Statement prepared for delivery at the 153rd meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives
Ambassador Coimbra,
Excellencies, colleagues
I am honoured on behalf of UNEP, to address you at the first meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in 2021. It is indeed not the start to the year we had hoped for and we still have some way to journey as we seek to end the pandemic. As we scroll our newsfeeds, it has also become increasingly evident that environmental crises are part and parcel of the journey ahead. Wildfires, hurricanes, temperature records, plagues of locusts, floods and droughts, were so commonplace they do not even always make the news.
And such a world is a warning that we must – after years of promises, but not enough action – finally 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. Our actions to overcome these crises must be joined up.
But 2021 is also a year of hope. Of hope because COVID-19 has shown people are listening to science. Of hope because we have witnessed historic collaboration and innovation in vaccine development. Of hope because there remains a strong belief in the role of multilateralism. And of hope because, we have seen that not only problems, but also solutions can grow exponentially.
Pressing the restart button in 2021
Excellencies, as we press the restart button in 2021, we seek to journey together towards a just and sustainable future for all. 2021 must be the year of synergy. It is vital that the three Rio Conventions – on biodiversity, on climate change and on desertification unite a fragmented environmental governance and in so doing, contribute to the sustainable development goals.
2021 must be the year of solidarity because we know that inclusive multilateralism is the only way to solve the challenges we face. The ask for us is to recreate the leadership and solidarity that made it possible for us to arrive at the Paris Agreement five years ago and to infuse it with newer features that are critical to realize the promise of an effective, networked and inclusive multilateralism. 2021 must also be the year where science reigns supreme. And finally, 2021 must be the year where we begin to see a shift in finance flows and resource allocation, away from the toxic or grey economy.
Pandemic recovery stimulus packages are a massive opportunity to accelerate this transition but as UNEP’s Emissions Gap report points out, this is not happening with sufficient funds dedicated to the green transition, and it is a mistake. The UNEP-supported Production Gap report revealed that we have to decrease fossil fuel production by around 6 per cent per year until 2030 to have a chance of hitting the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement. Instead we are projecting an average annual increase of 2 per cent. And while we continue to pump money into a future we can ill afford, UNEP’s Adaptation Gap Report released earlier this month, reminded us that we are making almost no progress in funding climate adaptation and that matters greatly as climate impacts the poorest the hardest, and impacts on the SDGs. So, we are yet to walk the talk.
Rising to the challenge
With this complex landscape in mind, one which calls on us to unite all our strategies and actions, I submit to you excellencies that 2021 will be the year that we at UNEP regroup and equip ourselves for the challenges ahead. So as we look forward to the approval of UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) for 2022 – 2025, we do so with an awareness that delivering on this ambitious strategy calls on us to be, as many of you may have heard me say before, “MTS-ready.”
So what does this mean? Like the marathon runners who commit themselves to the race, preparation begins much earlier, with determination, with hard work and with a clear line of sight. By the end of 2021, we will ensure complete clarity on functions, form and finance so that we can deliver the MTS in a manner that makes a real difference for people and planet.
Being MTS-ready means retooling our delivery model to serve Member States and remaining true to our responsibility to “we the peoples” in the context of a reformed UN development system.
Being MTS-ready means delivering even stronger analytics and advocacy that contribute meaningfully to the global conversation, and expand the uptake of science by policy and actions.
Being MTS-ready means that UNEP is equipped to seize the opportunities of the unstoppable digital transformation currently under way.
Being MTS-ready means focusing on industry value chain engagements to ensure financial and economic transformations commensurate with the three planetary crises.
Being MTS-ready means boldly stepping up on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Systematically. With results. At scale.
Being MTS-ready means a UNEP that is operationally agile. A UNEP that is transparent with project data. A UNEP with strong project execution. And a UNEP which thrives on a high performance and collaborative culture.
Excellencies, I thank you for your inputs which have enriched our draft medium-term strategy. I am aware however that the strategy puts us just at the starting line of the marathon, as we work towards a healthy planet for all people everywhere.
Looking forward to 2021
While we continue to focus on getting MTS-ready, we have much to look forward to in 2021. In a few weeks, we will embark on a first-ever virtual UN Environment Assembly which will be followed by a resumed session in 2022. The virtual UNEA will approve the MTS, the Programme of Work and Budget.
The Assembly will also provide a space for Environment Ministers to engage on building an inclusive and sustainable post-pandemic world.
Excellencies, through a UNEA which is being hosted entirely online, you have signaled your commitment to getting on with the job at hand, and have set the bar high for multilateralism. I also look forward to our discussions on the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of UNEP, based on our revised strategic plan. It is my expectation that today’s meeting will provide us guidance for the beginning of the commemoration and its eventual culmination in 2022.
Please also allow me to touch upon a few programmatic highpoints for 2021. We are looking forward to scaling up and accelerating our work on promoting just transitions to circularity while rebuilding green and inclusive value chains. The findings and messages from the International Resource Panel/One Planet Network Task Group in response to UNEA4/1 Resolution are very insightful. We also look to your support towards an enhanced multilateral cooperation on sustainable consumption and production, and the extension of the 10 Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) mandate beyond 2022, also reflecting current developments and thinking on the importance of support to SDG12.
As we seek to re-balance the relationship between people and nature, 2021 provides us a unique opportunity to kickstart a global movement through the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration that will be launched on World Environment Day this year. COVID-19 also has revealed that we need to pay far greater attention to environmental health if we are to secure human health. UNEP will deepen its work on risk analysis, ramp up work on anti-microbial resistance and work closely with member states on the institutional structures that can support an effective one health approach on the ground.
A big piece of the people and nature puzzle will depend on our success in fixing food systems. I look forward to contributing to the UN Food Systems Summit convened by the UN Secretary-General because, at the end of the day, a climate-safe world is the foundation of food security. Likewise, in this Ocean Decade for Science we will work closely with UNESCO and partners to jointly develop pathways for sustainable blue economies and technologies and solutions that can tackle marine litter and land-based pollution. In this context, I am proud that UNEP facilitated and supported the Ad hoc Open-Ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and I look forward to placing UNEP at the service of Member States in the steps that lie ahead.
To effectively deliver on our environmental law mandate, UNEP – together with UN partners - will continue to work towards making the right to a healthy environment a reality for all people, including by implementing the Secretary General’s Call to Action on Human Rights. And I am pleased to report that, while COVID19 significantly delayed activities in 2020, we have regrouped on the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme, towards a decade of action on environmental law until 2030.
And finally, but certainly not the least, I am delighted that we will shortly release Making Peace with Nature: a scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies. This report makes the strongest scientific case yet for why and how that collective determination must be urgently applied to protecting and restoring our planet. You will hear more about this work later today.
Linked to our focus on strengthening science, allow me to say a few words on senior appointments. Ms. Andrea Hinwood from Australia will join UNEP in March as the new Chief Scientist. Ms. Kelly West, an American national, whom many of you may know in her role in coordinating our GEF portfolio has been appointed Deputy Director of Science Division. Ms. Rosanna Del Carmen Silva-Repetto, a Peruvian national, has been selected as Deputy Chief Officer of the Secretariat of the Multilateral Fund.
Senior positions currently under recruitment include the Assistant Secretary-General for the New York Office; Executive Secretaries of the Ozone Secretariat and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; the Director for the Policy and Programme Division; and the Director for the Regional Office for Latin America and Caribbean. The freeze on the United Nations Regular Budget has caused delays with the recruitments of some positions, such as the Director of the Law Division, but we continue to forge ahead.
Excellencies, as many of you may know, gender and geographical diversity is a commitment I made in my compact with the UN Secretary-General. UNEP now employs staff from more than 125 countries, and while there has been a slight increase since 2019 in the countries represented within the organization, I will not deny that we must absolutely step up efforts in this regard. We plan on undertaking concerted outreach efforts at regional fora and career development platforms, and to continuously monitoring our progress in this area.
With these quick highlights, which are by no means exhaustive, I end my remarks. 2021 must be remembered as the year we collectively took it upon ourselves to ensure that the pandemic is remembered not only as a human tragedy, but as the moment when people reconsidered their priorities as individuals and societies and took to heart that safeguarding the health and well-being of current and future generations means safeguarding the health of our planet. Because and here I’m paraphrasing American poet Amanda Gorman, we know that our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, will become the future. Our blunders become their burdens. Let us be sure to avoid that outcome by recommitting to impactful multilateral action for people and planet.
Thank you.
Executive Director
