Overview of UNEP’s participation in Events in Brussels
Discussion details
December 2019
Anatomy of Action: a toolkit for activating people for sustainable living
Launched through a 15 days pilot social media challenge in September 2019, and feeding into the #ActNow campaign that supported the Climate Action Summit in New York, the Anatomy of Action structure transforms the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into low effort and high impact individual actions that enable people to live better and lighter. The Challenge was used to illustrate that in just 15 days, social media efforts could touch more than 5 million people all over the World. Early December 2019, Ms Garrette Clark, Sustainable Lifestyles Programme Officer at UNEPs Consumption and Production Unit, came to Brussels to explain how the Anatomy of Action can help promote change – for everyone everywhere. Read more here.
November 2019
UNEP at launch of CR+ campaign "More circularity, less carbon" during European Week for Waste Reduction 2019
On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management (ACR+) launched in November a new campaign called "More circularity, less carbon" to encourage local public authorities to account for the carbon impact of the implementation of their circular economy strategy. Ms Hunt Safrankova, Head of UNEP‘s Brussels Office participated in a panel discussion. She welcomed the new campaign and identified linkages between global, regional and local action to address climate change through circular economy strategies. Read more here.
Addressing ‘Resource security for value chains’ UNEP Senior Official addresses EU Raw Materials Week 2019
“When you think of raw material security, you need to look at the issue from human security and environmental security perspectives, but also from the competitiveness and innovation perspectives,” Ms Noronha told the 7th Annual High-Level Conference of the European Innovation Partnership during the EU Raw Materials Week 2019 in Brussels. These perspectives all need to come together, and this is slowly happening. “The announced EU Green Deal aims to be an example of coherence and this is encouraging." Read more here.
'Embrace positive change for the environment and avoid polarization around the need for action' UNEP official at Climate and Energy Summit 2019
“We should be careful about unnecessarily demonizing opponents of climate change actions and avoid placing an undue burden on the people and the sectors that have played a huge part in our economic and social development as we undergo the necessary energy transition,” Mark Radka, Chief of the Energy and Climate Branch of the UNEP told the audience attending the Friends of Europe Climate and Energy Summit on 7 November in Brussels. Read more here.
October 2019
Can climate justice drive climate ambition?
On the 23rd of October Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head of UNEP Office in Brussels, was invited to deliver UNEP’s views on the existing link between climate justice and climate ambition. Noticing that often those who are most impacted by negative effects of climate change are also those who have contributed the least to environmental degradation, UNEP’s Head of Office called for increased multilateral actions and joint efforts to face the global threat that climate change is. Furthermore, she noticed how we should not only focus our attention on the different levels of impact from climate change between countries, but also within counties. Read more here.
Celebration of the UN's 74th anniversary at the Flemish Parliament
On 21 October, the UNEP Brussels office participated in the UN Day Flanders event, organised by CIFAL Flanders and VVN Youth, in collaboration with the Flemish UN Association (VVN), the UN Regional Information Centre and UN agencies in Brussels, in the Flemish Parliament to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the United Nations. The UNEP Brussels Office team took part in an information market, and invited visitors to join the global conversation launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2020 for #UN75 aimed at #ShapingOurFuture together, to advance the well-being of all. Watch video on the global conversation here.
Global Environment Outlook (GEO6) Summary for Policymakers Presentations in Brussels
Mid-October 2019, Matthew Billot, Senior Coordination Officer at the UNEP Europe Office, and involved in the GEO production process, seized the opportunity to present the findings of the GEO6 Summary for Policymakers to key EU stakeholders in Brussels. He gave presentations at three events held at the European Parliament, the UN House and at the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV). In his presentations to the EU policymakers and stakeholders, Matthew Billot gave an overview of the drivers of environmental change, such as demographic growth and urbanization. Read more here.
Boosting Academia’s role in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda
‘Universities, as institutions, have a responsibility to give back to the society of which they are an integral part, and to be catalysts for a positive change’ according to Ms Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head of the UNEP’s Office in Brussels. At two distinct occasions in Brussels in October, Ms Hunt Safrankova proclaimed support and further encouragement of the role academia play in helping achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and climate action in particular. Read more here.
Outcomes of Nature-Based Solutions track at UN Climate Action Summit
As member of the UNEP facilitation team which supported the Nature-Based solutions process in the lead up to the UN Climate Action Summit of 23 September, Mario Boccucci, Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat, provided a debriefing to representatives from civil society and EU Institutions on 9 October in Brussels, on the outcomes of the Summit in relation to this working track. Read more here.
EU-UNEP Africa Dialogue
On 2 October, UNEP and the European Commission held a high-level Dialogue on Africa in Brussels. High-level representatives from both organizations engaged in a political and policy dialogue with the objective of identifying priorities and common actions in Africa around pressing environmental issues. The discussions centered around three main topics and how these contribute to value-chains and job creation in Africa: circular economy, climate change, and biodiversity. Read more here.
September 2019
UNEP Brussels Office joins EU Beach Clean Up in Ostende
On 17 September, Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head of UNEP's Brussels Office, joined 1,200 school children, heading to the beach to undertake the biggest climate action event ever seen in the historic Belgian coastal city of Ostend. The Ostend beach clean-up action marked the Belgian start of the joint United Nations-European Union public information campaign for clean oceans and clean beaches, which will raise awareness on marine litter—one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Read more here.
EU-China Blue Partnership Forum for the Oceans - UNEP inputs on Nature-Based solutions
On 5 September the European Commission hosted the First China-EU “Blue Partnership Forum for the Oceans” in Brussels. “This partnership provides an opportunity to enhance and take forward best practices on nature-based solutions working across multiple sectors for sustainable development and for meeting long term sustainable development goals,” Ms Susan Gardner, Director of the Ecosystems Division of the UNEP, said at a panel discussion on ensuring the sustainable development of the oceans. Basically, it is about “investments in nature for people” she told the audience. Read more here.
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