Lessons Learned from the BRS Conventions Synergies Process, Which Could be Applied to the UNEP-Administered and Extended to Selected Other Biodiversity Conventions

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 A Series of Governance Papers by Stakeholder Forum,

Focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Triple Planetary Crisis

Paper 9: Lessons Learned from the BRS Conventions Synergies Process, Which Could be Applied to the UNEP-Administered and Extended to Selected Other Biodiversity Conventions

 


By Craig Boljkovac[i], Hugo-Maria Schally[ii], and Felix Dodds[iii]

This was first published in March 2026.

The opinions set forth below are the author's own.

Introduction

The UN80 process is a major United Nations reform effort launched in 2025 to modernise the organisation for its 80th anniversary, focusing on making it more efficient, agile, and effective by streamlining structures, reducing bureaucracy, and better aligning programs with current global challenges like climate change, conflict, and technological shifts. UN80 has three key workstreams with Member States making final decisions on proposals. The three workstreams are:

  1. Improving Internal Efficiency: Identifying immediate cost-reduction and process streamlining in the Secretariat.
  2. Mandate Implementation Review: Analysing the effectiveness and implementation of mandates given by Member States.
  3. Structural Changes & Programmatic Realignment: Considering deeper changes to the UN's structure and program focus.

This paper addresses all three and builds on the work initiated by former UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer on clustering Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). This work was continued by his successor Achim Steiner as member states engaged in a process for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, culminating in a joint set of recommendations/decisions that effectively realised “synergies”.

Full paper available here.

Other papers in the series include:


[i] Craig Boljkovac is a Geneva-based Senior Advisor with a Regional Centre for the Basel and Stockholm Conventions, and an independent international environmental consultant with over 35 years of experience in relevant fields. He was formerly head of the Chemicals and Wastes Programme at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Policy Advisor at WWF-Canada, and Director of Environment at the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (now known as “Inuit Tapirisat Kanatami, ITK”). Craig has participated in several INCs and related meetings for the global plastics agreement.  This paper is an expanded version of a blog entry that was first published in September 2025. The opinions set forth below are his own.

[ii] Hugo-Maria Schally is the former Head of the Multilateral Environmental Cooperation Unit at the Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission. He was coordinating and developing the EC's work in collaboration with international 7 environmental organisations and multilateral environmental agreements, and the links between trade and environment. He was also in charge of EU policies and legislation regarding global deforestation and forest degradation, international trade in wildlife, and access to and sharing of the benefits derived from the utilisation of genetic resources. He was engaged in negotiating multilateral environmental agreements and global conferences, such as UNCED 1992, Rio+20, UNFCCC, UNCBD, and the international Ozone Treaties, and also served as president of the Implementation Committee of the Montreal Protocol.

[iii] Felix Dodds is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina's Water Institute and a consultant advising stakeholders on United Nations engagement. He has written or edited 26 books, including Heroes of Environmental Diplomacy (Routledge, 2022), Tomorrow’s People and New Technologies (Routledge, 2021), and Negotiating the Sustainable Development Goals (Routledge, 2016). Felix was also a key contributor to the UN's sustainable development initiatives, including chairing the 2011 UN DPI NGO conference that proposed the first Sustainable Development Goals.

 

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