I had three important meetings in Washington DC. One was with Congressional staff from both the Republican and Democratic parties on conservation – hosted by the International Conservation Caucus Foundation, a long-standing partner of UN Environment. The Foundation directly supports the International Conservation Caucus, the second largest caucus in the U.S. Congress and one of the places where strong bipartisan action is taking place. We had a great discussion, where we agreed on the importance of engaging the private sector in the opportunities that wildlife conservation and healthy ocean economies present. Without business driving change, together with governments and civil society, we will not achieve what we need to achieve to protect the health both of our planet and its people. I applauded the Foundation and the Caucus for their ability to work effectively ‘across the aisle’ on critical issues such as conservation and combatting the illegal trade in wildlife which remains a big source of concern in many countries.
I also had introductory meetings with Andrew Wheeler, Acting Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Ambassador Kevin Moley, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the State Department. Both excellent conversations. With Administrator Wheeler, we agreed that waste management and marine litter offered areas of strong future collaboration, complimenting our on-going work together on eliminating lead paint, air pollution and other areas.
