Ministers and government representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have discussed the upcoming UNEA-2 meeting with UNEP Regional Representative Jan Dusik.

Mr. Branimir Gvozdenović, Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, organised a working dinner together with Mr Dusik on 31 March to foster an exchange of views and form a common approach among South East European leaders.

There, ministers and their delegations heard more on the resolutions that should be adopted at the next session of the Assembly, which will reinforce environmental governance at all levels.

“Regional and sub-regional ministerial environment cooperation plays a critical role in consensus-building and decision making with regard to the environmental dimension of sustainable development,” noted Mr Dusik.

Draft UNEA resolutions currently under negotiation already give a clear signal of the political will for concrete steps in areas such as the sound management of chemicals, increased protection of the oceans and fast progress on implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, among others.

UNEP has for nearly a decade been working with governments and other partners in South Eastern Europe on a wide range of environmental matters, including strengthening environmental governance and supporting the mainstreaming of countries there into various international processes.

*References to Kosovo shall be understood in the context of UN Resolution 1244 (1999)

For more information please write to isabelle.valentiny@unep.org

Geneva has marked International Women’s Day with an exhibition and awards ceremony recognising inspirational women working in the city to protect the environment.

The event and display was launched by the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat and the Geneva Environment Network on the official UN-recognised day of 8 March.

Out of 160 nominations, 20 inspirational women representing a rich diversity of organizations, sectors, functions and nationalities were chosen by a committee to be part of the exhibition.

Some of these dynamic and enthusiastic women are from intergovernmental organisations, others represent civil society or the private sector, as well as the University of Geneva and the Swiss Parliament.

Three UNEP staff members were among the women bestowed with an award.

Sheila Logan has been working with UNEP for thirteen years on issues related to chemicals and waste, with the highlight being her support for negotiations on the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The Convention covers mercury in a full life-cycle approach, and has the potential to address the significant environmental effects of mercury poisoning. The metal may be linked to declines in species such as sharks, predatory fish and marine mammals, as well as having harmful effects on vulnerable populations who rely on such species as an integral part of their diet.

Silja Halle is a Programme Officer with UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch. She currently heads a new programme on women and natural resource management in conflict-affected settings funded by Finland. In this respect, she acts as the coordinator for an innovative partnership between UNEP, UN Women, UNDP and PBSO. The partnership focuses on pilot-testing gender-responsive approaches to environmental and natural resource management as a tool for redressing gender inequity and promoting women’s empowerment in peacebuilding processes.

Isabella Marras has initiated UNEP’s work on a great number of sustainability areas since joining the organisation in 1997. She initiated UNEP’s sustainable procurement work in 1999, the UNEP-UNESCO youthXchange project on sustainable lifestyles for young people (translated in 32 languages) in 2001 and UNEP’s work on education for sustainable lifestyles in 2006. Isabelle moved to the Sustainable UN initiative in 2007 and is currently Coordinator of the Sustainable UN facility, which gathers GHG emissions data from over 60 UN entities worldwide, helping them define emission reduction strategies and to offset.

Thanks to Isabella, Silja, Sheila and other colleagues working hard to promote gender equality, UNEP’s work on the topic has progressed significantly over the past few years. The new Policy and Strategy on Gender Equality and the Environment was released in 2015 and the Global Gender and Environment Outlook will be launched during the second United Nations Environment Assembly in May 2016. The governments of Sweden and Norway have contributed funding to support this work.

Sustainable Development Goal 5 calls for gender equality to be achieved and women and girls empowered. Between now and 2030, countries aim to end child, early and forced marriage for example.

To read more about all the awardees please click here. For more information please get in touch with linda.kaseva@unep.org

Key steps have been taken at a meeting preparing for the entry into force of the Minamata Convention on mercury.

The seventh session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to Prepare a Global Legally Binding Instrument on Mercury (INC7) convened from 10-15 March 2016 in Jordan.

Outcomes from the meeting include the adoption on a provisional basis of technical guidance documents related to the control and – where feasible - reduction of emissions, on the identification of individual stocks of mercury and mercury compounds, as well as guidance on preparing consent forms related to imports of the metal.

A memorandum of understanding was furthermore agreed and forwarded to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) council for its consideration. Draft guidance to the Facility was also shared for its consideration, especially in light of upcoming negotiations on the fund’s seventh replenishment.

Further agreements were reached on financing and activities related to the Convention’s implementation, while plans for additional work were made in relation to effectiveness evaluation, the interim storage of mercury, mercury waste and contaminated sites.

The Minamata Convention on mercury is the first treaty on chemicals and waste for nearly a decade. It was adopted in Kumamoto, Japan in October 2013 and includes a ban on new mercury mines and the phase-out of existing ones.

Entry into force of the Convention will take place 90 days after the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession is deposited. With Senegal the latest country to ratify the Convention, twenty-five countries have already deposited their instruments and a number of governments are well on their way to doing so.

Over 300 participants representing 103 governments attended the event in Jordan, in addition to many non-governmental and intergovernmental organisations.

INC7 was the second of two negotiating sessions planned for the period between the adoption of the Minamata Convention and the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

For more information please write to sheila.logan@unep.org

A new series of videos, produced by UNEP as part of the EU’s 'Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood' (EaP-GREEN) programme, shows how organic food is the natural choice for animals and our environment and calls on people to follow in their footsteps.

Animals instinctively opt for organic produce as they sense what is good for them, as shown in the videos accessible via the following links: Doe Badger Rabbit.

Choosing to eat organic means looking after the environment better than by consuming conventional products; organic produce is free of synthetic or chemical fertilisers, almost free of antibiotics and helps foster natural biodiversity. It also means choosing a healthier and more varied diet.

UNEP’s work on organic agriculture in the EU's Eastern Partnership countries includes expanding domestic agri-food supply chains and fostering trade exchanges, training farmers to switch from conventional farming and awareness-raising campaigns.

The recording of a doe, badger and rabbit choosing organic over conventional food was launched in the framework of EaP-GREEN, which is funded by the EU and implemented jointly by UNEP, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

UNEP also produces market assessment studies as well as reports aimed at policymakers showing the benefits of the practice from both an environmental and economic perspective. Organic producers have furthermore been given a foot-up and received support to take part in the Biofach major organic trade fair.

For more information please write to isabelle.valentiny@unep.org