ENB @ GMEF-3: 12 February (day 1)

Day 1: Tuesday, 12 February

In the morning, participants convened for the opening Plenary of the final meeting of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of Ministers or Their Representatives on International Environmental Governance. After short introductory statements, participants broke into two groups to discuss the "draft recommendations of the IGM/IEG to the Governing Council/
Global Ministerial Environment Forum of UNEP", as contained in part III of Chair Anderson's Building Blocks paper. Delegates met in afternoon and evening sessions of the two Working Groups and in one contact group on financial matters. During the evening Plenary, it was announced that all three groups will reconvene on Wednesday following the address to be given by Andres Pastrana, President of Colombia. The opening of GMEF-2, originally scheduled for 11:00 am, will be delayed until 4:00 pm.

Opening Plenary

< In his opening remarks, David Anderson, Chair of the UNEP Governing Council, recalled the history and goals of the IEG. He then proposed, and delegates agreed, to reconvene in two Working Groups.

Listen to Anderson's opening remarks

< Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP, welcomed participants to Cartagena and said that the IEG process is instrumental to the common endeavor of reducing poverty and changing unsustainable consumption patterns. He emphasized that IEG did not challenge the independence of multilateral environmental agreements.

Listen to Töpfer's statement

Working Groups

< Philippe Roch, Secretary of State, Switzerland, chaired Working Group One (WG-1), which discussed the role and structure of the GMEF; the role, authority and financial situation of UNEP; and the role of the Environmental Management Group. These topics correspond to paragraphs A, B and E of Section III of Chair Anderson's Building Blocks paper.

< View from the back of WG-1's meeting room.

< "The halls of power" - members of the EU delegation led by the UK's Michael Meacher, Minister of State (Environment), in consultation with Chair Roch before the start of the evening meeting of WG-1

< Members of the Secretariat (including Töpfer, back to camera) meeting behind the dias after the close of the evening Plenary, discussing the logistics of tomorrow's meeting.

Miyingo reported to Plenary that WG-1 had almost reached consensus on all points, but required a little more time to complete its work. Chair Anderson instructed WG-2 to reconvene at noon Wednesday.

Listen to the report

< Kezimibara Miyingo, Minister of the Environment of Uganda, presided over the debate in Working Group Two (WG-2), which considered improved coordination and coherence between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), capacity building, technology transfer and country level coordination for the environmental pillar of sustainable development; and future perspective. These items are contained in paragraphs C, D and F of Section III of Chair Anderson's Building Blocks paper.

< WG-2 in session.

< John W. Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) reported back to WG-1 that the contact group that he chaired did not reach consensus on issues related to finance, but remained optimistic about an outcome at Wednesday's meeting. The group used his "non-paper" as a basis for their discussion.

Above: Chair Anderson lending his support - and views - to WG-1. He suggested that delegates draft amendments to the paragraph on the GMEF, and submit them in time for consideration at a resumption of WG-1's work on Wednesday at 2 pm.

Roch reported to Plenary that his group had completed consideration of the section on the Environmental Management Group and relayed Ashe's request for more time to discuss financial matters. He noted the difficulties the group was having with the section on the GMEF, and Chair Anderson granted WG-1's request for more time.
Listen to the report

Evening reception,
hosted by the Government of Colombia

< Participants enjoying the incredible selection of fruit and fruit juices on offer at the reception.

< Juan Mayr, Colombian Minister of the Environment, greeted participants and once again encouraged delegates to remove their ties. He is seen here asking a German delegate to lead by example...