmental multidisciplinary group, namely : the Ad hoc Multidisciplinary group on the Environment (GME).