U.N. needs more muscle in environment fight: study

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations needs to beef up and better coordinate efforts to help fight threats such as climate change, deforestation or over-fishing, two experts said on Thursday.

The world's system of green agencies and treaties is "bewildering" and while the international body's efforts are considerable they are diffused by having many organizations overseeing one aspect or another, the experts said.

"There is an urgent need for an environmental organization within the U.N. system with the influence to realize change and to stand side by side with strong organizations such as the World Trade Organization and World Health Organization," Italy's Stefania Prestigiacomo and Kenya's John Michuki said.

They are the environment ministers of Italy and Kenya, respectively, and co-chairs of a group considering U.N. environmental reform.

"Global environmental crises, from vanishing biodiversity and degrading forests to collapsing fish stocks and climate change, will not be solved without some tough thinking about international governance," they wrote in an opinion article.

They did not propose any specific agency for the role, but in the U.N. system, the Nairobi-based U.N. Environment Program is now the main authority, although its budget is low by U.N. standards at about $200 million a year.

Efforts to combat global warming, meanwhile, are overseen by the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat in Bonn. Among others, the secretariat for safeguarding biological diversity is based in Montreal and another for wildlife trade is in Geneva.

CUT COSTS