Press Conference: Fifth UN Environment Assembly and launch of UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy
Oru Leonard
NLEA-5, UNEP, Minister of Environment and Climate of Normay to address Media on 23 February after the Fifth UN Environment Assembly and launch of UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy.
Following the main sessions of the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5), H.E Mr. Sveinung Rotevatn, President of UNEA-5 and Minister of Environment and Climate of Norway, together with the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Ms. Inger Andersen, will address the media during an online briefing at 3 pm EAT/1 pm CET on Tuesday, 23 February 2021.
According to information made to News Dot Africa by the UNEP news desk, the UN Environment Assembly meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies and develop international environmental law; decisions and resolutions then taken by Member States at the Assembly define the Programme of Work of the UN Environment Programme.
Due to the pandemic, Member States agreed on a two-step approach to UNEA-5: an online session (22-23 February 2021) and an in-person meeting in February 2022. Next week’s session will tackle urgent matters, including the approval of UNEP’s new Medium-Term Strategy, its programme and its budget. Participants will consider a consensual statement on how to build a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world, and Leadership Dialogues will be convened on the contribution of the environment to sustainable development and to building a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world.
The Medium-Term Strategy sets out a vision for UNEP’s role in delivering the promises of the 2030 Agenda and the promises made to Member States through the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) and its outcome document, “The Future We Want.”
“2020 demonstrated that even as we continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, environmental crises remain part and parcel of our journey in the years ahead. After years of promises, but not enough action, it is evident that humanity must get ahead of the three planetary crises that threaten our collective future: the climate crisis, the biodiversity and nature crisis, and the pollution and waste crisis. Actions to overcome these crises must address the decades of unsustainable consumption and production that have brought our planet to the brink. This is the core of UNEP’s new Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) for the period 2022-2025”, UNEP stated.
