Environment: What’s Up in GENeva this Week | 29 June – 5 July 2020

The Geneva Environment Network weekly newsletter includes updates on global environmental agenda, main events, jobs and learning opportunities, and other useful news for the current week. During the COVID-19 pandemic lock-down, 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.

Impact of COVID-19 on Climate Science

A new session of the GENeva Environment Dialogues, co-organized with the World Meteorological Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Group on Earth Observations, will address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on climate science. Join us Thursday 2 July at 9am CEST | Registration Webex Live | Video Facebook Live | Event details

With the participation of

Oksana Tarasova, Chief, Atmospheric Environment Research Division, WMO
Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group I
Hans-Otto Pörtner, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group II
Jim Skea, Co-Chair, IPCC Working Group III
Sara Venturini, Climate Coordinator, GEO Secretariat

Environment @ HRC44

The 44th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC44) is taking place in Geneva from 30 June to 21 July 2020. During the session, the Council will review reports on a wide range of human rights issues and situations of concern and will engage in over 30 interactive dialogues with human rights experts, groups and mechanisms. The High Commissioner will present an oral update on the human rights impact of COVID-19.

This week, on 1 July, the Council will hold its annual discussion on the rights of the child, which will focus on realizing the rights of the child through a healthy environment.

Find out more on reports, resolutions, new appointments, and other news on environmental-related topics, as well as who to follow at this session…

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. The UN Secretary-General has launched the UN Comprehensive Response to COVID-19.

This week again, various events will focus on how we can recover better from the pandemic, consult the full list in the events section. Our “Latest updates on COVID-19 and the environment” page, 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:

Air pollution kills 7 million people a year – and probably makes COVID-19 more deadly: this week’s World Vs Virus podcast | Robin Pomeroy | WEF | 25 June 2020
How deforestation helps deadly viruses jump from animals to humans | Amy Y. Vittor, Gabriel Zorello Laporta, Maria Anice Mureb Sallum | The Conversation | 25 June 2020
How regulation of endangered wildlife trade can prevent the next pandemic | Ivonne Higuero (CITES) | South China Morning Post | 21 June 2020
Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution | Times | 22 June 2020
Coronavirus lockdowns increase poaching in Asia, Africa | Aniruddha Ghosal and Michael Casey | AP | 22 June 2020
The Invisible Trade Wild plants and you in the time of COVID-19 | TRAFFIC | 18 June 2020
A ‘mass experiment’ for the climate | Emily Kasriel | BBC – Future Planet | 25 June 2020
COVID-19 disruptions in ocean observations could threaten weather forecast and climate change predictions | UNESCO | 23 June 2020
Will 2020 be the year of the Green Industrial Revolution? | Claudia Assmann and Colm Hastings | GGKP Blog | 23 June 2020

Summer in Geneva

We have prepared a list of suggestions of environmental awareness activities to safely entertaining this summer in Geneva: exhibitions, workshops, shows, contests, outdoor activities and online resources.