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About InforMEA

What is InforMEA?

InforMEA is the United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements. It is a one-stop portal for information on Multilateral Environmental Agreements – or MEAs - searchable by key terms across treaty texts, COP decisions, national plans and reports, laws, court decisions and more.

  • See the InforMEA flyer here for a concise overview of InforMEA, and the videos below which provide a more detailed insight into what InforMEA is all about. 

InforMEA Explainers

An Introduction to InforMEA - 2019

 

 

Protecting Peatlands - how InforMEA works

Peatlands cover just 3% of the earth's surface yet by some estimates absorb more carbon than all the world's forests combined, and provide many other essential ecosystem services. Protecting peatlands is therefore a critical environmental challenge. This video explains how to use InforMEA to understand the full spectrum of MEA actions on peatlands to create synergies, identify complementary needs, and seize opportunities offered by environmental law.

The Buzz about Town - how InforMEA can help to protect the bees

We are losing bees at an alarming rate. The causes are complex and interlinked, ranging from habitat loss from intensive farming and land use change, to the increased spread of parasites and pathogens, the use of chemical pesticides, and climate change. A comprehensive and coherent response to this issue requires policymakers to be aware of the existing policies and mechanisms MEAs have in place concerning the different drivers and consequences of pollinator loss.

 

Tackling Plastic Pollution - how InforMEA works

As a global issue requiring a global response, the legal and policy framework provided by Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), international goals and policies, and national legislation is essential to meet the challenges posed by plastic. This video shows how to use InforMEA to search and retrieve all this diverse and scattered information to understand how the international community seeks to tackle this cross-cutting and highly relevant issue.

 

 Tutorials

The InforMEA Newsletter  - Access Information on Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Infographics

 

The InforMEA Initiative

The initiative behind InforMEA is co-chaired by UNEP and CITES and brings together 22 MEA Secretariats hosted by 5 UN organizations and IUCN, in addition to observers and partners, to develop harmonized and interoperable information systems for the benefit of parties and the environment community at large. InforMEA is facilitated by UNEP and financially supported by the European Union. The MEA Steering Committee meets annually and provides strategic direction. It also has a Working Group which meets periodically during the year and is responsible for the technical implementation of projects. All Steering Committee and Working Group meeting reports are available here. 

 

Stakeholders

The MEA IKM initiative currently includes 86 international and regional legally binding instruments from 28 Secretariats hosted by three UN organizations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Initiative invites and welcomes the participation of observers involved with MEA data and information, such as the Environmental Management Group (EMG), the European Environment Agency (EEA), The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO),  Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), IUCN, the UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).