With UNEP turning 50 in 2022, the Center for Governance and Sustainability at UMass Boston convenes a series of conversations with leaders around the world who have shaped UNEP’s history. Hosted by Center Director, Dr. Maria Ivanova, the UNEP@50 Dialogue Series takes a look at how UNEP has done to catalyze environmental work within the United Nations and beyond, what are the new challenges and what should it do differently, who can cause that change, and how can they do so.
The inaugural episode of this series took place on May 7 with UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen and is available on demand: Watch the dialogue
Ms. Andersen took this opportunity to describe UNEP as a “barometer on how we are doing, what’s happening, and what we understand about systems, climate, and nature all on the line.” Ms. Andersen emphasized that “UNEP is the environmental conscience of the United Nations and frankly of the world.”
During the conversation, Dr. Ivanova dug into the notion of UNEP as the “environmental conscience” since this was not part of UNEP’s mandate and further questioned UNEP’s role as “the UN system has a lot of agencies that are doing more and more environmental work.” Ms. Andersen sees UNEP as a translator of environmental issues for citizens as well as other UN agencies and therefore, UNEP is encouraged by the environmental work of other UN agencies. Put this way, Ms. Andersen stated that “We grow wings that way, we are not in every corner and every field and in every industry, but when we take the entire UN system we actually can begin to have more impact.” She noted that this is an area of needed growth for UNEP as well and connected this to the challenges identified in Dr. Ivanova’s book, The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty. A book that Ms. Andersen recommended as a must-read for the World Economic Forum (WEF) “Seven Champions for Nature” list.
When asked why this list, Ms. Andersen highlighted the reach, interest, and type of audience that engages with WEF. She noted that that the book outlines “that there is a trajectory and a legacy, upon which all of this [UNEP] is built” which provides the context for UNEP’s work and allows the audience including business leaders to evaluate their environmental footprint. Andersen noted that Ivanova’s book provides this context.
A dynamic portion of the dialogue series allows participants the opportunity to engage directly with leaders in environmental governance. Ms. Andersen fielded questions about the 17 conventions hosted within UNEP and the “tapestry” of environmental areas that UNEP addresses. She also addressed issues with filling the gaps between law and implementation and focused on science and law as foundational to UNEP’s work. Some of the audience members asked about raising global awareness for environmental issues, and Andersen credited the youth movements for taking on this challenge and giving high praise to them stating that, “And the credit [for environmental awareness] goes in large part to activist youth.”
Ms. Andersen and participants in the dialogue added several resources for people to engage with to learn more, including:
· Earth School
· Playing for the Planet
· Champions of the Earth
· IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
· UNEP Secretariat and Conventions
· Environmental Conventions Index
To close this dialogue Ms. Ivanova asked what Ms. Andersen’s vision for UNEP is at 75 or 100. To which she answered, “We would have made peace with nature. We are living in harmony with nature in a net-zero world, in zero climate-changing world, and with a pollution-free planet.”
For the second dialogue, Dr. Maria Ivanova will be joined on Thursday, June 3, 2021, at 17:30 CET by the Administrator of UNDP and former Executive Director of UNEP, Achim Steiner, to discuss the interconnectedness of environment and development and the future of the two organizations.
To learn more and register visit: bit.ly/Towards50atUNEP2
For more updates on the Center for Governance and Sustainability: https://www.environmentalgovernance.org/news
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