Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 23 – 29 August 2021

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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some live events organized by organizations around the world, contributing to the global environmental agenda, have also been included. Stay tuned and follow us also on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

Due to the developments in the sanitary situation, various institutions in Geneva continue operating virtually. Our update on COVID-19 and the environment lists relevant information, research, data, and press releases on the environmental origins and impacts of the pandemic.

Preparations for Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution

The Ministerial Conference on Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution – Informal consultations addressing the mandates of UNEA 3/7 and 4/6 towards the 5th UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA-5.2), jointly organized by Ecuador, Germany, Ghana and Vietnam, with technical and logistical support from the United Nations Environment Programme, will take place on 1-2 September 2021 in a hybrid format, with a core presence at the World Trade Organization premises in Geneva. Various events will be held in parallel to this Conference, providing an opportunity to stakeholders to be updated on efforts ongoing at the global level to tackle plastic pollution.

A preparatory briefing, organized within the framework of the Geneva Environment Network and the Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues will be held online, on Tuesday 24 August 2021, from 15.00 to 16.00 CEST. Primarily targeted at the Permanent Missions based in Geneva and the stakeholders involved in the Conference, this session will provide an update on the preparations and answer questions. Register on Webex.

For additional resources, consult our update on Plastics and the Environment and the outputs of the Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues.

Happening Abroad

2021 Stockholm World Water Week | Online | 23 – 27 August 2021
International Geneva is mobilized for the leading conference on global water issues taking place virtually this week, gathering experts and participants from more than 130 countries to discuss the most pressing issues surrounding this precious resource. Consult our selection of events.
Third meeting, Open-Ended Working Group (WG2020) on the Post-2020 Global Framework Agreement | Online | 23 August – 3 September 2021
The WG2020 is meeting to advance preparations for the development of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This process is expected to lead its adoption at the UN Biodiversity Conference later this year, in Kunming, China.

Green Summer in Geneva

See our list of suggestions of environmental and nature-themed activities to safely entertaining this summer in Geneva: exhibitions, workshops, shows, contests, outdoor activities and online resources.

In focus this week, the third edition of Festi’Terroir at Parc des Bastions, from Friday 27 August to Sunday 29 August. Various associations addressing sustainable agriculture and responsible consumption will be present to present their activities.

What (Else) Should I Read Next?

Human rights must be at heart of UN plan to save planet – expert | SR Environment | UN Human Rights Special Procedures | 19 August 2021
The UN’s draft plan to preserve and protect nature – UN Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework – must be amended to put human rights at its centre if we are to ensure the future of life on our planet.
39 million new jobs if governments stop investing in subsidies which harm nature | WWF | 18 August 2021
Ahead of the UN biodiversity negotiations, a new report commissioned by WWF reveals that 39 million new jobs could be created if governments reallocated just one year’s worth of subsidies that harm biodiversity to a nature-positive stimulus instead.
The Climate Crisis is a Child Rights Crisis | UNICEF | 20 August 2021
One billion children, particularly those in the Central African Republic, Chad, and Nigeria, at ‘extremely high risk’ of the impacts of the climate crisis, according to UNICEF’s first child-focused climate risk index.
Climate, investors and the IPCC’s ‘code red’ | Stéphane Monier | Lombard Odier Private Bank | 17 August 2021
The IPCC report should strengthen firm demand for investment solutions that tackle climate change. It signals a period of intensified market sensitivity and reaction to climate-related risks, altering the investment universe.
Nature and the solutions it provides to protect and restore our planet | Inger Anderson | UNEP | 16 August 2021
“It is long past time to take decisive action. To reform our economies and societies. Our food systems. Our energy systems. Our transport systems. Our consumption and production habits. Our financial systems. It is long past time to make peace with nature. Not just because we want to halt and reverse the crisis. But because we want everyone’s lives to be better than they have ever been. (…) As we embark on what we must do, namely a global redesign, we must hold clear in our minds the benefits of nature-based solutions.”