The 2019 Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum took place on March 7-8, in parallel with the last two days of the Open-Ended Meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (4-8 March 2019). The Forum was self-organised by Major Groups and Stakeholders, through the Major Groups Facilitation Committee, with the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) being in the lead.
The Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum benefited from the outcomes of the preceding Regional Consultative Meetings, which were held in many cases in conjunction with other Regional Ministerial Fora or back to back to relevant regional multi-stakeholder meetings. The outcomes and results of those meetings were direct inputs by Major Groups and Stakeholders into the Assembly’s preparatory processes as well as actual proceedings.
The Forum prepared participants for the Assembly and associated meetings, identified important themes and decisions under consideration by the Assembly, and provided a platform for an exchange of views and expertise on those themes between governments and Major Groups and Stakeholders, as well as UN Environment.
As a tradition, the Forum also featured an open dialogue between UN Environment’s Senior Management and Major Groups and Stakeholders ahead of the Assembly.
The Forum focused on the main theme of the Assembly “Innovative Solutions for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Production and Consumption” and linked it to the “Towards a Pollution Free Planet” theme of the previous Assembly allowing Major Groups and Stakeholders to contribute with their unique expertise to the inter-governmental decision-making process. It also provided enough time for a training and capacity building session for newly incoming participants. Panel Discussions were organized in an inter-active way and allowed for presenting views, stories, successes, visual aids/ films and failures, including from the grass root level and beyond the nine Major Groups. The panels included representatives from governments, private sector, UN Agencies etc. The Forum played the role of linking the Assembly and the people/society.
Throughout the Assembly week, a Green tent was set up as the civil society space where briefings, workshops, presentations and bi-laterals took place and were coordinated by the Major Groups Facilitating Committee.
Major Groups and Stakeholders also had the opportunity to engage on the weekend prior to the Assembly with the Science-Policy-Business Forum and other events that took place on March 9 – 10, 2019.
In addition, the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue’s took place in the afternoon of 14 March 2019.
For more information and regular updates please visit: https://www.unenvironment.org/civil-society-engagement or the UN Environment Assembly webpage: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/
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