A new UN tool is set to improve access for policy makers, journalists, researchers and the general public to environmental treaties.

The Law and Environment Ontology (LEO) portal seeks to provide an overview of concepts, definitions and synonyms in conventions as well as the relationship between different Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

The tool draws from the Ecolex, Faolex and InforMEA information tools, which together cover more than 105 000 national laws, 2000 cases, more than 2000 global, regional and bilateral environmental conventions and 10 000 decisions of their governing bodies and more. Information is displayed in the form of maps, infographics and text.

“The tools this initiative developed reach much further than MEA constituency alone and are used particularly by young professionals and academics interested in environmental issues. It is the students of today who will play a major role in shaping the future of environmental law," Ms. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Director of UNEP’s Division of Environmental Law and Conventions.

UNEP, FAO, UNECE are among the UN bodies involved in ensuring LEO content remains accessible and up-to-date.

LEO was developed with support from the European Union and can be visited by clicking here.

For more information please click here
or contact eva.duer@unep.org.