European Union

Highlights for Tuesday, 5 March 2019 View of the dais during the plenary session On Tuesday, the Open-ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) continued its discussions in preparation for the fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4), in plenary sessions that ran in parallel with working group negotiations throughout the day. Delegates discussed budget and programme performance of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), contributions to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), and the Sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), while working groups deliberated on the text of draft resolutions to be forwarded to UNEA-4.Highlights of the day included deliberations and debates in plenary and in working groups on: chemicals and waste; sustainable management of nitrogen; green business; food loss and waste; sustainable consumption and production in a circular economy; elements of the draft Ministerial Declaration; and the proposed programme of work and budget for the 2020-2021 biennium. For more details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage, daily reports, and a summary and analysis report from OECPR-4 and UNEA-4, which is available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Plenary Session Michael Spilsbury, UNEP Jorge Laguna-Celis, Secretary, Secretariat of Governing Bodies, UNEP, and Sonja Leighton-Kone, UNEP Miriam Ott, Germany, and Marta Juárez Ruiz, Costa Rica Agus Justianto, Indonesia Erik Lundberg, Finland Gary Lewis, UNEP Sonja Leighton-Kone, UNEP Martin Gronda, Argentina Elizabeth Taylor, Colombia Milorad Šćepanović, Montenegro Nassira Rheyati, Morocco Working Group 1 - Innovative Solutions for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production Co-facilitators Erik Lundberg, Finland, and Koleka Anita Mqulwana, South Africa Tobias Cabani, Germany, and Pavel Cristian Vlaicu, Romania Suzan Moh'd Al Ajjawi, Bahrain Patrick Luna, Brazil Working Group 2 - Resource Efficiency, Chemicals and Waste Co-facilitator Marcus Davies, Canada Noluzuko Gwayi, South Africa Working Group 3 - Ecosystems and Biodiversity Management and Protection Sergio Salazar Alzate, Colombia Jorge Rodríguez Romero, EU Working Group 4 - Environmental Governance Co-facilitator Sunil de Silva, Sri Lanka Georgina Catacora-Vargas, Bolivia Erasmo Martínez, Mexico Lucy Richardson, New Zealand Working Group 5 - UNEP Programme of Work and Related Issues Toral Patel-Weynand, US Sebastian Gil, EU Facilitators and secretariat during Working Group 5 consultations Consultation on the Ministerial Declaration Gudi Alkemade, EU Hussein Roshdy, Egypt From L-R: UNEA-4 President Siim Valmar Kiisler, Estonia; Jorge Laguna-Celis, Secretary, Secretariat of Governing Bodies, UNEP; and Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia Around the Venue

Highlights for Wednesday, 27 February 2019 Participants playing the "Trade-off" game On the final day of the Symposium, participants focused on practical applications of the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework in specific commodity chains. Two plenary sessions took place in the morning to highlight findings and recommendations from pilot studies funded by the European Union and the International Climate Initiative. In the afternoon, discussions continued in two breakout groups. The first session comprised a training on TEEB scenarios and modelling tools and brought together partners from the International Climate Initiative and EU Partnership Instrument projects. A second group discussed recommendations to be included in a forthcoming publication addressing policy options to improve livelihoods in Africa, drawing on four African case studies funded by the European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO). During a brief closing plenary, Alexander Müller, TEEBAgriFood Study Leader, thanked participants for their hard work and remarked that the end of this Symposium “is not the end of our work, but the beginning.” IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the TEEB for Agriculture & Food International Symposium, which is available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page. Room view of the Symposium Salman Hussain, TEEB Peter May, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Barbara Gemill-Herren, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Jean Michel Waly Sene, Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA Pronat) Carla Susana Assuad, Millennium Institute Tolosa Yadessa Terfa, Ethiopia Esmeralda Urquiza, La Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO) Celine Termote, Bioversity International Edward Amankwah, African Centre for Green Commodities Priscilla Wainaina, ICRAF Pietro Galgani, True Price/Impact Institute Yoanna Kraus Elsin, Humboldt Institute Taita Terer, National Museums of Kenya Joel Nobert, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Phumsith Mahasuweerachai, Khon Kaen University, Thailand TEEB training on scenario development and modelling tools Tomas Declercq, TEEB Participants formed groups to compete in the "Trade-off" game William Speller, TEEB Jacob Salcone, TEEB ‘TEEBAgriFood Africa’ stakeholder workshop Harpinder Sandhu, Flinders University, Australia Barbara Gemill-Herren, ICRAF Priscilla Wainaina, ICRAF Closing Remark Alexander Müller, TEEB AgriFood Study Leader, closed the TEEB Global Symposium 2019 TEEB Global Symposium 2019 participants

Highlights for Monday, 25 February 2019 L-R: Tomas Declercq, TEEB; Phumsith Mahasuweerachai and Jakrapun Suksawat, Khon Kaen University, Thailand The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity for Agriculture and Food (TEEBAgriFood) Global Symposium 2019 opened today at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Opening the session, Salman Hussein, TEEB Coordinator, UNEP, noted that the TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework is intended to improve assessment of costs and benefits of “eco-agri-food” systems in order to achieve positive outcomes for farmers and consumers as well as for biodiversity and ecosystem services. He said that the Symposium would provide participants with hands-on experience on how to apply the TEEB approach in their respective countries.Thereafter, two break-out sessions took place during which participants exchanged country experiences from the following two TEEBAgriFood pilot projects: Supporting biodiversity and climate-friendly land management in agricultural landscapes in Colombia, Tanzania, Kenya and Thailand, funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Promoting a sustainable agriculture and food sector in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand, funded by the European Union Partnership Instrument. During a lunchtime side event entitled ‘Planet Unplugged,' participants explored the hidden costs and benefits of eco-agri-food systems, drawing on key messages from the TEEBAgrifood Science and Economic Foundations Report.In the afternoon, participants took part in a communications and media outreach training facilitated by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). The objective of the training was to enable project partners to effectively disseminate key messages from TEEBAgriFood pilot projects targeted at both policy makers and the general public. IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the TEEB for Agriculture & Food International Symposium, which is available in HTML and PDF. Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Opening of the pre-Symposium workshop Salman Hussain, Coordinator, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), UNEP Breakout Session on International Climate Initiative (IKI) Project Breakout Session on European Union Partnership Instrument (EU-PI) Project Mark Gough, Natural Capital Coalition Dolores Barrientos Alemán, UNEP Jasmin Hundorf, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Hesti Lestari Tata, Indonesia Linxiu Zhang, International Ecosystem Management Partnership, UNEP ‘Planet Unplugged’ Side Event Speakers at the side event, from left to right: Alexander Müller, TEEB AgriFood Study Leader; Susan Gardner, UNEP (Facilitator); Barbara Gemill-Herren, World Agroforestry Centre; and Pavan Sukhdev, President, WWF International Board IISD Communications and Media Outreach Training View of the room during the communications training session Matthew TenBruggencate, IISD, assisting participants IISD facilitators Matthew TenBruggencate and Tasha Goldberg