September 2015: The 21st Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Environment Management Group (EMG) discussed the Group’s role in supporting the implementation of the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including challenges and opportunities for the UN system. Senior officials recognized that the SDGs will require institutional change, where sustainable development is seen “as the chapeau of all activities and operations” rather than as a department in an agency, as one participant said.

The meeting included a technical segment on 21 September followed by a meeting of senior officials on 24 September. Both meetings convened at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on the side-lines of the UN Sustainable Development Summit.

During a panel discussion on the environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, participating officials stressed the need to develop a coherent, in-depth narrative on how the SDGs are linked to each other, and recognized that the SDGs will require a balance between integration in the UN system, and specialization on specific issues. To avoid a siloed way of working, senior officials suggested clarifying the role of each agency, actively supporting coordination, and using nexus approaches, such as food-energy-water and poverty-environment. Participants also suggested looking at how UN agencies collaborate at a national level to see whether and how global cooperation filters to the national and field levels.

The EMG agreed to continue its work on the Group’s role in the 2030 Agenda, with the aim of submitting a final report to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director for submission to the Second UN Environment Assembly (UNEA 2). They also agreed to prepare an analytical report on implementing the environmental dimensions of the SDGs, including how the environment dimension can contribute to overall SDG achievement.

On a System-wide Framework of Strategies on the Environment (SWFS), officials welcomed the SWFS as a tool to enable and facilitate collaboration among agencies. They suggested that its main aim be to identify synergies in supporting SDG implementation. Participants also recommended that the SWFS be solution-oriented. The EMG agreed to finalize the SWFS for submission to UNEA 2.

The meeting’s technical segment discussed the sound management of chemicals and wastes, and committed to step up joint, coordinated efforts to promote the sound management of chemicals as a critical component of the 2030 Agenda. The EMG decided to extend its Issue Management Group (IMG) for an additional year to: provide input to the UN Statistical Division on possible indicators on sound management of chemicals for relevant SDG targets; and consider how the EMG can contribute to the integration of chemicals management into policy frameworks as part of system-wide implementation of the SDGs. On electronic waste (e-waste), the technical segment invited the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to provide a proposal on the rationale and Terms of Reference for a potential IMG on e-waste.

The technical segment also discussed, inter alia: progress on a framework for environmental and social sustainability in the UN system; progress by the Sustainable UN Secretariat on helping the UN to become climate neutral by 2020; and peer reviews of EMG members, including an ongoing review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a planned review of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2016.

Senior officials approved the EMG’s work plan for the period 2016-2017, which will be implemented using in-kind contributions from members. They further agreed, inter alia, that the UNEP Executive Director will submit a summary report of the EMG’s work to UNEA 2. [EMG Meeting Website] [Meeting Documents] [Report of the Meeting] [UNEA 2 Information]