Highlights for Monday, 4 March 2019
On Monday, the Open-Ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) began discussions in Nairobi, Kenya, in preparation for the fourth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-4) the following week. OECPR Chair Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, Ghana, welcomed delegates, who then adopted the agenda and organization of work.In the morning, delegates considered a series of reports from the UNEP Secretariat, and discussed UNEP’s budget and programme performance, including implementation of previous UNEA resolutions. In the afternoon, plenary consultations took place on the ministerial declaration to be adopted at UNEA-4.Throughout the day, delegates convened in five working groups to begin negotiations on the proposed resolutions to be put forward at UNEA-4.Highlights of the day included deliberations and debates in plenary and in working groups on:
possible action on marine litter and microplastics, drawing on programme reports from UNEP;
the nature of links between deforestation and agricultural supply chains;
the potential for global governance of geoengineering technologies;
the scope for “clean mobility” in transport systems; and
actions to promote sustainable coral reefs management.
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
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Plenary Session
Chair Francisca Ashietey-Odunton, Ghana
Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
Julia Pataki, Romania
Zerubabel Getachew, Ethiopia, and Rajesh Swami, India
Ulf Björnholm, UNEP, and Marek Rohr-Garztecki, Poland
Fernando Coimbra, Brazil, with Martin Gómez Bustillo, Argentina
Ghita Luminita and Dorin-Octavian Corcheş, Romania
Martin Gómez Bustillo, Argentina
Zerubabel Getachew, Ethiopia
Abdullah Tawlah, Saudi Arabia
Claire Blanchard, NGOs Major Group
Milorad Šćepanović, Montenegro, with Jorge Laguna-Celis, Secretary, Secretariat of Governing Bodies, UNEP
Georgina Catacora-Vargas, Plurinational State of Bolivia
Aire Rihe, Estonia
Delegates conferring during lunch break
Working Group 1 - Innovative Solutions for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production
Working Group 2 - Resource Efficiency, Chemicals and Waste
Working Group 3 - Ecosystems and Biodiversity Management and Protection
Working Group 4 - Environmental Governance
Co-facilitator Agus Justianto, Indonesia
Adam Maïga Zakariaou, Niger
Working Group 5 - UNEP Programme of Work and Related Issues
Co-facilitators Miriam Ott, Germany, and Marta Juárez Ruiz, Costa Rica
Ulf Björnholm, UNEP, and Fernando Coimbra, Brazil
Around the Venue