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Newsletter 01 Jul 2024

Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 1 – 7 July 2024

The Geneva Environment Network’s weekly newsletter includes the latest information on the global environmental agenda, main events, job vacancies, learning opportunities, as well as other useful resources and updates. Stay tuned and follow us on X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Youtube, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

Image of the week | The 14th Meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (Basel OEWG-14) concluded on Friday 28 June 2024, at the International Conference Center Geneva, with the Executive Secretary and the Co-Chairs, Judith Torres of Uruguay and Lendita Dika of North Macedonia, thanking delegates for the hard work put in as we lead up to the 2025 Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions. → Read the Earth Negotiation Bulletin for more details on what the meeting discussed, including the controversial chemicals recycling.

Climate @ 56th Session of the Human Rights Council

The 56th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC56) continues this week in Geneva. With the deadline for tabling draft resolutions coming up on 2 July, several informal consultations on environment-related resolutions were held last week, including draft resolutions on human rights and climate change (Bangladesh, Philippines and Viet Nam), and on plastic pollution implications on the full enjoyment of human rights (Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru).

This week, human rights and climate change are also high on the agenda of the Human Rights Council.

Other notable events taking place this week include:

→ Consult regular updates on key environmental issues at HRC56, side events, and further resources available on our dedicated HRC56 and the environment update.

Five Years of the Geneva Roadmap 40/11 for Environmental Defenders

Five years ago, on 21 March 2019, the Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 40/11 – Recognizing the contribution of environmental human rights defenders to the enjoyment of human rights, environmental protection and sustainable development – without a vote. Following the adoption of the resolution, platforms, coalitions and networks of defenders met in February 2020 to launch the Geneva Roadmap 40/11 to foster the implementation of this Resolution.

Building on previous Geneva Roadmap 40/11 efforts in relation to global human rights mechanisms, this year’s events organized by the University of Geneva, Earthjustice, the International Service for Human Rights, and the Geneva Environment Network, will focus on the protection mechanisms provided at the regional level for environmental defenders.

Implementing the Global Framework on Chemicals Globally

The Global Framework on Chemicals (GFC), adopted by the fifth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) in Bonn, Germany, in September 2023, provides a vision for a planet free of harm from chemicals and waste, for a safe, healthy and sustainable future. This Global Framework completes the global deals that set agreed goals and targets to tackle the triple planetary crisis that humanity currently faces: the Paris Agreement for climate change, the Biodiversity Plan (Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework) for biodiversity loss, and the Global Framework on Chemicals for pollution. The new Framework calls for more ambitious and urgent action by all stakeholders and sectors to protect present and future generations.

The GFC secretariat is based in Geneva — a global hub for chemicals and waste governance — with many UN and other international organizations at the forefront of the work to reduce environmental and health impacts of chemicals, waste and pollution. Geneva hosts the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) related to chemicals and waste (the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm Conventions, as well as the Minamata Convention), and major organizations and secretariats active in this area, including the World Health Organization, the UNEP Chemicals and Health Branch, the International Labour Organizations, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, and the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC).

IOMC is strongly committed to playing an important role in supporting the implementation of the GFC and has accepted the invitation in ICCM5 Resolution V/8 to develop “Implementation Programmes” (IPs) for consideration by the first International Conference in 2026, to be done in close collaboration with stakeholders.  The IOMC will host a series of webinars in support of GFC implementation, to be launched this week with a first session “Global Stakeholder Dialogue on GFC Implementation Programmes”, intended as a discussion with all interested stakeholders to consider how to collaborate on the development, design, and formulation of specific implementation programmes and to identify what steps and activities are needed now during the inter-sessional period. → Register and join the organizers on Zoom, on 3 July 2024 at 14:00 CEST.

Road to Busan | Addressing Loopholes in the Development of a Plastics Treaty

The in-person meeting of the two ad hoc intersessional open-ended expert groups established by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, at its last session, will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 24 to 28 August 2024 (deadline for nominations of experts extended until 4 July 2024). With less than two months to this meeting, tackling plastic pollution remains a highly discussed topic in various international fora:

Enjoying a Green Summer

Schools are now officially closed in Geneva, the holiday season has begun for many, enjoying a green summer, with activities including this week:

What (Else) to Read Next?

  • Storms kill at least four people in the southern Alps in Switzerland | Euronews | 30 June 2024
    Storms in Switzerland and northern Italy caused extensive flooding and landslides, leaving at least four people dead, authorities said Sunday.
  • Norway undermines the High Seas Treaty by Rushing Deep Sea Mining Authorization | WWF | 28 June 2024
    Norway wants to lock in licenses for deep-sea mining before the High Seas Treaty comes into force. But when signing the Treaty, Norway already subscribed to upholding the Treaty’s aim to protect biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction against such destructive activities. Will short-term economic gains prevail over responsible stewardship? 
  • 2024 Northern Hemisphere Heat Season: Act Now to Save Lives | Global Heath Health Information Network | 28 June 2024
    Almost all deaths directly due to excess heat can be prevented. Governments, authorities and relevant public and private organizations from the local to global levels need to act now. 
  •  Third Pole Climate Forum issues first ever seasonal outlook | WMO | 28 June 2024
    WMO has embarked on action to improve climate services in the Third Pole – the high mountain region of Asia, which includes the Himalaya-Hindu Kush and Tibetan Plateau region and features the largest extent of frozen water after the two poles the Arctic and the Antarctic.
  • Aid for Trade in Action: Supporting the transition to clean energy | WTO | 28 June 2024
    The transition to clean energy offers developing economies and least-developed countries (LDCs) opportunities to benefit more fully from trade. This publication looks at how the WTO-led Aid for Trade initiative can help these economies develop their energy sectors and integrate into clean energy value chains.
  • Worldwide push for sustainable fisheries highlighted at Aid for Trade Global Review | WTO | 27 June 2024
    The increasing level of development assistance to promote sustainable fisheries in developing economies, including through the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, demonstrates a strengthening of the global commitment to protect the world’s oceans and bolster food security, speakers said at an Aid for Trade Global Review event on 27 June, where a new report by the WTO Secretariat was launched.
  • Republic of Azerbaijan to host World Environment Day 2026 | UNEP | 27 June 2024
    The Republic of Azerbaijan will host World Environment Day 2026, UNEP and the Republic of Azerbaijan announced in the capital, Baku, during an official visit by the Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen.
  • Massive e-Waste Seizure in Malaysia Follows Tip-Off from Global Waste Watchdog Group | Basel Action Network | 26 June 2024
    After receiving detailed alerts by the Seattle-based Basel Action Network (BAN), a global watchdog group working to prevent the dumping of toxic wastes by rich industrialized countries on developing countries, the Malaysian government announced that they detained 301 of the 453 intermodal containers BAN had identified in their alerts. Of these, 106 were found to contain illegal electronic waste.
  • Carbon Markets Undermine Peasants Autonomy and Self-Determination Over Data | FIAN International | 24 June 2024
    Carbon markets have become one of the preferred responses to climate change and are increasingly promoted in agriculture. A new report exposes how a carbon trading project for peasant farmers in Colombia with massive data extraction jeopardizes their control over their own farms. It calls for regulatory measures and for alternative approaches.
  • Monitoring online illegal wildlife trade | GITOC | 10 Jun 2024
    This report delves into the complexities of online IWT, shedding light on the scale, dynamics, and implications of this global issue, and highlighting the need for innovative solutions to combat it.

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Afterwork

La Nuit de la Science

06 – 07 Jul 2024

Museum of Natural History

Muséum d’histoire naturelle

Science

SDG11

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Learning

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