On March 3 and 4, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which is the world’s most powerful decision-making body, celebrates its 50th anniversary. It brings together governments, businesses, and other stakeholders to address the global environmental challenges.
It will be preceded, in person, by the fifth session UN Environment assembly which will take place at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi from Feb 28 to March 2. This session will discuss policies to address urgent environmental issues.
UNEP was founded in 1972, following the landmark UN Conference on the Human Environment. UNEP’s mission is to monitor the environmental state, inform policymaking with science, and coordinate responses for the world’s environmental problems.
UNEP was established in 1997. Since then, it has worked closely with its 193 members and other stakeholders to mobilize worldwide commitments and coordinate action to address many of the most pressing environmental problems.
It was also the docking station for 15 multilateral agreements on environmental issues.
A spokesperson for UNEP told IANS that chemicals and waste management, marine litter, and a green recovery of Covid-19 are just some of the issues that the UN Environment Assembly will address when they meet for the reprised part of their fifth session.
Ministers of the Environment are expected to consider adopting a declaration on strengthening actions to protect nature in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
UNEP has coordinated an international effort to tackle the planet’s greatest environmental challenges for 50 years. This global collaboration has contributed to the repair of the ozone layer, the elimination of leaded fuel, and other environmental improvements.
UNEP’s convening powers and rigorous scientific research have provided a platform to countries to engage, take bold action and advance the global environmental agenda.
UNEP@50 has organized a year of activities and outreach events to celebrate UNEP’s 50th anniversary. These activities recognize the significant progress made in global environmental issues and address the challenges that lie ahead.
On October 2, 1973 Jomo Kenyatta was inaugurated as the first President of Kenya. UNEP moved to a new location in 1975 on the site of an abandoned coffee farm near Nairobi. It remains there today.
In Geneva, the Palais des Nations hosted the first meeting in June 1973.
UNEP’s landmark science-based assessment of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 shows the gap between the pledges of countries and the reductions necessary to achieve a global temperature rise of less than 2 degrees Celsius by the end.
UNEP’s Executive Director was Erik Solheim in 2016. Solheim, a Norwegian national, was the Executive Director of UNEP from May 2016 to November 2018. He championed efforts to reduce plastic pollution.
Joyce Msuya was named interim Executive Director after Solheim. Msuya, a Tanzanian national, held the position of interim Executive Director from November 2018 to June 2019.
Inger Andersen was appointed as the Executive Director in 2019. Dane, she is the eighth and current UNEP leader.
Andersen has more 30 years of experience in international economics, sustainability, strategy, and operations. She focuses UNEP on the triple planetary crisis: climate change, loss of nature and biodiversity, as well as pollution and waste.
What’s next after the world celebrates 50 years of the birth of the environment movement? Stockholm+50 –an international conference that will be held between June 2 and 3, — will focus on accelerating the implementation of the UN Decade of Action. This includes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.
The conference’s main theme is to achieve a sustainable, inclusive recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
AntAonio Guterres (UN Secretary-General) has described the triple planet crisis as “our most serious existential threat” and called for “an urgent, relentless effort to turn these things around”.
(Vishal Gulati may be reached at [email protected]
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(Only headline and photo of this report might have been reworked slightly by Business Standard staff; the rest is auto-generated from syndicated feeds.
