Déclaration de Madame la Ministre en tant que Présidente de l'ANUE lors du Forum Politique de Haut Niveau sur le Développement Durable, New York, 13-15 Juillet 2022
Statement of the President of UNEA 6
to the High Level Political Forum
Dialogue on the Outcomes of UNEA 5.2 and UNEP@50
Thursday July 14th 2022
Distinguished Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council,
Distinguished Ministers and delegates,
Representatives of the Major Groups and Stakeholders,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
· As the President of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, I would like to express my deep appreciation for the opportunity to convey key messages and recommendations of the United Nations Environment Assembly to the High-Level Political Forum.
· The Environment Assembly seeks to contribute to the mainstreaming and full integration of the environmental dimension in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and in the recovery efforts from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slowdown/recession the world is currently facing.
· As you all know, the world is not on track to achieve the 2030 Agenda. It was indeed reflected in the Secretary-General’s report on the Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals that the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s lives and livelihoods and on global efforts to realize the Sustainable Development Goals are now beyond dispute. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic slowdown, climate change, environmental degradation, and conflicts around the world have further strained our ability to achieve the SDGs.
· The pandemic has also shown that strong environmental governance can build on science to help catalyse an urgent response. We need to learn from these experiences and consider what is needed to truly build better at the scale and pace required and ensuring that no one is left behind.
· The building back better process should particularly focus on implementing policies that drive fundamental transformations towards sustainable development, taking decisive and effective action to address climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution and waste in a way that matches the challenges we are facing.
· In this regard and in order to contribute to the acceleration of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the Environment Assembly has prioritized policies that can have multiplier effects and allow progress in not only the SDGs under review but several SDGs, if not all. Among these, we could highlight the following:
Ø Promote transformative and systemic changes and policies that address several environmental, economic and social challenges simultaneously, rechannelling financial flows to serve the attainment of the SDGs through innovative and holistic approaches that truly value nature; as well as mainstreaming, in a balanced manner, the environmental dimension of sustainable development into national policies, strategies and planning.
Ø Strengthen the science-policy interface: science must inform and drive financial, economic and behavioural shifts towards sustainable consumption and production patterns. Share knowledge and building capacity in the areas of research and development, technological innovation to improve information knowledge sharing and technical support for an inclusive resilient sustainable recovery.
Ø Promote and strengthen ecosystem-based approaches and nature-based solutions. Mainstream and coordinate conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of biodiversity into sectoral policies and programmes, with a view to preventing against current and future health risks.
Ø Ensure sustainable and resilient infrastructure, by strengthening frameworks that maintain and enhance ecological connectivity, avoid further fragmentation, and minimize other potential impacts on ecosystems and livelihoods, and promote natural infrastructure.
Ø Integrate circular economy approaches to achieving sustainable consumption and production in relevant national and regional strategies and action plans and encourage partnerships to promote and enhance circular economy approaches.
Ø Strengthen links between biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and public health in sectoral policies and in accordance with the One Health approach.
Ø Address the problem of plastic pollution, including marine litter and microplastics, prioritizing a whole-life-cycle approach and resource efficiency, and strengthen global coordination, cooperation and governance to take immediate actions towards the long-term elimination of plastic pollution.
Ø Strengthen environmental governance and foster rule of law to enhance implementation of existing obligations under international environmental law, and strengthen environmental laws, policies and regulatory frameworks at the national, regional and global levels, without reducing the existing levels of environmental protection.
Ø Ensure gender equality and the human rights and empowerment of women and girls in environmental governance.
Ø Strengthen capacity across all sectors for the effective implementation of international environmental law; and ensure access to information, access to public participation in decision-making processes and access to justice in environmental matters.
Ø Enhance the provision and mobilization of all types and sources of means of implementation, as well as promote sustainable and innovative financing opportunities and mechanisms to unlock new capital for sustainable investment and upscaling of sustainable business models.
· We are convinced that by implementing these measures we will be able to accelerate and advance the contribution of the environmental dimension of sustainable development to building a resilient and inclusive world, and the accelerated delivery of the Decade of Action.
Thank you for the opportunity to share these messages with you.