Building Meaningful & Effective Engagement by Major Group Stakeholders with UNEA 5.2 and the United Nations Environment Programme: A Webinar for Stakeholders in the 6 UNEP Regions

Six regional capacity-building workshops for UNEP Major Groups stakeholders will inform participants about the resumed session of United Nations Environment Assembly-UNEA 5.2, to be held from 28 February to 2 March 2022 in Nairobi, Kenya.

It will include matters pertaining to UNEP@50, Stockholhm+50, and Towards Resolution 73/333, “Strengthening Environmental Governance and Law.”

REGISTRATION IS NOW LIVE AND CAN BE FOUND BELOW

Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future (SF), with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Civil Society Unit in Nairobi, invites you to take part in one of six new regional capacity-building webinars for Major Group Stakeholders.

Focused on the run-up to UNEA 5.2, the resumed session of UNEA-5 from 28 February to 2 March 2022, the webinars will also include content relevant to the Special Session of the Assembly on 3 – 4 March 2022, which is devoted to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of UN Environment Programme in 1972 – UNEP@50.

The webinars will also highlight the related and upcoming Stockholhm+50 meeting, convened by the United Nations General Assembly and hosted by the governments of Sweden and Kenya, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022 to commemorate the 50 years since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which made the environment a pressing global issue for the first time.

Structure, preparation for, and content of the webinars (Links to the pre-recorded modules in English y Español, A to F below, are now live)

In advance of attending these new 4.5 hours duration webinars, we recommend that participants view a series of seven pre-recorded background information modules (in English and Español) if they did not attend the September or December 2020 Capacity Building seminars titled ‘How to Engage with UNEP and UNEA’ conducted by Stakeholder Forum. Those who did attend are welcome to re-watch the primer modules to refresh their memories. The pre-recorded modules, addressing the following background subjects, can be viewed by clicking on the link for either English o Español:

• Modules A, B, C, & D: The role of Stakeholders in UNEP and at UNEA, and how to build caucuses and work across the major groups; National and Regional Processes;  Attending UNEP and UNEA meetings: rules of procedure and engagement, and approaching and engaging with Member States; and What it’s like to be a Member State representative and how to engage best (English) (Español);
• Module E: How to draft a resolution for a United Nations meeting (English) (Español);
• Modules F & G: Multi-stakeholder Partnerships and partnerships to deliver the UNEP Medium-Term Strategy and Programme of Works; and Background on UNGA Resolution 73/333, formerly known as Global Pact for the Environment (English) (Español).

Designed in cooperation with the Civil Society Unit of UNEP, the content of the new regional webinars are as follows:

Session 1 Modules (2 hours, including Q&A sessions)

1. Understanding the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), its two Bureaux, and the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) structure and history.
2. Advice for newcomers on how to engage within the diplomatic sphere of inter-governmental decision-making in the UN, lobby Member states, and the role of an MGS representative at UNEA.
3. Guidance on the effective use of virtual platforms while attending online meetings.
4. UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy and Programme of Work; their content and implementation among Major Groups and other Stakeholders.

15 minutes break

Session 2 Modules (2 hours, including Q&A sessions)

1. Updates on United Nations General Assembly resolution 72/277 (Towards a Global Pact for the Environment) and resolution 73/333 (Follow-up to the report of the ad hoc open-ended working group established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 72/277).
2. Pending resolutions and preparation for UNEA 5.2 in February 2022, including Marine Plastic Litter and Microplastics.
3. Progress on the UNEP@50 and Stockholm+50 processes.
4. Final Q&A and webinar wrap-up.

Organized by: Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future on assignment from the United Nations Environment Programme.

More information about UNEA 5.2 can be found by visiting UNEP’s UNEA website.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR FOR YOUR REGION BY CHOOSING A LINK BELOW

Participants are welcome to attend a webinar for a UNEP region different from their location if the date and time are better, and/or if they prefer to attend a webinar with Spanish or French simultaneous translation.

16 Nov. – North America Region: 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM EST (New York)/9:00 to 1:30 PM PST (Los Angeles) (Completed – view the webinar here)

19 Nov. – Latin America & Caribbean Region (with simultaneous translation English to Spanish): 10:00 AM to 2:30 PM EST (New York)/10:00 AM to 2:30 PM COT (Bogotá) (Completed – view the webinar in English y Español)

23 Nov. – Europe Region: 6:30 AM to 11:00 AM EST (New York)/12:30 PM to 5:00 PM CET (Brussels)

24 Nov. – For Africa and West Asia Regions (with simultaneous translation English to French and English to Arabic): 4:30 AM to 9:00 AM EST (New York)/12:30 PM to 5:00 PM EAT (Nairobi) / 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM EET (Beirut)

2 Dec. – Asia and the Pacific Region: 2:00 AM to 6:30 AM EST (New York)/12:30 PM to 5:00 PM IST (New Delhi)

THE PRESENTERS

Jan-Gustav Strandenaes is a Senior Advisor on Governance for Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future. With a degree in modern history, literature, environmental sciences, and development issues, Jan-Gustav began working with the UN on environment and governance in the 1970s, first in Latin America.  He then taught about the UN for 20 years, worked with UN CSD for NGOs at the UN HQ, and has carried out multiple assignments for UNEP.  Jan-Gustav worked as a diplomat for Norway’s foreign office in Botswana and Uganda has chaired UN meetings, assessed projects, and organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and directed a large aid and environment NGO in Norway for two decades.  As a guest lecturer, he has spoken at universities all over the world on governance, sustainable development, and the environment. Jan-Gustav has had an assignment with UNDESA developing the SDGs, has wide experience with civil society on four continents, translated and written books and numerous articles, speaks several languages, once crossed The Kalahari Desert, and now works as an adviser from his home outside of Oslo, Norway.

and

Felix Dodds is an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Sciences and Engineering and a Senior Fellow at the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina. He is also Associate Fellow at the Tellus Institute. Felix was the co-director of the 2014 and 2018 Nexus Conferences on Water, Food, Energy, and Climate at UNC, is a prolific author on the subject of global sustainability and was the Executive Director of Stakeholder Forum from 1992 to 2012.

Host and Moderator: Charles Nouhan, Chairman, Stakeholder Forum

Charles is a sustainability leader advancing governance for sustainable development, stakeholder engagement, renewable energy technologies, and sustainable waste management. From 2002 until 2018, he worked in the UK local government waste and resource sector developing and managing the recycling, composting, and waste minimization services for communities and businesses, and he continues to advance similar local efforts in The Americas. From 2000 to 2002, Charles was Stakeholder Forum’s Deputy Director and UK Co-ordinator, where he worked alongside then Executive Director Felix Dodds and Co-Chairs Margaret Brusasco-MacKenzie and Derek Osborn in the run-up to the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. From 1999 to 2000, he worked on sustainability and stakeholder engagement at the then Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. Now US-based in the New York Metropolitan area, Charles is SF’s Representative to the United Nations where he supports SF’s work with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and Member states to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.