Environment: What’s Up in GENeva this Week | 6-19 April 2020

All United to End the COVID-19 Pandemic

The #COVID19 pandemic is a crisis that affects everyone.

Last week, the UN Secretary General launched the report on socio-economic impacts of COVID-19, and concluded “Our roadmap is the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The recovery from the COVID-19 crisis must lead to a different economy. Everything we do during and after this crisis must be with a strong focus on building more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change, and the many other global challenges we face. What the world needs now is solidarity. With solidarity we can defeat the virus and build a better world.”

For general reliable information on COVID-19 visit:

United to end the pandemic, get information from additional reliable sources:

COVID-19 & the Environment

Our “Latest updates on COVID-19 and the environment” page, lists relevant information, research, data and/or press releases issued by our partners in Geneva and other institutions around the world on the environmental origins and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The topics covered include: the origins of COVID-19, impacts on wildlife, waste management, use of reusable plastic, air pollution, climate change, the biodiversity crisis, greening economies after COVID-19, and the push back on environmental laws. Check also UNEP COVID-19 page.

Among the numerous press releases and articles issued last week:

First person: COVID-19 is not a silver lining for the climate, says UN Environment chief. UN News, 5 April 2020.
Coronaviruses: are they here to stay? UNEP, 3 April 2020.
COP26 is postponed because of Coronavirus pandemic. WMO, 2 April 2020.
WMO is concerned about impact of COVID-19 on observing system. WMO, 1 April 2020.
Pandémie COVID-19 et qualité de l’air à Genève. Canton de Genève, 1 April 2020.
Earthjustice Condemns Rollback of Federal Clean Cars Standards. Earthjustice, 31 March 2020.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed concerns about India’s migrants being doused with disinfectant in press released issued on 2 April.
#UncommonSense: The Holocene Strikes Back. Pavan Sukhdev, 3 April 2020.

New Dates for Environmental Negotiations

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of participants and visitors, the important global meetings on environmental policy initially planned in 2020, the ‘super year’ for the environment, have been rescheduled.

The Fourth Session of Intergovernmental Conference to Draft Marine Biodiversity Treaty in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction is postponed to the earliest possible date to be decided by the General Assembly.
Portugal and Kenya, as Co-Hosts of the UN Ocean Conference, announced that consultations with the United Nations are ongoing with a view to postponing the 2020 United Nations Ocean Conference.
The IUCN World Conservation Congress 2020 will take place from 7 to 15 January 2021 in Marseille, France.
The Fifth Session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) will take place from 5 to 9 July 2021 at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany.
The two meetings of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s permanent subsidiary bodies, will take place in August 2020, in Montreal, Canada. The dates for the third meeting of the Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as for the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and concurrent meetings of the Parties to the Cartagena and Nagoya Protocols will need to be adjusted.
The UN climate change conference COP26 will be rescheduled in 2021, hosted in Glasgow by the UK in partnership with Italy. The UN Climate Change meetings of the Subsidiary Bodies (SB52) will take place from 4 to 12 October 2020, at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, Germany.

Going live

The international community in Geneva has been teleworking for the past three weeks. Tips to help you enjoying this largest teleworking experiment ever, were shared in our previous weekly newsletters. Check the boxes in the agenda section for details of the meetings and webinars taking place this week and next week.

If you have some free time, consider enrolling into one or more online learning opportunities:

The United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (InforMEA) offers free online courses on various topics .
E-waste Challenge MOOC (Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, the EIT Climate-KIC, the University of Leuven)
Global Health at the Human-Animal-Ecosystem Interface MOOC (University of Geneva, Institute Pasteur, University of Montreal & Centre Virchow-Villermé/University Paris Descartes)
Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace MOOC (SDGacademy with UNEP & others)
Climate Change and Water in Mountains: A Global Concern MOOC ( University of Geneva through its Institute for Environmental Sciences)
Ecosystem Services: a Method for Sustainable Development MOOC (Geneva Water Hub and the University of Geneva)
Water Resources, Management and Policy MOOC (Geneva Water Hub and the University of Geneva)
The One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn)
UN SDG:Learn
UNITAR Training Courses for our Planet (fees for various courses)
EPFL MOOCs Catalogue

What should I read next?

Rebuilding marine life. Duarte, C.M., Agusti, S., Barbier, E. et al. Nature, 580, 39–51, 1 April 2020.
Advocating for Ratification of the Basel Ban Amendment. IPEN.
Another Amazonian Indigenous Leader Is Murdered in Brazil. Amazon Watch, 31 March 2020.

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