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We recommend that international environmental governance should be strengthened and made more coherent in order to improve effectiveness and targeted action of environmental activities in the UN system. We recommend that as a basis for reforms toward improving system-wide coherence, an independent assessment of international environmental governance within the UN system and related reform, should be commissioned by the Secretary-General. We recommend that UNEP should be upgraded and have real authority as the environmental policy pillar of the UN system. We further recommend that UN entities should cooperate more effectively on a thematic basis and through partnerships, with a dedicated agency at the centre. The Global Environment Facility should be strengthened as the major financial mechanism for the global environment, to help developing countries build their capacity. It should have a significant increase in resources to address the challenge posed by climate change and other environmental issues. We have also made a number of recommendations to make sure the UN helps countries mainstream environment in their strategies and actions, to elevate the status of sustainable development in the UN institutional architecture and in country activities, and to achieve the needed balance among the three pillars (economic, social and environmental) of sustainable development.