Reykjavík process and the Environment

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.

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May 2023

Reykjavík summit

The 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe took place in Reykjavík, on 16 and 17 May 2023. The leaders decided to establish a Register of damage caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine and agreed to strengthen the Council of Europe and its work in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law by adopting a declaration on the situation of the children of Ukraine, democracy principles, recommitting to the European Convention on Human Rights and developing tools to tackle emerging challenges in the area of technology and the environment.

The Reykjavík Declaration included a whole Appendix (V) on "The Council of Europe and the environment", and underlined “the urgency of taking co-ordinated action to protect the environment, by countering the impact of the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity” on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, while committing the Council of Europe to strengthening its work “on the human rights aspects of the environment” and initiate “the Reykjavík process of strengthening the work of the Council of Europe in this field”. On this occasion, Heads of State and Government, also affirmed that “a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of human rights by present and future generations.”

Jan. 2024

January 2024

Secretariat reorganised

The Secretariat was reorganised in order to enhance and better co-ordinate the existing Council of Europe activities related to the environment, with the creation of a new Directorate of Social Rights, Health and Environment including a Department on “the Reykjavík process and the environment” in DGI.

Creation of the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce

Further to the Reykjavík Summit Declaration and its Appendix V, the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce was created by the Secretary General in January 2024 to help focus, streamline and coordinate the Organisation’s activities, making the environment a visible priority, with a view to promoting co-operation among member States.

1st meeting of the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce on the Environment

The taskforce aimed to prepare proposals to the Committee of Ministers to identify the challenges raised by the triple planetary crisis of pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity for human rights and the protection of the environment and contribute to the development of common responses thereto.

Feb. 2024

February 2024

2^nd meeting of the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce on the Environment

The Inter-Secretariat Task Force on the Environment carried out a stocktaking survey of existing activities, planned activities, and proposals for new ones. The results were presented and discussed at the 2nd meeting of the Task Force on 19 February 2024. Exchanges of views with the Organisation’s external and liaison offices were also held on this occasion.

Exchange of views with the CM Rapporteur Group on Human Rights

The Director of Social Rights, Health and Environment, Rafael Benitez, had an exchange of views with the CM Rapporteur Group on Human Rights (GR-H) on 20 February 2024. The exchange concerned the implementation of the Reykjavík process and the environment.

Mar. 2024

March 2024

3rd meeting of the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce on the Environment

The representatives of CINGO and the Advisory Council on Youth shared their views on the “Elements for the elaboration of a Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment”. The members of the Task Force shared and examined several proposals for the elaboration of the Strategy and approved a final version for transmission to the Private Office of the Secretary General.

May 2024

133rd Session of the Committee of Ministers, 16-17 May 2024

On 17 May 2024, the Committee of Ministers welcomed the annual report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe “Our Rights, Our Future” (SG(2024)1). It endorsed the report “Reykjavík – one year on”, as it appears in document CM(2024)75, and, with a view to the continued implementation of the Reykjavík Declaration, adopted the following decisions related to the Council of Europe and the environment: […]

“United in our vision for the Council of Europe – The Europe we want

The Council of Europe and the environment

28. welcomed the strengthening of work related to human rights and the environment across the Council of Europe and encouraged in particular the completion as soon as possible of a study on the need for and feasibility of a further instrument or instruments in the field of human rights and the environment and of the draft Council of Europe Convention on Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law;

29. with a view to implementing the Reykjavík process, invited its Deputies to set up an ad hoc intergovernmental multidisciplinary group to prepare a Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and a related action plan;

30. strongly encouraged member States to implement its Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)20 on human rights and the protection of the environment and invited its Deputies to continue working on the implementation of Appendix V to the Reykjavík Declaration; [...]"

From CM/Del/Dec(2024)133/2b – 133rd Session of the Committee of Ministers (Strasbourg, 17 May 2024) - 2. United around our values – b. Implementation of the Reykjavík Declaration

4th meeting of the Inter-Secretariat Taskforce on the Environment

The Inter-Secretariat Task Force on the Environment held its 4th meeting on 24 May. It reviewed the implementation of the ongoing activities of the Organisation in the field and considered the Declaration and decisions adopted by the Ministers at the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers on 17 May. The Committee considered in particular the preparations for the work of the intergovernmental multidisciplinary group on environment (GME), which will be set up by the Committee of Minister’s Deputies to prepare a Council of Europe Strategy on the Environment and a related action plan.

Second half of 2024

Elaboration of the strategy and a related action plan

A Council of Europe Strategy and related action plan will be elaborated in the second half of 2024 by an intergovernmental Multidisciplinary Group on Environment.

July 2024

Side Event at the 2024 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development: Charting the way forward: Combating the impact of climate change on human rights, 11 July 2024, New-York

Organised by the Council of Europe and Lithuania, this side event discussed crucial questions with high-level panellists from the Council of Europe, the current and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, the Vice-President of the Lithuanian Consumers Alliance, MPs, representatives of local and regional authorities, INGOs and young people:
• How to form constructive and resilient partnerships to effectively counter the impact of the triple planetary crisis on human rights and democracy?
• What priority areas for action to accelerate the legal anchoring and the effective implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment?
• In the face of accelerating climate change, how can we guarantee the human rights of current and future generations? (Please see more information here)

Sep. 2024

September 2024

First Meeting of the new Council of Europe Environment Governmental Committee

The Ad hoc Multidisciplinary Group on Environment (GME) will hold its first meeting from 25 to 27 September 2024 in Strasbourg. 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.