Highlights and images for 17 January 2019

Kenya

Summary

 

Highlights for Thursday, 17 January 2019

Co-Chairs Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Portugal, and Amal Mudallali, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon

On Thursday, the first substantive session of the Ad hoc Open-Ended Working Group heard a brief report on the progress of deliberations this week in Nairobi. Co-Chair Francisco Duarte Lopes, Portugal, reported that many delegations had recognized the existence of gaps and challenges while others held different views, and further efforts would be needed to establish which gaps need to be addressed as part of the AHWG mandate. Delegates began to consider arrangements for a second substantive session in Nairobi. Lopes proposed to delegates that the provisional agenda for the second session could feature consideration of possible options to address possible gaps in international environmental law (IEL) and environment-related instruments. The upcoming session would give delegations “space for sharing views” ahead of recommendations to the UNGA. Delegations and others, including civil society, were invited to provide further written inputs to the Co-Chairs, ideally by 20 February 2019. Discussion of various counter-proposals from delegations is to be taken up on Friday. Some voiced concerns about having enough time to prepare meaningful contributions to a second session. Delegates also began to consider the final chapter of the Secretary-General’s report, which focuses on conclusions. Among the issues raised were, inter alia:

  • Attitudes to the Secretary-General’s report, and whether it had gone beyond its mandate;
  • Whether the case has begun to be made for bringing all IEL principles into a new international instrument (pact);
  • The contribution of non-binding and national-level approaches to environmental law, including the Stockholm and Rio Declarations;
  • Limiting a new instrument to areas of IEL with no current institutional home;
  • The AHWG’s need for new information inputs, including a comprehensive analysis of IEL principles and environment-related instruments; and
  • Possible recommendations to the UNGA to encourage related work on IEL.

IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, is providing daily web coverage and will provide a summary and analysis report from the 1st Substantive Session of the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group Towards a Global Pact for the Environment.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

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Shard Sapra, India, with Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet, France
Camila Zepeda Lizama, Mexico, and Lino Santacruz Moctezuma, Mexico
Alexandra Gonzales Arguedas, and Marta Juarez Ruiz, Costa Rica
Melissa Cotterill, Australia
Alassane Conte, Guinea
Delegates from the GRULAC region conferring during a break.
Raza Bashir Tarar, Pakistan
Fernando Coimbra, Brazil
Victoria Sulimani, Sierra Leone
Feng Xu, China
Tom Okurut, Uganda
Dragan Županjevac, Serbia
Birthe Ivars, Norway
Troy Torrington, Guyana
Maribe Mujinga Nsompo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Abdu al-Sharif and Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia
Lazhar Soualem, Algeria
Mariline Diara, Senegal
Vigen Ananyan, Armenia
Nassira Rheyati, Morocco
From L-R: Oleg Senchenko, Russian Federation; Lori Dando, US; Ian Naumkin, Russian Federation
Antonio Benjamin, International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL)
Raoul Renard, International Chamber of Commerce
Alphonce Muia and Hellen Mugo, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa (CYNESA)
Lori Dando, US, with Co-Chair Amal Mudallali, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lebanon
From L-R: Antonio Benjamin, ICEL; Fernando Coimbra, Brazil; and Vinicius Trindade, Brazil
Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia, with Jamil Ahmad, UN Environment (UNEP)
Martin Gronda, Argentina, and Vigen Ananyan, Armenia
Stadler Trengove, UN Legal Officer, discussing with the IISD Reporting Services team.
Around the venue

 

Participants

Negotiating blocs
Latin American and Caribbean Group
Non-state coalitions
Youth