On 12 October, UN Environment and GLOBE EU co-organized a high-level event, at the European Parliament, on the preparations for the Third UN Environment Assembly that will take place in Nairobi on 4-6 December 2017. About 100 participants at the event heard introductory presentations from Erik Solheim (Head of UN Environment), Jorge Rodriguez Romero (Deputy Head of the Multilateral Environmental Cooperation at DG Environment), Ado Lӧhmus (Deputy Secretary General of the Estonian Presidency and EU Chief Negotiator for the Environment Assembly), Leida Rijnhout (Co-Chair of the Major Group Facilitating Committee at the Assembly), and Jeff Wooster (Global Sustainability Director for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics). The event was kicked off by Seb Dance and moderated by Paul Brannen, both Members of the European Parliament.
Since “pollution is the biggest killer of humans” globally, it is by definition a “citizen issue”, according to Erik Solheim. But “we have been late with communicating this fact”. There is still insufficient awareness amongst citizens in terms of the impact of their actions have on their own health and quality of life, as well as on the environment. Nevertheless, Jorge Rodriguez Romero pointed out that “6 out of 10 issues citizens raise are related to pollution” – which is why the EU is soon launching a new Plastic Strategy for the EU.
All participants underlined that not one person, country or region can combat the implications of this manmade disaster alone. Erik Solheim underlined the importance of working jointly together at different levels and across national borders through citizen action, political leadership and new businesses strategies to tackle pollution. He mentioned the UN Environment ‘BreatheLife’ and ‘Clean Seas’ campaigns as examples of how individuals can become more involved and act on the ground. To governments he stressed that there are many different ways of action, depending on the national circumstances. Kenya has already banned plastic bags, whereas France has recently launched the Global Environment Pact, and these are complementary actions. Erik Solheim’s message to businesses was clear: “there is no limit to what businesses can achieve,” so “make better plastics!”.
When asked about the impact of the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, Solheim told the audience to “forget about the USA” for the moment, and instead focus on China, which is currently “driving climate action” globally. In order to move towards a pollution-free planet, Europe, China and India will need to take the lead and tackle one of the largest challenges facing the world today. Many parts of the business community sector is already starting to identify innovative and resource-efficient ways of delivering products and services. Jeff Wooster from Dow Chemicals also underlined that although businesses may not always welcome government interventions, most companies now recognize the “need for enforcement” in the field of environment.
Ado Lӧhmus from the EU Presidency underlined that the EU is engaging heavily in negotiations on a ministerial declaration and several specific decisions to tackle pollution globally, and preparing a long list of concrete voluntary commitments to present at the Assembly. Nevertheless, according to Leida
Reijnhout, the global community is still slow in dealing with the “consequences of our throwaway lifestyle”. She believes that the Assembly “should focus on what nations can do” rather than promoting private sector interests, and that it needs to become “more present and pushy” if we want real and lasting change to come about.
For more information please contact ceila.afande@un.org or click here to make your pledge to beat pollution.
