I was in New York to attend a series of engagements hosted by UN Environment on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly. Several of these events represent critical elements of our programme of work including sustainable finance, pollution, circular economy and plastics management, and global projects such as the Young Champions of the Earth prize. I also co-chaired a meeting of the environment management group of the United Nations, aiming at building better coordination and synergies on environmental priorities across the UN.
Before the General Assembly, I joined UN Environment Goodwill Ambassadors Dia Mirza and Bertrand Piccard, and Covestro CEO Markus Steilemann in speaking to our fantastic 2018 Young Champions of the Earth. We spoke on the role of young people in environmental sustainability. I was so proud of all that we have achieved through this global initiative to recognize innovative ideas to protect this great planet of ours.
More than 50 representatives from UN agencies gathered at the meeting of the UN Environment Management Group. I co-chaired the meeting with Head of UN Habitat Maimunah Sharif. The large turnout represents the commitment of agencies to working together on key environmental challenges. The days of working in silos is long over! This year’s discussions focused on UN-wide efforts on sand and dust storms, greening the Belt and Road initiative, e-waste, biodiversity, chemicals and the 2019 Environment Assembly.
On the sidelines of the General Assembly, UN Environment and Boston College established a new research partnership aimed at reducing sources of pollution that kill 9 million people each year. Air pollution is one of the biggest public health emergencies of our time and this partnership will provide us high-quality, real-time data to tackle air pollution. Importantly, by providing us early warnings of air quality issues, we will have the science we need to chart a course for cleaner air for all.
At a session with the Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, the discussion focused on an exciting new project supported by UN Environment, to transition six million farmers to natural farming by 2024. At the session on financing sustainable landscapes, participants including ministers of Indonesia, Rwanda and El Salvador discussed opportunities for chemical-free and less resource-intensive farming in their countries. Once scaled, the Andhra Pradesh programme can generate rural employment across the value chain, provide nutritious food, regenerate land and promote good health among citizens.
I was delighted to launch the global plastics platform, a partnership between UN Environment, national and regional governments and organizations to address the urgent challenge of plastics pollution, and share information on best practices to reduce our dependence on plastics. I was joined by Frans Timmerman, the First Vice-President of the European Commission and legendary oceanographer Silvia Earle.
At a session on aligning financial flows on low-emission and resilience infrastructure, I spoke on how we can finance climate action and the urgent need to think outside of the climate box.
