Press Release: Minister Payet represents Seychelles at first session of the United Nations Environment

Ministry of Environment and Energy
Press Release: Minister Payet represents Seychelles at first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly
Friday 20th June 2014
Professor Rolph Payet, Minister of Environment and Energy leaves Seychelles this weekend to attend the historical United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), in Nairobi Kenya, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme, (UNEP).  The Assembly which will be held from the 23rd to 27rd of June 2014 will bring together more than 1,200 participants, including Environment Ministers, Government delegates and representatives of major groups and stakeholders. He will be accompanied by Mr Flavien Joubert, Director General for the Wildlife Enforcement and Permits Division.

During the five day event Minister Payet will hold discussions with colleague ministers as well representatives of key Multilateral Environment Agreement bodies. He has also been invited to moderate the ministerial session on ‘Ensuring a healthy environment, restoring natural assets, and enhancing durability of infrastructure, for the needs of today’s and future generations’.
The first UNEA session which will convene at the UNEP Headquarters hopes to adopt an outcome that would spell out concrete actions to address the key environmental challenges discussed at UNEA.  UNEA will also recommend draft resolutions for adoption at the United Nations General Assembly for the United Nations system-wide implementation.

Further information:
UNEA is a result of the call made by world leaders at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), held in Brazil in June 2012, to strengthen and upgrade UNEP as the leading global environmental authority  that sets the global environmental agenda and by establishing universal membership in its Governing Council. Subsequently, at the first universal session of the UNEP Governing Council held in February 2013, Member States recommended to the UN General Assembly that the Governing Council, the 58-member governing body of UNEP in place since 1972, be renamed the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme with universal membership. In March 2013, the General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/67/251, formally changing the designation of the Governing Council to the “United Nations Environment Assembly”. Now all the 193 United Nations Member States, Observer States and other stakeholders participate in discussions and decision-making on issues that affect the state of the environment and global sustainability.
As the new governing body of UNEP, UNEA has the mandate to take strategic decisions, provide political guidance in the work of UNEP and promote a strong science-policy interface.  Supported by a 10-member bureau UNEA meets biennially starting in 2014 in Nairobi and concludes with a two-day high-level segment that would serve to replace the Global Ministerial Environment Forum, previously convened alongside the Governing Council sessions since 2000.
The overarching theme of the first session is “Sustainable Development Goals and the Post-2015 Development Agenda, including sustainable consumption and production”, which is designed to inform ongoing discussions on the formulation of a set of targets and indicators that would succeed the Millennium Development Goals.  Ministers will also discuss the issue of illegal trade in wildlife, an issue that is generating increasing global attention due to its adverse impact on biodiversity.  Other issues on the UNEA agenda range from environmental rule of law to UNEP programme of work and budget.