ENB @ GMEF-3: 13 February (day 2)

Day 2: Wednesday, 13 February

In the morning, participants convened for the opening Plenary of the Third Global Ministerial Environment Forum. Participants heard statements from, inter alia, Andrés Pastrana, President of Colombia and Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace Laureate. Participants then continued their work in two parallel sessions: a Ministerial level consultation on International Environmental Governance, and the Committee of the Whole. Above: Pastrana addressing a packed Plenary Hall.

Opening Plenary of the GMEF

< Shafqat Kakakhel, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, read a message on behalf of Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN. Annan stressed the strong links between the environment and poverty, human rights and security. He highlighted nine areas in which partnerships should be forged at WSSD, as outlined in his report to the WSSD's Second PrepCom.

Listen to Annan's statement

Andrés Pastrana, President of the Republic of Colombia, emphasized the links between sustainable development and terrorism, highlighting recent attacks in Colombia on public water facilities and other infrastructure. He described some of the negative impacts of drug production on the environment.

Listen to Pastrana's statement (in original Spanish)

< In his opening statement, David Anderson, Canadian Minister of the Environment and President of the UNEP Governing Council, emphasized the need for integration between health and the environment, urging action on water and chemical management.

Listen to Anderson's statement

< Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace Laureate, stated that cultural diversity is the mirror image of biological diversity, and should be protected. She urged ministers to commit to completing the plans laid out in Rio.

Listen to Menchu's statement (in original Spanish)

< Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP, reminded participants of the Malmö Ministerial Declaration, which states that the resources and the commitment to make sustainable development a reality existing in the international community. He urged ministers to take the first step - maybe even two or three - of the 1000-mile journey towards sustainability.

Listen to Töpfer's statement

Standing for the Colombian national anthem, from left to right: Menchu; Juan Mayr, Colombian Minister of the Environment; Töpfer, Pastrana, Anderson and Kakakhel.

Ministerial Level Consultation on Item 4 of the GMEF agenda:
The Report on International Environmental Governance

Chair Anderson reported on the history and present status of the IEG process to the GMEF. He briefly described the areas of consensus and disagreement, and asked the chairs of the Working Groups to report to the GMEF. Photo, from left to right: Roch, Töpfer, Anderson, Secretariat, Miyingo, and Ashe.

Philippe Roch, Secretary of State of Switzerland, and Chair of Working Group One reported that his group did not complete all its work. He said that starting negotiation at such a late stage made work difficult.

Listen to Roch's report

John W. Ashe (Antigua and Barbuda) reported that the contact group on finance was unable to agree on issues relating to the financing of UNEP. He said that opinions were spilt between two camps, one that supported voluntary contributions, the other favoring assessed amounts.

Listen to Ashe's report

Kezimibara Miyingo, Minister of the Environment of Uganda and Chair of Working Group Two (WG-2) stated that more time - which was not an option - would be needed to complete the group's work, although much agreement had been reached. His group forwarded a bracketed text to the Ministers.

Listen to Miyingo's report

< Achim Steiner, Director General of IUCN, urged Ministers to prioritize capacity-building and engage major groups.

Representatives of Civil Society presented a series of recommendations which were outputs from the Civil Society Forum, a two-day gathering earlier this week.

Representative of Civil Society - first report

Representative of Civil Society - second report

Following the reports of the Chairs of the Working Groups, Chair Anderson opened the floor for general comments on IEG.

< Venezuela, for the Group of 77 and China, said that complementarity among MEAs must take into account the independence of COPs.
Listen to the G-77/China's statement

Spain, for the EU, supported universal membership for the GMEF and a UN assessed rate of contributions.

Listen to the EU's statement