International

The JNCC provides advice on international, as well as national, nature conservation issues to a wide range of people and organisations, including Government and other statutory agencies.

Much of the international work of JNCC relates to providing advice on the implementation of international Conventions (often known as Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements or MEAs) and to policies developed by the European Union and Council of Europe.

 

The principal customers for advice on MEAs are Government departments such as the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. JNCC input includes the provision of objective, high quality scientific advice, participating in UK delegations to Conferences of the Parties or their subsidiary committees, collating formal reports of UK activities and more specialised inputs, such as advising on CITES permits. We may also support the implementation of these agreements in the UK and abroad, either through commissioning relevant research, publishing and disseminating reports, and contributing to policy formulation.

 

JNCC may is also advisory on wider international issues. such as on the implementation of MEAs and related conservation initiatives within the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies of the UK. In particular, we support, through the provision of advice to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the implementation of environment charters signed by the governments of the UK and the Overseas Territories. We also act as the UK focus for links to the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF), a working group of the Arctic Council to which the UK is an observer.

 

Most policy and legislation affecting the environment in the UK originate in the European Union. Accordingly, it is vital that JNCC is both aware of developments that may have implications for biodiversity and is able to supply relevant advice and expertise to assist with the development and formulation of European policy to the benefit of nature conservation both in the UK and in the EU. In order to raise our profile and enhance our advice, JNCC and the UK conservation agencies established the UK Nature and Landscape Office (UKNLO) in Brussels in 2002.

 

The objective of our European work is to achieve long-term nature and landscape conservation benefits across the EU and beyond. Our current priorities at EU level are to:

 

• Influence EU and UK implementation of the Biodiversity Communication as a means of achieving the Gothenburg target of halting the decline of biodiversity.
• Integrate the environment into EU sectoral policies in order to move towards an environmentally sustainable economic and social way of life.
• Highlight the economic, social and cultural values of biodiversity and its importance to the quality of life of European citizens; and
• Advocate our concerns and positions on maritime, energy, climate change and land use policies.

 

JNCC’s involvement in European environmental policy also includes the provision of an intelligence gathering service to us and the country agencies. The intelligence service is currently contracted out to the London and Brussels based Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).

 

The International Unit of JNCC also provides the secretariat to the IUCN UK Committee and is acting as UK representative on EC scientific committees and Bern Convention fora.