All together with one aim: a sustainable future

New body is world's vehicle for driving global work on environment priorities

The environment takes center stage at a landmark meeting in Nairobi, home of the United Nations Environment Programme, for five days from June 23.

Environment ministers and government representatives from 193 UN member states and major groups will gather for the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly, a body designed to place environmental issues at the heart of the global agenda.

The UNEA strikes new ground. It is a subsidiary assembly of the UN General Assembly and is aimed at allowing environmental issues to have a similar status to those of peace, security, finance, health and trade. Mandated to determine policy and catalyze international action, the UNEA represents the world's political and strategic vehicle for driving global work on environmental priorities.

The universal membership assembly, which replaced the UNEP's Governing Council, reflects the commitment of world leaders at Rio+20 to strengthen and upgrade the UNEP as "the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, that promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the UN system and that serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment".

The UNEA will tackle diverse environmental challenges and emerging issues of global, regional and national significance. Such challenges will affect the extent to which governments and other stakeholders can successfully implement sustainable development at different levels.

The UNEA's first session is expected to provide leadership on global environmental policy and continue to keep the world environment under review, a mandate first conferred upon the UNEP's Governing Council by the 1972 UN General Assembly resolution 2997 and later enhanced through the Rio+20 document The Future We Want.

One of the main themes of the UNEA's first session will be "Sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda, including sustainable consumption and production". Deliberations are intended to contribute to the formulation of a set of targets and indicators on sustainable development goals.

Ministers will also discuss the illegal trade in wildlife and timber, an issue generating increasing global attention and action.

The UNEA will also provide a forum for examining crucial processes in environmental action such as the relationship between policy and science and the strengthened engagement of major groups and other stakeholders.

A set of symposiums will be organized on this historic occasion: a symposium on the rule of law will bring together legislators and decision makers, along with key civil society organizations in debates on recent developments linked to international environmental governance.

Another will look at how the global financial system can contribute to the green economy and what makes the green economy work for financial systems. This symposium will bring together professionals in finance, policymakers and environmental economists, and it is hoped they will identify opportunities in and hindrances to green investment.

The first UNEA session is a historic event that is set to define not only the future of the UNEP for the next few decades, but also to provide a framework in which sustainable development can take place.

For the UN system, the Environment Assembly embodies the notion that challenges are best tackled and opportunities realized when the community of nations and citizens of the world join forces to promote economic prosperity, social equity and environmental sustainability in a holistic manner.

As such, the UNEA is not just an expanded UNEP Governing Council, but symbolizes a fundamental change of scope as it plays its role in serving as the world's authoritative voice on environmental matters in the UN.

In the Environment Assembly, every member state has a voice on environmental sustainability.

A strong showing of ministers from all regions, complemented by the significant presence of the major groups and stakeholders, will help define the relevance of the UNEA well into the future, including strengthening the UNEP's regional presence for effective delivery of support to member states.

The author is UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/20/2014 page9)