Focus on global sustainability goals
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks will travel to Nairobi next week to take part in the inaugural session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA). At the biennial sessions Environment Ministers will meet to set priorities for global environmental policies and adopt decisions on new challenges in the field. The assembly will be held in the Kenyan capital at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) over the five days between 23 and 27 June 2014.
The establishment of the UNEA is a result of decisions adopted at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012 to upgrade the former UNEP Governing Council, making it into the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in which all United Nations Member States have a vote.
The focus of the first UNEA session will be a debate about global sustainability goals for the post-2015 agenda, which are to succeed the Millennium Development Goals set out in the year 2000. International cooperation on measures to combat the illegal trade in wildlife will also be discussed. Other items on the agenda include decisions on chemicals and wastes, improving air quality and protecting the marine environment.
Progress in making economies around the world more sustainable is the aim of the global sustainability goals in the post-2015 agenda. A systematic focus on low-carbon and resource-efficient economic practices both helps protect the climate and the environment and creates sustainable jobs. The potential that sustainable economies have for the generation of green jobs is considerable, especially in emerging and developing markets. The Environment Ministers of Brazil, South Africa and Germany will join the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Regional Director for Africa in a discussion of the environment and employment at a side event to be held by the German delegation on 25 June 2014 at the UNEA in Nairobi.