First Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific

A BRIEF HISTORY

The organization of the First Forum is a response to a decision of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), which convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 13-22 June 2012. Paragraph 88(g) of the Rio+20 Outcome, The Future We Want, called for strengthening UNEP’s regional presence in order to assist countries, upon request, in the implementation of their national environmental policies.

The strengthening of UNEP’s regional presence takes place in the context of the overall strengthening of UNEP, based on outcomes of Rio+20 and the UN General Assembly (UNGA) that same year.

UNEA-1: The first UNEA was held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, from 23-27 June 2014, with more than 1,200 participants. The overarching theme of UNEA-1 was ‘Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including sustainable consumption and production.’ Delegates adopted one decision and 17 resolutions on, inter alia: strengthening UNEP’s role in promoting air quality; the science-policy interface (SPI); ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA); implementation of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; illegal trade in wildlife; chemicals and waste; and marine debris and microplastics. Many delegates called for continued efforts to strengthen UNEP to support the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

The First Forum replaces the Subregional Environmental Policy Dialogue organized by UNEP since 2003.