Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 31 August – 6 September 2020

The Geneva Environment Network weekly newsletter includes updates on global environmental agenda, main events, job vacancies expiring soon, learning opportunities, as well as other useful news 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, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

Back to Work: Welcoming Session

On Tuesday, 1 September, a special session will introduce new stakeholders to international Geneva, its environmental community, major events and negotiations taking place in the region.

A maximum of 20 participants will be accommodated at the International Environment House with prior registration (now fully booked – participants will soon receive confirmation message). If you plan to attend this event online, kindly register on the webex platform.

Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention

The first part of the twelfth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Basel Convention (OEWG-12) is taking place online on Tuesday 1 and Thursday 3 September 2020. Seven online side events will take place on Wednesday 2 September. Among these:

Evaluating the effectiveness of Conventions | Secretariat of the Minamata Convention | 9.00 to 10.00 CEST
e-Wastes: Closing the Remaining Loopholes’ | Basel Action Network (BAN) | 9.00 to 10.00 CEST
Hidden Dangers in Plastic Waste: The Next Basel Challenge’ | Basel Action Network (BAN) on behalf of NGOs including BFFP, IPEN, GAIA and CIEL | 11.00 to 12.00 CEST
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for all e-waste: proposal of Switzerland and Ghana for an amendment to the Basel Convention’ | Switzerland and Ghana | 14.00 to 15.00 CEST
Strengthening coordination and engagement on waste issues’ | UNEP Chemicals and Health Branch and SAICM Secretariat | 14.00 to 14.00 CEST
Impact of COVID-19 on transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes and illegal traffic | ENFORCE | 16.00 to 17.00 CEST

COVID-19 and the Environment

The COVID-19 pandemic is a crisis that affects everyone. As the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said

The pandemic has exposed the fragility of our societies and economies to global shocks, such as disease or climate disruption. As we recover, we must build back better for people and for the planet.

The Secretary General keeps reminding us, that we have a framework for action – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and has launched the UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19.

Latest updates on COVID-19 and the environment

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. Among the press releases and articles issued last week:

Rampant destruction of forests ‘will unleash more pandemics’ | Robin McKie | The Guardian | 30 August 2020
Reflections on 2020 from a Nature Campaigner | Joanna Benn | The Nature Conservancy | 26 August 2020
OPINION: In the face of COVID-19, rich countries are in danger of abandoning the poor | Youba Socona | Thomson Reuters | 24 August 2020
What The Arctic Reveals About Coronavirus | Mia Bennett | JONAA | August 2020
Devastated by pandemic, tourism sector must be rebuilt in a safe, equitable and climate friendly way – UN chief | UN News | 25 August 2020

What (Else) Should I Read Next?

INTERPOL Strategic Analysis Report: Emerging criminal trends in the global plastic waste market since January 2018 | INTERPOL | 27 August 2020
A new INTERPOL strategic report on global plastic waste management has found an alarming increase in illegal plastic pollution trade across the world since 2018.
Big Oil Is in Trouble. Its Plan: Flood Africa With Plastic. | Hiroko Tabuchi, Michael Corkery and Carlos Mureithi | NY Times | 30 August 2020
Faced with plunging profits and a climate crisis that threatens fossil fuels, the industry is demanding a trade deal that weakens Kenya’s rules on plastics and on imports of American trash.
Oil spill in Mauritius calls for more efforts to safeguard coral reef ecosystems | UNEP | 24 August 2020
The oil spill has the potential of causing devastating and widespread impacts on the country that depends on its seas for food, livelihoods and tourism that accounts for 36% of Mauritius GDP.
WEF Council Proposes Five Actions to Harness Trade to Tackle Environmental Challenges | IISD SDG Knowledge Hub | 25 August 2020
Published in March 2020, the briefing paper does not take into consideration impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over 160 subsidies are damaging biodiversity in Switzerland | Reinhard Lässig & Marcel Falk | WSL | 24 August 2020
Over 160 subsidies in different areas not only support a variety of political goals but at the same time damage biodiversity, as researchers from the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL and the Biodiversity Forum of the Swiss Academy of Sciences demonstrate in a study.