UNEP at Green Week

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Like every year, UNEP will participate at Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy. It offers a unique opportunity for debate and exchanges of experience and best practice and will take place at The Egg Conference Centre in Brussels on the 3-5 June. The 2015 theme will focus on the importance of Nature and Biodiversity. 

UNEP will provide three high-level speakers: Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director -Opening panel debate, 3 June; Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Session 3.3 Nature and Health, 4 June; Mette Løyche Wilkie, Director for the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, UNEP, Session 8.1 Averting global biodiversity loss, 5 June

and will be represented in the UN Information stand (Nr 18) coordinated by UNEP with participation of FAO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNRIC

Details of the sessions

• Opening session 3 June 2015 - 14:30-16:50  

Green Week's opening session will remind participants of the importance of nature and biodiversity, how they contribute to the priorities of the new Commission. It will also highlight the benefits that nature brings to citizens' quality of life, and highlighting nature's contribution to growth and jobs in the European economy.

14:30-14:50

Opening: Nature – our health, our wealth

Keynote speaker: President Jean-Claude Juncker 

The Opening Session will be an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of nature and biodiversity and how it contributes to the new Commission priorities.

14:50-15:10 

Introductory speech: 

Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Setting the scene for discussions on how protecting nature and maintaining Europe's competitiveness must go hand-in-hand as nature and biodiversity policy can play a key role in creating jobs and stimulating investment.

15:10-16:00 

Panel speakers:

-Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

-Paolo Barilla, Vice Chairman Barilla 

-Patricia Zurita, CEO BirdLife International

Moderator:

Karl Falkenberg, Director General for Environment, European Commission

• Session 3.3 Nature & health  4 June 2015  - 09:30-11:00

Nature and ecosystem services can play a vital role in safeguarding our health and wellbeing. This session will show how productive and resilient ecosystems can improve our physical and mental health, help tackle social exclusion, and provide a rallying point for communities.                                                                                  

Speakers:

-Patrick Ten Brink, Head of Brussels Office & Environmental Economics Programme, Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP)

-Ignace Schops, President, EUROPARC

-Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Moderator:

Ladislav Miko, Acting Director General, Directorate General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission

• Session 8.1 Averting global biodiversity loss  5 June 2015 - 11:30-13:00

How can the EU better contribute to averting global biodiversity loss? What are the lessons learned from bilateral and multilateral biodiversity diplomacy? What can be achieved through EU development cooperation?

Speakers:

-Jean-Philippe Palasi, Director for European Policy, Conservation International Europe

-Mr Xavier Sticker, Ambassador for the Environment, French Foreign Affairs Department

-Mette Løyche Wilkie, Director for the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation, UNEP

Moderator:

Mr. Roberto Ridolfi, Director of the Sustainable Growth and Development Directorate, Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (EuropeAid), European Commission.

For more information, click here.