Your excellency, Mr. Firas Khouri, Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives,
Ambassadors and colleagues.
Let me begin by wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous 2024. Last year was challenging on many levels, with conflicts across the globe and the impacts of the three environmental planetary crises intensifying. I am sure we all hope that this year will bring a brighter outlook. However, this will not happen by itself. We must all seek consensus through multilateralism and, above all, work hard for common solutions.
When it comes to climate, we do have something new to build on. Yes, the Dubai Consensus that emerged from COP28 was not everything everyone had hoped for. But it did signal a global decision to move away from fossil fuels, which is critical, as we all know. And, of course, the Loss & Damage Fund was put into operation. This was an important show of solidarity with vulnerable nations, although there is a long way to go to capitalize the fund. The positives did not stop there. We saw new commitments on sustainable cooling and reducing methane emissions. A tripling of renewable energy targets. Nature breakthroughs. Crucially, there was agreement on the framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation.
We at UNEP played a prominent role at this COP and supported member states in many of these successes. UNEP’s three Gap reports – most notably the Emissions Gap Report and the Adaptation Gap Report – informed and drove negotiations. The UNEP-led Cool Coalition released a key report and teamed up with the UAE presidency for the Cooling Pledge, to which over 60 countries signed up. We at UNEP were deeply involved in new efforts on everything from tracking and cutting methane emissions to launching a powerful new alliance of export credit agencies for net-zero.
So, COP28 set the stage for the trajectory the world needs on climate change – and indeed on nature and biodiversity loss and pollution and waste, which are closely linked. Let me look at just a few of these elements, which have been on my agenda in the last weeks.
An important piece of work will be securing the metals and minerals needed for the energy transition – as I told the Future Minerals Forum in Saudi Arabia and reinforced at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month. As you know, I highlighted responsible mining and sustainable minerals and metals use as one of six areas for multilateral action in my report to the sixth UN Environment Assembly.
Metals and minerals will be critical to scaling up renewable energy, electric vehicles and more, which are needed for the energy transition. Some three billion tonnes of minerals and metals are needed to stay below 2°C by 2050. This is a huge opportunity for developing countries to invest in sustainable development. The challenge is to also ensure environmental integrity, environmental stewardship and environmental sustainability. Long-term strategies are essential to produce value-add for producer countries and communities. To build circularity that keeps metals and minerals in the economy. And to avoid pollution and biodiversity loss.
While in Saudi Arabia, I also had the chance to witness the great work the Kingdom is doing on addressing desertification, drought and land degradation through proactive land restoration. This is the theme for World Environment Day, which the Kingdom will host in June this year. From Saudi Arabia, I journeyed to Davos, where I had the opportunity to engage on the importance of landing a strong instrument on plastic pollution this year.
Meanwhile, UNEP has received an official request from the State of Palestine to carry out an assessment of the environmental impacts of the conflict in Gaza, an exercise upon which we are embarking in coordination with other UN colleagues on the ground. This type of assessment is a well-established aspect of UNEP’s work. As you are aware, UNEP has already published an assessment on the environmental consequences of the war in Ukraine, in 2022 and many similar assessments in years prior.
The goal of such assessments is always to track the extent of damage and inform a science-based approach to recovery and reconstruction, when conditions allow. An approach that minimizes the long-term impact on the environment and mitigates the harm caused, to the greatest extent possible. But to assess and recover, conflicts must end, so I echo the Secretary-General’s call for an end to hostilities.
Remaining in update mode, let me also mention that we are progressing well on the new Climate Change Division. I am grateful to Dechen Tsering, Director and Representative from the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, who has agreed to step in as Acting Director from the first of February. The goal of the new division, and indeed of UNEP, is to find smarter ways to collaborate and deliver, as one, on climate action. I am pleased that we are moving closer to this goal.
Excellencies,
I mention these elements because they show the complexity of the work ahead. We have an environmental must-do list that grows ever longer. Different bodies and different agreements are working in many areas. This is why UNEA-6 is going to be so important. UNEA holds the power to weave agreements and promises into a tapestry of action. United, inclusive and multilateral action that addresses climate change, nature, desertification and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste as one indivisible challenge.
The Multilateral Environmental Agreement Day, or MEA Day, at UNEA is part of the push to unite action. On this day, there will be an opening plenary meeting and two high-level dialogues. One will focus on strengthening the science-policy interface. The other on cooperation between UNEP, UNEA and the agreements to increase implementation at national level.
The resolutions that Member States will debate, and hopefully agree, will be a driving force for increased action. My deep thanks to Member States for respecting the suggested deadlines on submitting resolutions and for engaging with my report to UNEA-6. As of now, there are 21 draft resolutions and two draft decisions on the table. My thanks to the Chair, Bureau Members and delegates for the ongoing consultations on these draft resolutions.
I sincerely hope that the UNEA resolutions will focus on the urgent. The unexplored. The critical. All to move the environmental needle towards action and implementation, at home and at the global level. If we proceed in this manner, we can ensure that the resolutions will help us build a roadmap to go further and faster on the environment.
So, we are in good shape for UNEA on the substantive front. But funding challenges remain. My thanks to all who have pledged and contributed a total of just over US$1 million for the assembly. I encourage further contributions to help us close the remaining funding gap of just over US$700,000.
And, as delegates may be aware, the UNEA-6 contribution from the United Nations Regular Budget, approximately US$1 million, may now not materialize due to unprecedented liquidity challenges to the United Nations Secretariat budget. UNEP is in consultation with UNHQ and UNON on this matter. It is critical to note that the Regular Budget issue has a number of wider implications. When Member States fail to pay their assessment dues, impacts on governance arrangements and programmatic delivery are inevitable. The United Nations has had to freeze recruitment for key regular budget posts, which means that many UNEP positions now remain vacant and cannot be filled for the foreseeable future. It is in the hands of Members States to resolve these issues and ensure UNEP can provide your nations with the support they need in this period of change.
But there is some good financial news. The Environment Fund received US$88.9 million in 2023, an increase of almost ten per cent over the previous year and the best result since 2009. My deep thanks to the 80 Member States that showed their trust in UNEP by heeding the call for increased core funding to enable us to effectively deliver. We are deeply grateful. With a few more days to go before the 2023 accounts close, I invite Member States that have not yet contributed to help us cross the US$90 million mark, and move closer to the US$100 million which is in the approved budgetary funds. In this context, it is worth noting that the US$100 million goal was indeed the goal that the initial founders of UNEP envisaged for UNEP on an annual basis back in 1972. So if we were to adjust the US$100 million to today’s dollar value, the Environment Fund goal should be US$733 million per year.
Excellencies,
We have a busy year ahead of us. A year that will include the critical moments of landing a strong instrument on plastic pollution and finalizing proposals for the new Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste and Pollution. A year in which UNEP will drive action under the MEAs and other processes by backing member states, working with the rest of the UN system, and engaging businesses and investors. A year in which UNEP will focus on the resolutions adopted at UNEA-6 and pursue the 2024-2025 programme of work, with its focus on targeting the drivers of the three environmental planetary crises. All backed by digital transformation, finance and economic shifts and a stronger science-policy interface.
So, there are many existing goals to deliver on and new ones to set. A strong and well-funded UNEP will be essential. As will the multilateralism that this Committee of Permanent Representatives has exemplified over the years. So, let us all unite under the banner of multilateralism, at UNEA-6 and beyond. And make 2024 the year in which the world turned the corner and strode off down the road to healthy, peaceful and prosperous planet.
