In pursuance of Governing Council decision 24 (III) of 30 April 1975 and General Assembly resolution 3436 (XXX) of 9 December 1975, under the terms of which both the Council and the Assembly are to be kept informed of any new international conventions concluded in the field of the environment and of the status of existing conventions, as well as Governing Council decision 66 (IV) of 13 April 1976, which requested the Executive Director to continue the systematic presentation of data and information relating to such conventions, the Register of international conventions and protocols in the field of the environment was first submitted to the Governing Council at its fifth session in May 1977, containing information on the status of 59 conventions and protocols.

From 1978 to 1983, the Register was completed by six supplements updating the original edition, which was followed by a consolidated compilation entitled Register of International Treaties and Other Agreements in the Field of the Environment made available to the Governing Council at its eleventh session held in May 1983. Since then, a revised Register and its supplements had been made available to the Governing Council as an official information document until its sixteenth session.

As part of its efforts to strengthen the role and effectiveness of UNEP, the Governing Council, at its sixteenth session adopted decision 16/5 of 31 May 1991 concerning the rationalization of Governing Council documentation, by which the Council requested the Executive Director, inter alia, to continue to issue the Register and circulate to all Governments, but not as an official document of the Governing Council. The Governing Council, in its decision 18/25 of 25 May 1995, noting with appreciation the quality and usefulness of the Register, further requested the Executive Director to continue publication of the Register.

With the above background, and within the context of the Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law for the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century (Montevideo Programme III), the secretariat of UNEP, under its programme of work, has continued preparation of the Register as a means for promoting wider appreciation of international environmental law by disseminating relevant information regarding international treaties in the field of the environment.

This volume of the Register presents the information concerning 272 international treaties in the field of the environment and related instruments (such as amendments) on the basis of relevant information made available to the secretariat of UNEP, as at December 2005, from the Governments and international organizations acting as depositaries to the respective treaties.

Each section contains the following information for a treaty: title; objectives; a concise summary of the provisions of the treaty; membership; place of adoption; dates of adoption and entry into force; languages of the authentic texts of the treaty; depository; status of participation in the treaty; and, where applicable, the contact information of the secretariat of the treaty. The date of a formality (signature, ratification, etc.) is presented in order of day/month/year.

The information presented in this document should not be deemed as providing any interpretation of the treaties concerned or representing any of the functions of the respective depositories. Official and formal information concerning the treaties should be obtained from the Governments or organizations acting as depositories to the respective treaties.

The present volume contains a table of contents listing the treaties in a chronological order, as well as a list of the treaties clustered under certain subject areas.

Regarding the latter, it is merely intended to assist readers to locate treaties in the areas of their interest and does not imply any interpretation of the respective treaties or any views thereon by the secretariat of UNEP.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat of UNEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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