Bureau members of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) met in Nairobi, Kenya, to prepare for the UNEA's second meeting, which is scheduled to take place in May 2016.
Their discussions included brainstorming on a possible theme for the high-level segment of UNEA's next session.
30 March 2015: Bureau members of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) met in Nairobi, Kenya, to prepare for the UNEA’s second meeting, which is scheduled to take place in May 2016. Their discussions included brainstorming on a possible theme for the high-level segment of UNEA’s next session.
The UNEA bureau includes over 25 representatives of 10 countries, including several ministers and deputy ministers for the environment.
The first UNEA took place from 23-27 June 2014, bringing together over 160 country delegations with 80 ministers, as well as many private sector and civil society representatives. UNEA-1 convened under the theme, ‘Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including sustainable consumption and production (SCP).’
The meeting adopted 16 decisions, addressing issues including air pollution, illegal trade in wildlife, marine plastic debris, integrated management of chemicals and waste and the sustainable development agenda. UNEA-1’s high-level segment addressed ‘A Life of Dignity for All,’ including discussion of the SDGs, SCP and illegal trade in wildlife, with a focus on the escalation in poaching and surge in related environmental crime.
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) agreed on a decision to strengthen and upgrade the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and create the UNEA in 2012. Later that same year, the 67th session of the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 67/213 establishing universal membership of the UNEA’s Governing Council. UNEA is the UN’s highest-level platform for environmental decision making. [UNEP Press Release] [IISD-RS Report on UNEA-1]