World’s Leading Up-To-The-Minute Report on Environmental and Sustainable Development Negotiations Turns 25

NEW YORK CITY, March 14, 2017—The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB), the publication that changed how we learn about United Nations (UN) and multilateral negotiations, is celebrating its 25th birthday this month.

The ENB is a one-of-a-kind publication: a daily bulletin that, for 25 years, has offered unique access behind the scenes of negotiations, workshops and conferences on a variety of subjects in international environment and sustainable development policy and law.

“The ENB was crucial in creating transparency by opening up the doors of United Nations and other multilateral negotiations. For the first time, anyone could learn about what was happening during these meetings, in real time and in an accessible format. As a result, everyone can hold their governments accountable on these issues that have a direct impact on the lives and well-being of millions of citizens around the world,” said Langston James "Kimo" Goree VI, vice president and United Nations liaison, IISD Reporting Services.

The ENB was a grassroots endeavour started by three individuals who raised the funds to provide daily two-page briefing notes during the fourth UN Conference on Environment and Development preparatory meeting in March 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. It quickly became the “must read” publication each day, not just by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but by government delegates and UN Secretariat officials.

Now 25 years and 3,784 issues later, the ENB, published by IISD Reporting Services since 1993, has become one of the world’s leading up-to-the-minute records of major multilateral negotiations on the environment and sustainable development. From climate change to biodiversity, land degradation and desertification to endangered species, chemicals management and toxic wastes to fisheries, the ENB has been there.

Today the ENB is actively covering 27 different negotiating streams under the auspices of the UN system. Twenty-five years of archives and 20 years of photos are freely available, providing one of the most comprehensive and independent sources of digital records of UN environment and development negotiations.

Read by hundreds of thousands of people over the years, including government delegates, NGOs, media, academics, UN officials and the business community from all parts of the world, the ENB is available in print formats at meetings, is shared online via social media and email lists, and is cited in numerous academic publications.

“As impressive as the numbers are, for us, the ENB has always been about the people. The writers, editors, photographers, translators and other staff members (270, in fact, throughout the years) who work tirelessly and around the clock at international negotiations around the world are to thank for the ENB’s continued success,” said Goree VI.

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For more information, contact Sumeep Bath, media and communications officer, IISD, at sbath@iisd.ca or +1 (204) 958 7700 ext 740.