Your Excellency, Sultan Hajiyev, Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives,
Ambassadors and colleagues. Welcome to the 171st meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR).
We have only recently convened for the twelfth Annual Sub-Committee meeting which entailed a busy and productive week full of important discussions with Member States, focusing on how we continue to strengthen UNEPs work, the upcoming seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) and confronting the urgent environmental challenges facing our planet. My thanks again.
Since we met so recently, and since we have a packed agenda for todays meeting, my remarks will be brief.
Before I delve into the matters this meeting will consider, please allow me to draw your attention to UNEPs new report on the environmental impact of the conflict in Gaza, which will be released tomorrow. The assessment follows our preliminary assessment released last year. At the request of the State of Palestine, we have updated the analysis of environmental damage arising from the conflict and provided recommendations for recovery and reconstruction.
The damage to soils, freshwater supplies and coastline from two years of conflict are intense. The report recommends priority environmental interventions that must be undertaken as soon as possible, including relating to water resources and debris.
While ending human suffering is the priority, dealing with the aftermath will also be vital for food and water security. If the conflict continues, the legacy of environmental destruction could persist for generations. Recovery can only begin when the fighting stops, and the UN Secretary-General continues to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This assessment is a stark reminder of the harm war can cause to the environment, and the consequences for people and rebuilding after the fighting has stopped. The path of the peace is the only one to follow.
Excellencies,
Today, you will be looking again at the next Medium-Term Strategy, budget and Programme of Work. The Strategy had been updated in line with guidance you provided during the Annual Sub-Committee meeting. I thank you again for your long and deep involvement in shaping UNEPs Strategy for the next four years. We now have a Strategy that includes all Member States feedback and wishes and, I believe, sets the stage for a leaner, more efficient UNEP that can help to move the needle faster on the three planetary environmental crises.
Crucial to our work is, of course, UNEA, and today you will be looking at preparations for the seventh session.
As you will recall, you had the opportunity to see the first part of the Executive Directors report to UNEA, which identified five priority areas that Member States may wish to focus on through resolutions submitted for adoption by UNEA-7. These areas were in no order of priority water resource management, nutrient pollution, mineral governance, stratospheric protection and the environmental footprint of AI. So, as you draft your resolutions, please do keep these areas in mind if they are to be of help to Member States, and the Bureau continues to encourage a limited amount of impactful, urgent resolutions.
The second part of my report, which was released yesterday, looks further forward and invites Member States to consider how we might unleash UNEAs full potential as the worlds highest level global environmental forum and decision-making body. As I have said before, UNEA is a young body in environmental governance terms. While it has achieved much, there is room for the body to grow and mature.
I believe UNEA that can become more focused, strategic and responsive to emerging environmental challenges through bold, inclusive and science-driven decision-making. An inclusive, engaged UNEA in which debates and dialogue take place across constituencies including youth, Indigenous People, civil society, the science community, local communities and the private sector. A UNEA that enhances dialogue with and among Multilateral Environmental Agreements, as we have now started doing. A UNEA that cements Nairobi as the hub of global environmental cooperation, supported by broader and deeper representation from Member States.
The question I pose to Member States in my report is how we can ensure that such an assembly throws its weight behind urgent, critical and emerging environmental matters through meaningful resolutions. Resolutions that Ministers and cabinets in capitals will back and implement with the full force of domestic politics, with strong technical and scientific support from UNEP and the triple science-policy panels.
Such a UNEA, backed with the appropriate resources, can play a central role in stabilizing the climate; restoring nature, land and biodiversity; and decreasing pollution and waste all of which will create the conditions for stronger economies, better human health, security and peace.
I look forward to discussing how we can make this happen.
Thank you.
