The UN Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment. Created in June 2012 at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), the Assembly convenes all 193 UN member States to tackle our most critical global environmental challenges. Through its resolutions and calls to action, it provides the global leadership and inter-governmental action so critical to the health of our planet.
But action needs broad-based public-private partnerships. It is these partnerships which have the capacity to promote and leverage new technology, innovation and financing for sustainable development. And it is through these partnerships that we can track the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals that put us more firmly on the path to a sustainable future.
The Assembly and its events are the ideal platform to host the stakeholders who can build these critical partnerships. Events at the Assembly include the Sustainable Innovation Expo and its exhibits and dynamic panel discussions; the High-Level Breakfast Meeting; the Leadership Dialogues; the Multistakeholder Dialogue and numerous side events.
The Sustainable Innovation Expo is the premier public-private cooperation arm of the UN Environment Assembly. With a focus on eco-innovation and sustainable finance, the 2019 Expo brought together leaders from governments, private sector, international organizations and civil society to support the UN Environment Assembly’s overall theme of Innovative Solutions to Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Consumption and Production.
During the high-level segment of the Assembly, there were also three Leadership Dialogues that brought together Ministers of Environment and leaders of business and civil society for interactive discussions and an exchange of views on priorities, best practices, challenges and transformative solutions relating to the overall theme of the Assembly.
The Multi-stakeholder Dialogue complemented the discussions in the Leadership Dialogues and included the social and societal angles necessary for achieving more sustainable consumption patterns that contribute to sustainable lifestyles.
