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Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF)
Major Groups and Stakeholders cautioned that the proposed Medium-Term Strategy for the UN Environment Programme does not sufficiently commit to protect the human right to a healthy environment and should give more attention to the interface between human and planetary health, among other proposals.
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Policy Councils Meeting 2021
Although local governments are at the forefront of responding to pressing challenges, such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, they often face constraints limiting their ability to respond to peoples’ needs. The UCLG Policy Councils aims to help local governments overcome some of these challenges.
Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) Mayors Mechanism Networking Meeting: Enabling Local Solutions for Inclusive COVID-19 Response and Recovery
The session hosted by the Mayors Mechanism of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) highlighted the need for participation of local and regional governments in the development of migration policies, review of often restrictive national legal frameworks, and direct access by local and regional governments to international funding, in the particular context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
16th Meeting of the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee to the Stockholm Convention (POPRC-16)
With three potential persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under review and substantial technical work related to implementation of its past recommendations, the Committee successfully completed its full pre-COVID-19 pandemic agenda to avoid delaying action on issues that pose risks to human health and/or the environment.
Climate Ambition Summit 2020
On the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the United Nations, United Kingdom, and France, in partnership with Chile and Italy, co-convened a high-level event to mobilize government and non-governmental leaders to demonstrate their commitment to the Paris Agreement and the multilateral process.
59th Meeting of the GEF Council
The Council meetings included extensive discussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, deliberating the pandemic’s impact on project management, and considered a white paper by the GEF COVID-19 Task Force outlining how environmental action can reduce future threats of disease outbreak. The GEF Council also endorsed a new private sector engagement strategy, outlining how the GEF will work in a systematic manner with industry groups, companies, and investors to reverse unsustainable global trends and deliver global environmental benefits.
12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention (Part I) and 32nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol
As the meeting closed, delegates agreed that the meeting sent an important signal that despite difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the goals of the Montreal Protocol are well on track and, while virtual meetings are difficult, they showed that if something should be done, it can be done.
UN Climate Change Dialogues 2020
With COP 26 delayed due to COVID-19, the UNFCCC decided to hold a series of virtual events to keep climate action and momentum alive, implement mandated events for 2020, and discuss ongoing and emerging issues, such as a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
2nd Extraordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD ExCOP 2)
Parties adopted an interim budget for the Biodiversity Convention, the Cartagena Protocol, and the Nagoya Protocol since the current budget runs out on 31 December 2020 and there is a pressing need to keep the Secretariat operating and enable parties to pay their dues in 2021.