Strengthening environmental governance through South South cooperation

EU support to multilateral environmental agreements

One of the tangible expressions of science-policy interface at work are the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). They offer the best hope for multilateralism to deliver. But how do they deliver? What does the EC do to support these MEAs? What key lessons does such work offer for better environmental management and governance? How does this promote South-South Cooperation? Come and find some answers from the ACP MEAs 3 programme that the Commission is currently supporting.

Supporting the Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) countries, through the UN Environment Programme, the Commission is engaged in a number of activities in support of compliance and enforcement of MEAs since 2009. The third phase of support (ACP MEAs 3) is currently ongoing where UNEP partners with a number of MEAs belonging to the biodiversity cluster (CBD, CITES, CMS and others), chemicals cluster (BRS, Minamata convention and others) and regional seas conventions and protocols (such as the Nairobi, Abidjan, Noumea and Cartagena conventions) and regional inter-governmental entities like the African Union Commission, the Secretariat to the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, the FAO and others in delivering an impactful programme related to MEA implementation and ocean governance in addition to reducing the impacts of chemicals in agriculture. Focusing on a number of cross-cutting issues such as promoting South South Cooperation, realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), promoting the interests of Small Island Developing States as well having a strong emphasis on promoting youth engagement and womens' participation, the presentation will provide an overview of how the ACP MEAs 3 programme is delivering the objectives set in the EC-UNEP programme. it is envisaged that the future positioning of this Programme to link up with interested components of the Commission will be the priority area of discussions that will follow the presentation.

To continue the discussion, you can join the Capacity4DEV group:

Environment, Climate Change and Green Economy

Speakers

Aurelie Godefroy, Deputy head of unit INTPA F2- Environment, Sustainable Natural Resources

Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary-General, OACPS Secretariat

Balakrishna Pisupati, Programme manager UNEP