EU General Statement – United Nations 2nd Committee: Adoption of the Report on the UN Environment Programme
Madam Chair,
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, the Republic of North Macedonia*, Montenegro* and Albania*, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Republic of Moldova and Georgia, align themselves with this statement.
The EU and its MS are glad to be joining consensus today on the resolution on the “UNEA report” and would like to thank the facilitator, M. David Martinez Susgatti, as well as UNEP and all involved in the negotiation process for their engagement.
We look forward to the convening of the resumed meeting of the fifth session of the UNEA and to the Special Session of the commemoration UNEP@50, in February and March next year. In this respect, we welcome that the resolution we adopt today decides that UNEP@50 will be the appropriate UN high-level meeting for the adoption of the political declaration pursuant to resolution 73/333. This language brings clarity for the work of our colleagues in Nairobi.
We believe that this resolution sends a strong message on the need to mainstream the environment in the UN system. It should mobilise Member States, the UN system and other stakeholders in view of the important milestones ahead of us, notably, the resumed session of UNEA-5, which will convene under the theme of strengthening action for nature to achieve the SDGs. We also call upon UNEA-5.2 to launch negotiations of an inter-governmental instrument to end plastic pollution. Equally, our high expectations include the second part of the CBD COP15 in 2022, during which we hope that an ambitious and transformative post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will be adopted, as well as the 2nd UN Ocean Conference co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya and the international meeting “Stockholm+50” co-hosted by Sweden and Kenya. These events should maintain the political momentum for the imperative increase of our collective ambition for the environment.
Whilst the resolution mentions the theme of CBD CoP15, we do not consider this to constitute a precedent in respect of non-intergovernmentally agreed themes chosen by the hosts of such meetings.
We welcome that the resolution refers to the One Health approach, whose value the EU wishes to emphasize. We encourage close cooperation between experts, stakeholders and all relevant parts of the United Nations. In this regard, we welcome the cooperation of UNEP with WHO, FAO and OIE on the mitigation of risks and the improvement of responses that support healthy people, animals and the environment.
Madam chair,
The European Union remains committed to support the essential work of the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Environment Assembly.
Thank you.
* The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.