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Newsletter 14 Apr 2025

Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 14 – 27 April 2025

The Geneva Environment Network’s weekly newsletter includes the latest information on the global environmental agenda, main events, job vacancies, as well as other useful resources and updates. Stay tuned and follow us on X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky, and Youtube, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

Due to the Easter holidays in Geneva, this edition of the newsletter exceptionally covers two weeks.

Image of the week | Postcard of Geneva, featuring the Palais des Nations with a view of the city and the Mont Blanc, published by Editions Jaeger in the 1930s. With the Strategic Heritage Plan (SHP) – the renovation of the Palais des Nations – underway, and with Building A conference rooms now substantially complete and due to be returned to in Summer 2025, the building is now again visible from Pregny Gate as scaffolding got removed.

Climate Insights | Turning Data Into Action and Collaborations

This week, climate action is high on the agenda as various moments taking place in Geneva:

  • A Briefing to Member States on Urban Initiatives and Developments from the UNFCCC COPs, organized by Azerbaijan’s COP29 Presidency, the Baku Continuity Coalition, UN-Habitat, and the World Health Organization is taking place on Monday 14 April 2025, from 15:00 to 17:00 CEST. With increasing global recognition of the critical role local governments and cities play in tackling climate change, this briefing will provide a reflection on the achievements of initiatives and developments relating to urban, multilevel and multisectoral climate action originating from the UNFCCC COP processes.
  • The report European State of the Climate 2024, compiled by the European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service and the WMO, will be launched on Tuesday 15 April 2025, at 13:00 CEST. The report provides descriptions and analyses of climate conditions in Europe in 2024 covering variables from across the Earth system, key events and their impacts, and a discussion of climate policy and action with a focus on resilience of the built environment. It previews that 2025 was unfortunately continuing where 2024 had left off, as figures for March showed that March 2025 had been the warmest ever March in Europe, and the second warmest March globally, while the Arctic Sea ice maximum was also the lowest on record.

Climate action continued making the news on different fronts last week, with a major achievement at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) that took another important step towards establishing a legally binding framework to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships globally, aiming for net-zero emissions close to 2050. Approved by the Marine Environment Protection Committee during its 83rd session (MEPC 83) from 7 to 11 April 2025, the measures include a new fuel standard for ships and a global pricing mechanism for emissions. These measures, set to be formally adopted in October 2025 before entry into force in 2027, will become mandatory for large ocean-going ships over 5,000 gross tonnage, which emit 85% of the total CO2 emissions from international shipping. Other additional news include:

2025 Meetings of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

The 2025 Meetings of the conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam d and Stockholm conventions (BRS COPs) will convene at the Geneva International Conference Center (CICG) from 28 April 2025, with preparatory meetings to be held on Sunday 27 April 2025. Participants can register online until 20 April 2025; after this date, only on-site registration will be possible.

To prepare Member States and stakeholders to the meeting, two briefings and five other sessions were organized within the framework of the Road to 2025 BRS COPs series (recordings, summaries and presentations available on the page of each event):

  • A first briefing — organized with the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat on 5 December 2024 — provided updates on preparations and explored ongoing synergies within the chemicals and waste global governance cluster in the run-up to the 2025 BRS COPs.
  • Exporting Lead Poisoning: The Toxic Trade in Lead Chromates — co-organized with IPEN on 4 February 2025 — presented the health dangers deriving from not banning lead chromates in paints, and best practices from countries and businesses who implemented such bans. Experts speaking at the event demanded Parties to the Rotterdam Convention who have restricted the use of lead in their countries to notify the Convention Secretariat in order to have lead chromate listed in the Rotterdam Convention.
  • The Right to Know – Modernising the Rotterdam Convention — co-organized with the Australian Council of Trade Unions in partnership with the Pesticide Action Network UK, IPEN, Solidar Suisse and Union Aid Abroad APHEDA on 19 March 2025 — raised awareness on the conditions of occupational victims of hazardous chemicals and encouraged stronger action to prevent exposures. It highlighted the importance of a rights-based approach to occupational safety and health and chemicals management, the valuable role of the Rotterdam Convention and particularly its Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure in enabling these rights and specifically the right to know, and in preventing hazardous exposures but also the challenges that it is currently facing in failing to list chemicals that meet all the criteria for listing.
  • POP Contaminated Sites: New Guidance for Sustainable Remediation — co-organized with IPEN on 20 March 2025 — provided an in-depth presentation of the Stockholm Convention Best Available Techniques and Best Environmental Practices (BAT BEP) Expert Group new guidance on identification and management of sites contaminated with persistent organic pollutants. Speakers presented health and environmental challenges of persistent organic pollutants contaminated sites faced by Indonesia, Ghana and Czech Republic and initiatives to raise awareness on the contaminated areas through international investigative journalism (Forever Pollution Project).
  • Addressing the Impacts of Pesticides on Human Rights in the Framework of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions — co-organized with OHCHR, FAO, the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council on 3 April 2025 — presented the pervasive impact of pesticides on human rights and health and advocated for the inclusion of human rights in FAO/WHO International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management. The urgent need to strengthen institutional capacity in importing countries, not only to regulate pesticides effectively, but to hold agrochemical corporations accountable, was highlighted.
  • The Hidden Plastic Waste Exports, the Case for Basel Convention Controls on RDF and Textiles — co-organized with IPEN on 9 April 2025 — shed light on underrepresented major plastic-containing waste streams such as textiles and refuse-derived fuels (RDF), the reasons behind the creation and importing RDF while calling for robust regional and global regulations to avoid plastic waste sinking into hidden forms.
  • The final briefing — organized with the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Secretariat on 10 April 2025 — updated the information on the preparations, presented key documents and issues to be tackled and expectations for the meetings. The Secretariat provided latest updates various events organized within the framework of the High-Level Segment, the Make Visible the Invisible Fair, side events, and financial and budget matters.

On the final stage of preparation for the COPs, other key moments taking place in the next two weeks include:

→ Find information on the upcoming COPs on the dedicated 2025 BRS COPs page.

Where Do We Stand With the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement

Almost three years after the historic adoption of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies in June 2022, the formal acceptances from two-thirds of WTO members (111 members) required for the Agreement to enter into force is almost complete. With Israel, Chinese Taipei, North Macedonia, Guatemala, Colombia, Pakistan, Antigua and Barbuda, and Moldova joining since the beginning of the year, the number of missing instruments currently stands at 15 WTO members.

As recently outlined in an International Institute for Sustainable Development article, WTO members must prepare to implement their new legal obligations — which they can start doing by using IISD’s Self-Assessment Tool for the Implementation of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. While the entry into force of the current version of the Agreement will curb the most harmful forms of government subsidies to the fishing sector, negotiations for additional rules on fisheries subsidies or “Fish 2” are still ongoing. Important advancements were made at the December 2024 WTO General Council’s meeting, where the majority of members signaled they were ready to conclude talks based on Iceland Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson’s latest version of the negotiating text. While full consensus has not yet been reached, hopes for the conclusion of the second part of the negotiations and the entry into force of the 2022 Fisheries Subsidies Agreement remain high.

Recent resources include:

Establishing a Global Plastics Treaty | Road to Geneva

With the resumed fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.2) convening in less than four months, actors in Geneva are ready to contribute to a successful negotiation. → More in our dedicated update.

Last week, various processes conducted meetings and took decisions that contribute to tackling plastic pollution and which set the stage for ambitious plastics treaty negotiations:

Additional news on plastics and the plastics treaty negotiations include:

Advancing Action to Avert, Minimize and Address Loss and Damage

Last week, the Board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) held its fifth meeting (B5) in Bridgetown, Barbados. At the Board meeting, a decision was adopted to launch the start-up phase of the FRLD, naming it the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM), after it was fully operationalized at the UN Climate Change COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan last year. The fund was created to assist developing countries in dealing with loss and damage associated with climate change, by financing initiatives to help vulnerable communities recover from climate-related losses and damage. Key decisions on the operationalization of the start-up phase of the fund, include:

  • The BIM will see the FRLD deliver a first set of interventions between 2025 and 2026 for an amount of 250 million USD, where each intervention will be between 5-20 million USD. 
  • The BIM will support bottom up country led approaches… including through the building of national responses that will include the effective engagement of all relevant stakeholders including in particular climate vulnerable people and communities in climate vulnerable communities. 
  • The BIM will have a 50% minimum allocation floor for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries. 
  • The interventions will be in the form of grants. However, developing countries may choose to use the grants to access other forms of finance.

Various stakeholders also noted that despite the total amount pledged to the FRLD is USD 768.40 million USD, signed agreements only total 495.45 million USD, while only 321.34 million USD has been paid into the trust fund. This is despite total loss and damage funding needs for 2025 are estimated to be at 395 billion USD.

Prior to the meeting, stakeholders have called upon ensuring community access during the start-up phase of the Fund. This includes a statement by UN Special Rapporteurs Elisa Morgera, Astrid Puentes, Surya Deva in anticipation of the meeting, where they have called on the Board to prioritize the consideration of recommendations on community-led approaches, including creating conditions for an active, free and meaningful participation of climate-vulnerable countries and affected communities. This is in addition to an open letter to the Board of the FRLD in March signed by more than 160 organizations at the global, regional and national/local level, called on them to reject the proposal to establish an Active Observer seat for the private sector, alongside a call for a comprehensive and strict Conflict of Interest Policy, including for any private sector engagement. The Loss and Damage Collaboration has also set out key messages ahead of the meeting. → Consult the Daily Policy Updates of the Loss and Damage Collaboration for a recap on discussions.

This week, the agenda for tackling loss and damage continues as the Advisory Board of the Santiago Network holds its fourth meeting in Geneva from 15 to 17 April 2025, with a members-only informal meeting on 14 April 2025. In its meeting, the Advisory Board will be tackling the operationalization of the Santiago network, including on membership and funding, as well as the election of Co-Chairs of the Advisory Board. The Network has also marked a major milestone, as they now count 50 member organizations, bodies, networks and experts united by a shared commitment to delivering technical assistance in developing countries and supporting people on the frontlines of the climate crisis.

Enjoying a Green Easter Break in Geneva

This Easter, whether you are enjoying some days off or remain busy with your everyday activities, we invite you to discover our suggestions for a green spring in Geneva. From exhibitions and conferences to guided tours or workshops, you will find some interesting events to learn about and act for the environment. Suggestions for the next two weeks include:

  • Genève – Montagne en Scène Summer Edition 2025 | BFM – Place des Volontaires | 14 April 2025
    Montagne en Scène aims to bring the mountains to the city, to share the beauty of mountain sports! A selection of the best mountain-related documentaries is presented.
  • An object, a sound, a story: Discovering the Amazon | 16 April 2025 | Musée d’ethnographie de Genève
    Come discover an aspect of the rich collections of the MEG, following Marcus, the protagonist of the tale, who goes up the river to join his father. After observing the objects of the Amazonian collection, you will see how Marcus learns the exchange and happiness of a simpler life in connection with nature and finally listen to the sounds of the Amazon. In French.
  • Screening of Karuara, People of the River followed by discussion | 16 April 2025, 18:00 CEST | Chapelle d’Anières (Route d’Hermance 312, 1247 Anières)
    In this film by Stephanie Boyd et Miguel Araoz Cartagena, combining animation and documentary footage, the Karuara People of the River remind us of the importance of protecting the environment and the cultures that depend on it.
  • Plantes comestibles | 19 April 2025 | Centre Nature de la Libellule
    Humans have been collecting edible plants for ever. This excursion will allow you to rediscover a pleasure forgotten since the age of supermarkets, and will conclude with a meal prepared together with the days’s harvest.
  • Atelier la Fresque du Climat | 23 April | La Fresque du Climat, online
    Join la Fresque du Climat for a cooperative, scientific and mobilizing workshop, enabling individuals and organizations to take up the challenge of climate emergency! 
  • Dialogues insolites entre le Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Genève et le Conservatoire botanique de Genève | 21 March 2024 to 29 June 2025 | Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques
    Discover the fascinating interactions between the plant and animal worlds through a unique exhibition showcasing historical specimens and scientific connections. Learn how creatures like the sphinx moth, tattooed armadillo, and Darwin’s orchid have contributed to scientific advancements, and explore the legacy of renowned Geneva naturalists.
  • Art et évolution | Until 31 May 2025 | Conservatory and Botanical Garden
    Showcasing artistic interpretations of evolutionary concepts by school groups, the exhibition features their creative works alongside reflections on their learning process. Explore this unique blend of science and art in the passage under Route de Lausanne.
  • Ici, le lac ressemble à la mer. Chansons pour le Léman | Quartier Libre SIG | Until 29 June 2025 
    Lake Geneva has inspired painters, artists, poets, musicians and singers for centuries. Among the works created by these artists, songs are probably the most overlooked. This exhibition plunges you into a world of sound, highlighting forty songs inspired by this emblematic lake.

Call for Submissions and Contests | Upcoming Deadlines

With the environment high on the agenda of International Geneva and beyond, different international processes, negotiations, and fora regularly call for inputs in preparation for future reports and guidelines, as well as contests. → Find here calls for submissions related to the environment, find here information on ongoing environmental contests, and here calls for submissions from Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and other human rights bodies and instruments.

  • Situation of natural resources and human rights in Cambodia | The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, is preparing his next report to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council. In his upcoming report, the Special Rapporteur intends to focus on the link between natural resources and human rights in Cambodia from the angle of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Of particular interest are elements relating to land (including forestry, food production and agriculture), water (including water for consumption, and protection of water sources, lakes, rivers and sea) and air (including clean air and climate change). The deadline for submission is 14 April 2025.
  • Environmental impact assessments, strategic environmental impact assessments and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment | The UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is preparing her thematic report to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, regarding environmental impact assessments (EIA) and strategic impact assessments (SEA), as an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, including the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The deadline for submission is 15 April 2025.
  • Calls for the Nomination of Authors for the Seventh Assessment Report | The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is calling for nominations of experts to act as Coordinating Lead Authors, Lead Authors, or Review Editors for the three key Working Group contributions to IPCC´s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). Nominations are submitted through a dedicated online nomination tool by Focal Points in governments and accredited observer organizations, as well as IPCC Bureau Members. Governments, Observer Organizations, and IPCC Bureau Members have been requested to submit their nominations by 17 April 2025.
  • UN Ocean Conference 2025 Side Events | Side events can be organized in connection with the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, either in-person or virtually, by Member States, the UN system, Intergovernmental Organizations and accredited non-governmental stakeholders. The deadline for applications for off-site side events at alternative locations in Nice and virtual side events is on 21 April 2025.
  • Call for Changemakers | IUCN World Conservation Congress | The IUCN World Conservation Congress Changemakers brings together young innovators and visionary leaders who are developing and implementing cutting-edge solutions to biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development challenges in their communities. Selected changemakers will join global leaders, experts, and practitioners at the IUCN World Conservation Congress 2025 to showcase their transformative initiatives, exchange ideas, and drive impactful action for a nature-positive future. The deadline for submission is 14 April 2025. Applications must be sent before 27 April 2025.

Learning Opportunities in Geneva

Academic institutions and research centers in Geneva offer a vast array of short courses to learn about key environmental topics and discover international Geneva. Courses with approaching deadlines include:

  • Science & Policy for Environmental Action | Geneva Summer School | 23 – 27 June 2025 | GSPI | Registration deadline 15 April 2025
    This Geneva Summer School offers a unique opportunity for early career researchers, policy professionals and civil society actors toUnderstand transnational policymaking and the use of evidence and scientific knowledge, explore various models and practices to produce and translate knowledge in support of environmental policymaking, gain practical insights from high-level experts and practitioners from International Geneva while exploring some of the key locations of environmental governance and more.
  • SDG Summer School: Planetary Health | 30 June – 11 July 2025 | UNIGE, SDG Solutions Space | Registration deadline 30 Apr 2025
    The theme of the 2025 edition of the SDG Summer School is “Planetary Health” with a focus on gathering and analysing data about the impact of climate change on human health.
  • Mobiliser la pensée systémique pour devenir acteur et actrice de la transition – Écologie, société, économie: Comprendre les changements en cours pour mieux y trouver sa place | 4 – 6 June 2025 | UNIGE | Registration deadline 30 April 2025
    Three days of training focused on a systemic approach to transition, to understand and respond to the multidimensional challenges of sustainability.
  • Business and Human Rights | 19 – 23 May 2025 | Geneva Academy | Registration deadline 4 May 2025
    Participants in this training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, including within the UN Human Rights Council, UN human rights treaty bodies, UN Special Procedures, UNCTAD, UNICEF, and the United Nations Development Program. 
  • Law, Policy and Science in Environmental Peacebuilding Training | Geneva Water Hub, Université de Genève, Slovénie | Registration deadline 15 June 2025
    A transformative training course on Law, Policy and Science in Environmental Peacebuilding. This interactive program explores how natural resources influence conflict dynamics and peace processes, addressing key legal frameworks, challenges, and strategies. It is tailored for professionals in military, law enforcement, diplomacy, NGOs, and international organizations involved in humanitarian, peace, and development initiatives.
  • Leadership for Sustainability Transition | Geneva Summer School | 23 – 27 June 2025 | UNIGE
    Boost your sustainability career skillset with intensive experience into becoming a more resilient and effective agent of sustainable transition.
  • Global Health: Advocacy and Diplomacy in Action | Geneva Summer School | 30 June – July 2025 | UNIGE
    New ways of understanding and working in global health policy, advocacy and diplomacy are needed by those who work in health or those who work in fields that will be affected by decisions or impacts from the health sector.

Happening Abroad

What (Else) to Read Next?

  • WHO’s Pandemic Agreement is Finally Within Reach as Brazil Proposes Compromise | Health Policy Watch | 13 April 2025
    Members of the World Health Organization have reached a draft agreement, in principle, on a pandemic preparedness treaty, on Saturday.
  • AI is set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres while offering the potential to transform how the energy sector works | IEA | 10 April 2025
    Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform the energy sector in the coming decade, driving a surge in electricity demand from data centres around the world while also unlocking significant opportunities to cut costs, enhance competitiveness and reduce emissions, according to a major new report from the IEA.
  • Keeping connected: submarine communications cables and ocean life | UNEP-WCMC | 10 April 2025
    Given the rapid expansion of the submarine cable network, it is crucial to consider its impact on marine biodiversity. To address this, UNEP-WCMC worked with the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) to assess the potential impacts of installing, operating and removing submarine cables, while exploring strategies to mitigate any negative impacts in the future. The findings are now available in a new report, ‘Submarine cables and marine biodiversity’.
  • Uzbekistan strengthens water and industrial safety and protection from accidental water pollution, with support from UNECE and Switzerland | UNECE | 10 April 2025
    Uzbekistan, a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, faces significant challenges in water management due to its arid climate and reliance on transboundary water sources. In response to these pressing issues, Uzbekistan, in cooperation with UNECE, and with financial support by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, is implementing the Project on “Strengthening action in Uzbekistan on water and sanitation and protection of water resources from accidental pollution in the face of climate change”.
  • International conference in Paris calls for greater action against environmental crimes | GI-TOC | 10 April 2025
    More than 100 of the world’s leading experts and officials on environmental crimes gathered in Paris at the “Security and Development Dialogue for Advancing Multilateral and Multi-Stakeholder Responses to Environmental Crime”, hosted by France and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), with financial support of the European Union through the ECO-SOLVE project.
  • UN expert urges States to finance inclusive and sustainable development, not a war economy | OHCHR | 9 April 2025
    Time is running out to save the financing of the sustainable development agenda, an independent human rights expert* warned today, calling on world leaders to seize the opportunity at the upcoming 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) to act decisively to address multiple challenges.
  • Significance of the UN resolution on oceans and the right to a healthy environment | Léa Weimann, LL.M | 9 April 2025
    Legal Wednesday therefore examines key takeaways from the UNHRC resolution, exploring the topic of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable development as customary international law, the legal significance of advisory opinions, and the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in June 2025.
  • UNECE and ISO launch joint initiative on Digital Product Passport to advance sustainability and circular economy | UNECE | 8 April 2025
    Despite numerous initiatives around the world, challenges such as data standardization and interoperability remain critical barriers to creating a unified, cross-sector, and globally applicable framework. But solutions are now in sight with the launch of the joint initiative of UNECE and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Under the leadership of the UN, this initiative aims to balance diverse interests and priorities while fostering alignment across industries and regions. 
  • Right to a Healthy Environment Newsletter | SR Healthy Environment Astrid Puentes Riaño | 8 April 2025
  • Costa Rica Pulls Out of UN 2030 Agenda, Shocks Environmentalists | The Tico Times | 8 April 2025
    President Rodrigo Chaves has withdrawn Costa Rica’s support for the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, stripping institutional funding and public interest status from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to an extraordinary decree published in the official gazette on April 2, 2025. The move, if enacted, would mark a dramatic shift for a nation long hailed as a global leader in sustainability.
  • All other avenues have been exhausted’: Is legal action the only way to save the planet? | The Guardian | 8 April 2025
    Many observers see the law as the last hope for preventing catastrophic climate change. This strategic shift also has limitations, since, put bluntly, states can ignore rulings made in faraway international courts (or, for that matter, in their own courts). Meanwhile, it is not just environmental groups who are embracing climate-related litigation. In the US, there has been a significant rise in cases filed by airlines, fossil fuel producers and even states arguing against the obligation to consider climate risk in their financial planning. Yet Feria-Tinta passionately believes in the power of the law to create change. As the world passes the grim benchmark of 1.5 degrees of global heating, can the law save us from environmental destruction?
  • Trump exempts dozens of coal plants from stricter pollution standard | NBCI4 | 8 April 2025
    President Trump on Tuesday exempted dozens of coal plants from a Biden regulation imposing stricter standards for mercury, lead nickel and arsenic emissions.
  • Left, right and centre – Policy note n°4 – Water mediation | Geneva Water Hub | April 2025
    The fourth article in the series “Left, Right and Centre” analyses how technocratic solutions to complex water issues often ignore social-ecological tradeoffs and governance complexities and can lead to tension or conflict between concerned actors. In this edition, we explore mediation as a tool for building common ground between parties in conflict and overcoming common barriers to science and policy implementation.

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