Ways in which four different sustainable development models can contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals were discussed during a roundtable event co-organised by the Geneva Environment Network (GEN) Secretariat and UNEP in July.

The event kicked off with the screening of short films conveying the concepts of Ecological Civilisation for China, a Green Economy for South Africa, Living Well for Bolivia and a Sufficiency Economy for Thailand.

A discussion then followed with a high-level panel made up of Li Haisheng, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation at China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Permanent Representatives of Thailand, South Africa and Bolivia to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva - His Excellency Mr Thani Thongphakdi , Ncumisa Notutela and María Natalia Pacheco Rodriguez respectively – and Sheng Fulai, head of the Research and Partnership Unit at UNEP’s Economics and Trade Branch.

The panel presented the different initiatives being carried out in the four states, as focused on in UNEP’s new report presented titled ‘Multiple Pathways to Sustainable Development: Initial Findings from the Global South’.

UNEP has for the past two years been working with the four within the framework of the ‘Enhancing South-South Cooperation - Building the Capacity of Developing Countries to Promote Green Economies’ project, documenting and sharing their national sustainable development approaches.

The 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) conference saw world leaders recognized the existence of a number of “different approaches, visions, models and tools available to each country, in accordance with its national circumstances and priorities, to achieve sustainable development”.

In order to view the presentations made at the event, please click here. For more details please contact diana.rizzolio@unep.org or claudia.assmann@unep.org

For a full list of upcoming events organised by GEN, please click here

Caspian governments will be presented with concrete recommendations for boosting public stakeholder engagement in the Tehran Convention following a deal reached at a stakeholders' meeting last month.

The Tehran Convention - ratified by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan - fosters cooperation for the protection of the Caspian Sea.

Participants at the stakeholder meeting converged around a set of recommendations for public involvement in both the process and implementation of the Convention when gathering in Astrakhan in the Russian Federation on 12-13 August.

The event took place in the margins of Caspian Day celebrations in the city - which included round table discussions, a clean technology trade fair, a Caspian traditions market and a photo exhibition – marking the ninth anniversary of the entry into force of the Tehran Convention on 12 August 2006, now celebrated in all littoral states.

The recommendations, which will be presented to the governments at the upcoming Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties, include among others a call for national and regional stakeholder networks to be formed and a micro-grants programme to be set up for environmental projects run by local organisations.

The meeting brought together representatives from civil society, local communities, private sector and academia as well as government officials of the Convention Parties.

Participants also seized the chance to celebrate 20 years of international environmental cooperation in the Caspian Sea region under the Caspian Environment Programme, from which the Tehran Convention emerged.

The Secretariat of the Tehran Convention is administered by the UNEP Regional Office for Europe.

For more details please contact daniel.nixdorf@unep.org

Public awareness was raised on use of an electronic system for preventing pasture degradation at discussions held on 11 and 13 August in Batken and Osh oblasts in Kyrgyzstan.

The events were an opportunity to review use of the 'Electronic Zhayyt Committee' information system as a best practice for the sustainable management of pastures.

The system allows pasture managers to define the boundaries and dimensions of pilot areas and determine the composition of plant communities, the types and seasons of pastures and their productivity, yield and gross forage supply, ruderal and toxic vegetation and the presence of plants yet to have been grazed on.

The ‘Demonstrating Sustainable Mountain Pasture Management in the Suusamyr Valley, Kyrgyzstan’ project is implemented by UNDP and funded by the Global Environment Facility. Replicating the project is one of the primary objectives of the UNDP-UNEP Poverty–Environment Initiative, which is implemented through the support of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.

An ‘Electronic Jaiyt Committee’ will now also be applied in the Kara-Kulzha and Dara rural areas. “Everything is simple, open and accessible, while importantly also helping the easy collection of rent payments for pastures,” said Kokoyev Musa, head of the District Office of Agricultural Development of Kara-Gulja district, one of those where the electronic system is being introduced.

Ideas from local pasture users are also being considered under the Initiative, such as the use of solar ovens for cooking, which will reduce forest loss and soil erosion and thus reduce the risk of natural disasters.

For more information please click here
or contact Aida Umanova, +996.312.694.380 (+177), email: aida.umanova@undp.org

Important developments from the recent international negotiations that took place under the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Triple Conference of the Parties (COPs) and preparation for the fourth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4) have been presented in a briefing to permanent missions.

Between 4 and 15 May, parties to the three chemicals conventions agreed on 73 decisions aimed at ensuring protection against hazardous chemicals and waste. The negotiations for the biennial event brought almost 1,200 participants from 171 countries to Geneva.

In a subsequent briefing organised in the context of the Geneva Environment Network on 7 July, Gabriela Eigenmann, Senior Policy Advisor for the International Affairs Division of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment - provided her perspective on the factors leading to successes at the negotiations and lessons learned.

National representatives were also briefed on the upcoming fourth session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management, which will take place from 28 September to 2 October in Geneva (see On the Calendar section).

Participants furthermore received an update on the Special Programme to support institutional strengthening at national level towards implementation of the chemicals and waste conventions and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management.

For the full agenda of the briefing documents related to the meeting and in order to view the presentations made, please click here.
For more information please contact diana.rizzolio@unep.org