UNEA Flagship Side Events

During the resumed Fifth Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2), side events focused on “Strengthening actions for nature to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” and the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The ENB team provided daily reports on a number of Flagship Events from 28 February to 4 March. These events were organized by UN organizations and governments, including the UK, Germany, Rwanda, Kenya, Portugal and the Amsterdam Declaration Partnership countries.

In a signature event celebrating UNEP’s 50th anniversary, participants joined UNEP’s Inger Andersen, Global Environment Fund (GEF) CEO Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, and the heads of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) and Minamata Conventions together to take a deep dive into the future of multilateral action through the lens of the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework’s vision of “living in harmony with nature by 2050.” 

The series of Flagship Events culminated in a celebration of the administrative role UNEP has played during 35 years of implementation and compliance mechanisms established under Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

The events covered by ENB include:

• UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: From Commitments to Actions for Nature;
• Steps of a Participatory Approach Towards a New Global Agreement on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution;
• Time for Action: Integrated Efforts for a Healthy Planet and People;
• World Environment Situation Room; and
• 35 years of compliance mechanisms under Multilateral Environmental Agreements.