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JOIN THE IISD RS INITIATIVE |
Thursday, 8 February 2007
On Thursday, GC-24/GMEF ministerial consultations considered reports from the ministerial roundtables on globalization and UN reform. The COW continued consideration of draft decisions, and addressed implementation of the UNEP programme of work, and WSSD follow-up. Numerous contact groups and a Friends of the Chair group also met during the day and late into the night to finalize draft decisions.
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Ministerial Consultations |
In the morning, Marina Silva, Brazilian Environment Minister, and Sigmar Gabriel, German Environment Minister, presented the summaries of the ministerial roundtables on globalization and the environment and UN reform. |
| Sigmar Gabriel, German Environment Minister, Marina Silva, Brazilian Environment Minister, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, GC President Roberto Dobles, Beverly Miller, UNEP Secretariat, and Rapporteur Elfriede Anna-More |
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German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel highlighted the emerging consensus that the institutional framework for UN environmental activities needs to be reformed, stressing the need to strengthen UNEP and to ensure that the future UN body provides leadership in the field of the environment. |
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Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva outlined options for activities to be undertaken by governments, UNEP and the international community. |
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GC President Roberto Dobles (left)
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner (right) stressed the importance of recognizing others' needs and focusing on future pathways rather than on past experiences. He said sound environmental governance requires an understanding of the driving forces in other arenas, including trade, and identified the WTO's presence as a highlight of GC-24/GMEF. |
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Tewolde Egziabher, Ethiopia (left), cautioned against bringing complicated trade issues such as intellectual property rights into UNEP discussions.
Djparkul Bekkulova, Kyrgyzstan (right), called for increased UNEP representation in Central Asia. |
| Sigmar Gabriel, Germany, speaking for the EU, urged UNEP to mainstream the Bali Strategic Plan throughout its work programme, emphasizing the magnitude of the world's environmental problems. |
Claudia McMurray, US (left), advocated addressing UN reform through the UN General Assembly and called for increased focus on capacity building. |
| COW Chair Jan Dusik (right) |
Intervening in the COW, Tanzania supported the draft decision on the international center for judicial capacity building in environmental law in Cairo, Egypt.
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Enele Sopoaga Tuvalu, introduced the draft decision on small island developing states.
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| Chemicals management contact group Co-Chair Abiola Olanipekun, Nigeria, during the morning COW meeting |
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Nicole Ladouceur, Canada (left), opposed the draft decision on an international center for judicial capacity building in environmental law in Cairo, noting that the draft had been tabled at a late stage. |
| Budget contact group chair Jan Bauer, Netherlands, during the morning COW meeting |
| Mick Wilson, UNEP, presented on the UNEP “Atlas of Our Changing Environment: One Planet, Many People,” now featured in Google Earth, noting it is a powerful tool for showcasing environmental change, and helps bridge the North-South information gap. |
| Contact Group: Chemicals Management |
| Contact Group: Budget and Programme of Work |
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The contact group continued consideration of the draft decision, agreeing to compromise language on poverty and environment linkages, and the Bali Strategic Plan. (right photo: delegates consulting)
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Special Event: Environment and Globalization: Five propositions |
This event presented the conclusions of a new report-structured around five key propositions, that explores these linkages and lays out some ideas about the future. The report was produced by IISD and funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
| Adil Najam, Senior Associate, IISD, presented the results of the report |
Special Event: Establishing an International Panel on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources |
| UNEP is currently in the process of setting up an international panel on the sustainable use of natural resources, whose objective is to contribute to increasing resource-efficient economic growth in all regions of the world, and to assist in decreasing the environmental impacts associated with economic growth in a life-cycle perspective. |
| Arab Hoballah, Production and Consumption Branch, UNEP (left) Karsten Sach, Germany, and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner (right) |
| Memorandum of Understanding between the Basel Convention and El Salvador for a regional office for Central America and Mexico |
| Left to right: Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, Executive Secretary, Basel Convention, GC President Roberto Dobles, and Michelle Gallardo de Gutierrez, Vice-Minister for Environment and Natural Resources |
| NGO participants outside the conference room |
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