First UNEP Universal Governing Council Debriefing

The first universal session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is being held in Nairobi from 18 to 22 February 2013. The session was preceded by the fourteenth Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (GMGSF-14), from 16 to 17 February, an informal consultation between regional groups, a high-level meeting on the rule of law and the environment and a Forum on Gender and the Environment, on 17 February.

Eight months after the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012, this session marks an important milestone in the history of UNEP, in particular with regard to the realization of the strengthening and upgrading of the Programme, as set out in the outcome document of the Conference, entitled “The future we want”. In that regard, the session hold a ministerial-level consultations on the theme “Rio+20: from outcome to implementation”.

UNEP is also launching during this session new reports outlining emerging issues such as the global consequences of rapidly receding ice in the Arctic, the latest research on the impacts of chemical exposure on the hormone system of humans and animals, and an assessment of off-grid lighting in several countries around the world.

An event providing an overview of the outcomes and the decisions taken at the first session of UNEP Governing Council was organized by the Geneva Environment Network Secretariat, and delivered by UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner, and other UNEP senior representatives.

Agenda

14:15
Coffee & Tea

14:30
Welcome and introduction
Jan DUSIK, acting Director and Regional Representative, UNEP

14:35
Outcomes of the First Universal Session of UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
Achim STEINER, Executive Director, UNEP
Jan DUSIK, acting Director and Regional Representative, UNEP
Steven STONE, Head, Economics and Trade Branch, UNEP
Tim KASTEN, Head, Chemicals Branch, UNEP
Barbara RUIS, Legal Officer, UNEP

15:40
Question-and-answer session

16:10
End

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