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Newsletter 27 May 2024

Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 27 May – 2 June 2024

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

Image of the week | Pedro Manuel Moreno, Deputy Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development, speaking at the high-level opening panel discussing International Geneva’s important role in implementing the Biodiversity Plan during the celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity 2024, at Palais des Nations on 22 May 2024. © Juan Sebastian Rico Palacios | CITES

Environment @ 77th World Health Assembly

The Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly (WHA77) — the decision-making body of the World Health Organization that meets annually in Geneva — kicks off this Monday 27 May, after the traditional healthy kickstart event Walk the Talk: Health for All Challenge, on Sunday 26 May 2024. Held this year under the theme “All for Health, Health for All“, WHA77 offers an occasion to put the spotlight on and advance action on environmental health issues and is expected to conclude on Saturday 1 June 2024. → Find more information on the agenda of the WHA77 in the Preliminary Journal dated 13 May 2024 and in WHO Press Release. Visit the WHA portal, and the UN Foundation dedicated webpage.

While no official side events will be organized, various off-site Member State-led Side Events, strategic roundtables, and other parallel events where the environment will feature predominantly will take place in various locations in Geneva. These include:

→ Consult our 77th World Health Assembly dedicated webpage for a list of side and parallel events relevant to the environment.

Recent news on the World Health Assembly include:

Geneva Health Forum 2024 | Health and Environment: A Time for Solutions

On the sidelines of the Assembly, the Geneva Health Forum Conference 2024 will provide a unique platform conveying the perspectives of scientists, medical practitioners, and field actors on the main challenges and opportunities for global health. The event, taking place from 27 to 29 May 2024 at Campus Biotech, will center on three key themes, among which is “Health and Environment: A Time for Solutions“. Building on the momentum generated by the WHA77 presentation of a report on actions undertaken by WHO to address the impact of climate change on health, as well as the impact of chemicals, waste, and pollution on human health, the Health and Environment theme will be explored on Monday 27 May 2024 through various sessions, symposia, challenges, and an evening event. These include:

The Plastic Crisis as a Health Crisis

On the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly, the Forum on Trade, Environment & SDGs (TESS), the Geneva Environment Network, and the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Health Centre are organizing as part of the Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues the event, “The Plastics Crisis as a Health Crisis: How Can the International Health Community Support the Global Response to Plastic Pollution & the Plastics Treaty?” to discuss a synergetic approach from the health community to support the global response to the plastics crisis and the plastics treaty. This roundtable will review the evidence on human health impacts of plastics, chemicals of concern, and plastic pollution, highlight the importance of the protection of human health as a core objective of the future legally-binding instrument to end plastic pollution, and explore how the international health community can support the global response to the plastic pollution and the future plastics treaty.

→ Register on Google Forms to attend in person or join online on Webex for the event taking place on 28 May 2024 from 08:00 to 09:30 CEST in room S10, Maison de la Paix (Petal 3, Level 4). To access the venue, please consult the map and directions.

Environment @ 56th Session of the Human Rights Council

The 56th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC56), will take place in less than a month, from 18 June to 12 July 2024 at Palais des Nations. With the environment high on its agenda, the Council will tackle the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change as the usual main environmental theme of the Council’s June sessions, with the Special Rapporteur’s annual Report to the HRC. This session will also be the first of the new Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, Elisa Morgera. The rights to freedom of assembly and of association, rights of internally displaced persons, business and human rights, and addressing extreme poverty are also environment-related issues that will be addressed in this session.

To develop more synergies among stakeholders and a better outreach on the environmental agenda of HRC56, including the activities taking place in parallel to the Council’s session, the Geneva Environment Network, the Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group (GeCCco), and partners are convening an information-sharing session. This event will discuss and share information on planned environment-related activities at and around HRC56, such as in-person and online events, publications or exhibitions, among others, and exchange on possible synergies. → Share your activities and events, and register for the event in person at the International Environment House 1 or online on 28 May 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 CEST.

→ Regular updates on key environmental issues at HRC56, side events, and further resources will be made available on our dedicated HRC56 and the environment update.

WIPO Member States Adopt Historic New Treaty on Intellectual Property

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Member States approved by consensus last week, at the Diplomatic Conference, the first WIPO Treaty to address the interface between intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge and the first to include provisions specifically for Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities. This new Treaty — the culmination of a 25-year negotiating journey — once it enters into force with 15 contracting parties, will establish in international law a new disclosure requirement for patent applicants whose inventions are based on genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge.

Reactions to this new adoption include:

Accelerating the SDGs Through Artificial Intelligence

The AI for Good Global Summit, organized by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with 40 UN sister agencies and co-convened with the government of Switzerland, is the leading action-oriented United Nations platform promoting artificial intelligence (AI) to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and connect AI innovators with public and private sector decision-makers to help scale AI solutions globally. The 2024 edition will take place from 30 to 31 May 2024 at the International Conference Center Geneva (CICG) and include various sessions of interest for the global environmental agenda. It will be preceded by AI Governance Day taking place on 29 May 2024.

Switzerland Overshoot Day

Each year, Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth can renew during the entire year. The date of this year’s Earth Overshoot Day will be revealed on World Environment Day, on 5 June.

Switzerland’s Overshoot Day, reflecting the ecological footprint by comparing its population’s demand and the nation’s biocapacity for this year, falls on 27 May 2024. From this date onwards, Switzerland will be living on credit at the expense of future generations. The day is a reminder of the need to reduce the pressure on the environment and its resources in order to #MoveTheDate. → Learn more about this observation and how to reduce your own ecological footprint.

Happening Abroad

4th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI-4) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) | SBI-4 is taking place from 21 to 29 May 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. → Follow the Earth Negotiation Bulletin live coverage

4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States | SIDS4 will be held from 27 to 30 May 2024 in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda under the theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity”. The Conference will aim at assessing the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals. It will result in an intergovernmentally agreed, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented political outcome document. → Follow the Earth Negotiation Bulletin live coverage

Symposium on Emerging Issues in Environmental Rule of Law: Contributions from Academia and Civil Society towards the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme | The two-day symposium will delve into the crucial aspects of environmental governance, focusing on academia and civil society’s contributions in advancing environmental rule of law, including through the Montevideo Environmental Law Programme. This event, co-organized by UNEP, the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL), the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), the University of Vigo (UVigo) and the University of Nairobi, with the partnership of IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (IUCN-WCEL) and the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE), aims to foster discussions on environmental rule of law and related issues, and will have presentations on human rights, plastics, oceans, conflict, biodiversity, and many others. → Learn more about the event taking place on 30-31 May 2024 in Safari Park Hotel & Casino in Nairobi and online.

What (Else) to Read Next?

  • Law of the sea tribunal’s judgment on marine environment and climate change underscores obligations, say UN experts | OHCHR | 23 May 2024
    The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea’s first climate-related judgment provides timely guidance on States’ obligations on climate change and an explicit reference to human rights issues, UN experts said today. The Tribunal on 21 May made the unprecedented recognition that greenhouse gas emissions are a form of marine pollution, and also underscored that States have obligations under the law of the sea, which are additional to those contained in the 2015 Paris Agreement climate. The Tribunal further clarified that States have obligations to protect the marine environment from climate change impacts and ocean acidification.
  • More than half of all mangrove ecosystems at risk of collapse by 2050, first global assessment finds | IUCN Press Release | 22 May 2024
    Findings show that 50% of the mangrove ecosystems assessed are at risk of collapse. […] Mangroves are threatened by deforestation, development, pollution, and dam construction, but the risk to these ecosystems is increasing due to sea-level rise and the increased frequency of severe storms associated with climate change. Climate change threatens one-third (33%) of the mangrove ecosystems assessed. 
  • Qatar formally accepts Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies | WTO | 22 May 2024
    Qatar’s instrument of acceptance brings to 76 the total number of WTO members that have formally accepted the Agreement. Three members from the Middle East have formally accepted the Agreement. Thirty-four more formal acceptances are needed for the Agreement to come into effect. The Agreement will enter into force upon acceptance by two-thirds of the membership.
  • The WTO Can Help Reform Subsidies to Fossil Fuels That Propel the Climate Crisis | TESS | 22 May 2024
    As the world seeks to transition away from fossil fuels, there is a strong rationale for collective action on fossil fuel subsidy reform. Among the many international agreements and processes relevant to such reform, the WTO could expand its role.
  • World Water Forum calls for more integrated management | WMO | 21 May 2024
    A ministerial declaration issued an urgent call for more efficient and integrated water resources management; more financing of climate change adaptation and biodiversity and ecosystem loss; and accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.
  • WHO Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework | WHO | 20 May 2024
    The World Health Organization Environmental and Social Safeguard Framework (ESSF) is intended to promote universal access to health care, a better quality of care, social fairness and equality while also enhancing resilience to social and environmental shocks and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also is intended to avoid, mitigate and minimize any adverse environmental and social impacts from WHO activities.
  • Climate change is a human rights issue | The Conversation | 20 May 2024
    In April, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a group of seniors who alleged that the Swiss government’s failure to meet climate change mitigation targets is having an adverse impact on their health, well-being and quality of life. This landmark decision by the highest human rights court in Europe confirms not only that climate change is intimately linked to human rights, but effectively holds all European governments accountable to adopt more rigorous measures to combat climate change.
  • Metal mobilization from thawing permafrost to aquatic ecosystems is driving rusting of Arctic streams | Jonathan A. O’Donnell, Michael P. Carey, Joshua C. Koch et al. | Communications Earth & Environment | 20 May 2024
    Climate change in the Arctic is altering watershed hydrologic processes and biogeochemistry. This study presents an emergent threat to Arctic watersheds based on observations from 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range that recently turned orange, reflecting increased loading of iron and toxic metals.
  • DEADLY EXPORTS. The chemical industry lobbies to keep exporting even the most dangerous, EU-banned chemicals | Corporate Food Observatory | 20 May 2024
    The European Commission pledged to address one of the most unethical trading practices in the EU: the export of banned chemicals to third countries. Our new report outlines the main arguments put forward by the chemical and pesticides industry lobby to keep this deadly trade flowing and block the proposal to ban the export of forbidden chemicals.
  • Rethinking Investment Treaties. A roadmap | Josef Ostřanský, Jonathan Bonnitcha | IISD | 15 May 2024
    International investment treaties and their investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) system are facing growing scrutiny of how they threaten climate action, environmental protection, and social justice. But what would an alternative system—one fit for the challenges of the 21st century—look like?

Events

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Body Meeting

77th World Health Assembly

27 May – 01 Jun 2024

Palais des Nations & World Health Organization

WHO

Health and Environment

SDG3

Jobs

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Updates

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23 Aug 2026

Ongoing Contests

Climate | Nature | Chemicals and Pollution

SDG11 | SDG12

Experts

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