Summary
1. Leadership Dialogue three explored key innovations, initiatives, and ideas, to advance the effectiveness, inclusivity and sustainability of environmental multilateralism. Keynote speaker Inger Andersen highlighted the importance of multilateral environmental agreements and the UN Environment Assembly as the ‘big tent and tapestry’ that can advance and weave together an environmental multilateralism that delivers. She reflected on the opportunity of reimagining business as usual, and drawing inspiration from other intergovernmental instruments outside of the environmental space. Keynote speaker Grace Catapang, Youth representative from The Philippines, challenged us with a powerful, authentic, and emotional message. To remind us we are talking about actual lives, now and into the future. To urge us to be more inclusive, to avoid tokenism, and to be more empathetic to those not here.
2. We heard from Member States and UN entities. Calls and recommendations were made on the need for strengthening and accelerating environmental multilateralism, emphasizing the urgency of the triple planetary crises. Recommendations were given for further environmental action to be ‘future-fit’, people-centered, and innovative. For example, could we redefine what constitutes ‘consensus’? Could we put a stop on new instruments and focus on strengthening what we have? Could we radically rethink the spaces and fora for exchanging information across different actors and in decision making, especially with those impacted and/or disproportionately affected by our decisions. Finally, calls were made for the reimagination of environmental multilateralism to be action-oriented, based on scientific-evidence and focused on people.
