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Newsletter 09 Sep 2024

Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 9 – 15 September 2024

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, and Youtube, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

This newsletter is dedicated to the late UNEP GRID-Geneva and University of Geneva staff, Karin Allenbach. The Geneva Environment Network community mourns a motivated and hardworking colleague.

Image of the week | Behind the Scenes – Experts of the working group on the review of Annexes resumed their sixth meeting in Geneva, from 3 to 6 September 2024, to finalize the amendments proposal on Annex IV to the Basel Convention on disposal operations. © GEN, International Environment House II, 5 September 2024.

Environment @ Human Rights Council

The 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC57) which begins this week in Geneva, will consider various topics related to the environment over five weeks of deliberations. Contributions to the global environmental agenda will include:

  • The UN Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights, Marcos Orellana, will present to the Council in an interactive dialogue his report which will explore the functions of Pollution Information Portals (PIPs) and identify ways to strengthen access to information on releases of hazardous substances . The fourth edition of the Geneva Toxic Free Talks will also take place in parallel to this session from 16 to 19 September 2024, when we reflect on the challenges posed by the production, use and dissemination of toxics and on how Geneva contributes to bringing together the actors working in reversing the toxic tide.
  • The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to water and sanitation, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, will present his report to the Council which focuses on the economic values assigned to water and aquatic ecosystems from a human rights-based approach.
  • The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Francisco Cali Tzay, dedicates his annual report to the Human Rights Council to the theme “Indigenous Persons with Disabilities”.
  • The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, Surya Deva, will present his report to the Human Rights Council on on what the right to development (economic, social, political and cultural development) means for children and future generations.
  • The report of the Independent Expert on international order, George Katrougalos, will highlight current obstacles to and good practices in the promotion and protection of a democratic and equitable international order, including international cooperation to ensure the right of all peoples to a healthy environment and assistance for national efforts to adapt to climate change.
  • The analytical study by the UN Secretary-General on the impact of loss and damage from the adverse effects of climate change on the full enjoyment of human rights, exploring equity-based approaches and solutions to addressing the same, will be presented to the Council in this session.
  • The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will present a report on addressing the challenges and barriers to the full realization and enjoyment of the human rights of the people of the Marshall Islands, stemming from the State’s nuclear legacy.
  • The newly-appointed Working Group on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas is expected to present their first report to the Council in this session.
  • The Expert Mechanism on the rights of Indigenous Peoples will present their study on “Laws, legislation, policies, constitutions, judicial decisions and other mechanisms in which States had taken measures to achieve the ends of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in accordance with article 38 of the Declaration.”

Events of particular interest this week include:

→ Consult regular updates on key environmental issues at HRC57, side events, and further resources available on our dedicated HRC57 and the environment update.

Spotlight on Trade and Environment | Better Trade for a Better World

This week, the interlinkages between trade and the environment will be explored in depth in various fora in Geneva and beyond, presenting the latest developments in the achievement of environmental goals through trade, as well as challenges and opportunities in the current state of affairs.

  • The 2024 WTO Public Forum, held under the theme Re-globalization: Better Trade for a Better World, will take place from 10 to 13 September at WTO Headquarters. Marking WTO’s 30th anniversary, the 2024 edition will look to the future, exploring how re-globalization can help make trade more inclusive and ensure that its benefits reach more people. With a specific focus on green policies to maximize the benefits of trade as one of the sub-themes, the environment will feature prominently throughout the 135 sessions of the forum. → Consult the official program and our dedicated webpage for an outlook of how the environment will be addressed.
  • In the margins of the WTO Public Forum, the Geneva Trade Platform, supported by the Geneva Graduate Institute, will host the Geneva Trade Week, which brings the trade community together and facilitates critical conversations about the burning issues in trade policy. The opening plenary organized by the Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS) will discuss International Cooperation on Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development at the WTO: Pragmatic Options & Unconventional Thinking and will take place on 9 September 2024 from 13:00 to 14:30 CEST at Geneva Graduate Institute’s Conference Center, Petal 5 & Online. → Consult the official program and our dedicated webpage for an outlook on how the environment will be addressed.
  • This week, TESS also celebrates its third year of activity with a reception, hosted as part of Geneva Trade Week 2024. The event will also launch a compilation of TESS Synergies series entitled Reviving Multilateralism: From Vision to Action on Trade and Sustainability at the WTO, which brings together a diverse range of expert views on the state of play in the multilateral trading system and how to put sustainability at the top of the agenda. → Register your interest here to attend on 12 September from 19:00 CEST at the Terrasse de la Paix Restaurant.
  • The 2024 edition of the Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) Forum, the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) flagship event, will be co-organized with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) on 12 September 2024 at the Eventforum Bern and streamed online. This event will contextualize the evolving needs of small businesses in contributing to sustainable development amidst the current geopolitical and regulatory challenges. → Register to attend in person or online and discover the program.

Space Sustainability Forum | Committing to the Responsible Use of Space

Industry leaders, experts from the satellite and space industries, space and telecom agencies, governments and other space stakeholders committed to the responsible use of the space, are gathering in Geneva from 10 to 11 September 2024 for the Space Sustainability Forum 2024, convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In the context of profound transformation in the way in which humans relate to the space ecosystem, innovative space exploration missions and systems to operate in outer space, collective and individual, are necessary to ensure the sensible and sustainable use of space resources. The Forum is designed as an opportunity to present, discuss and dive deeply into the policies, best practices, guidelines and strategies to ensure space remains accessible and sustainable for the future space activities envisioned today and in the future. → Register to attend the two days of discussions either in person or online and watch the live stream.

Growing Momentum to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health challenge facing the world, ranking among the top 10 threats to global health. The international community has come together to address its multiple aspects, most notably through the collaboration of the FAO, UNEP, WHO and WHOA through the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR. Recent news and upcoming events

  • In its resolution 76/257 of 29 March 2022, entitled “Elevating pandemic prevention, preparedness and response to the highest level of political leadership”, the UN General Assembly, recognizing the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance, decided to hold a High-level Meeting on AMR in 2024 on antimicrobial resistance, to be convened as outlined in A/RES/78/269. The High-Level Meeting will take place on 26 September, under the theme “Investing in the present and securing our future together: Accelerating multi-sectoral global, regional and national actions to address Antimicrobial Resistance”.
  • Last week, UNEP and WHO launched a new Guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for manufacturing antibiotics, highlighting the role of antibiotic pollution from manufacturing in AMR and calling for further attention to its environmental dimension. This guidance adopts a One Health approach and, in addition to human health, incorporates animal health and the wider environment, including ecosystem health.
  • The WHO Council on Economics of Health for All recently released its Council Insight n°.2 Approaches and tools to help finance and implement national action plans on AMR. While some 178 countries have an AMR National Action Plans (NAPs), only about a quarter of them follow through the plans with a monitoring framework and domestic financing. Together, the levers and tools, which include outcome-based budgeting, delegated and earmarked financing and joint budgeting, constitute promising approaches to tackling AMR and its far-reaching consequences from a whole-of-society perspective. The insight discusses five key challenges that hinder proper implementation and financing of the NAPs.
  • On Tuesday 10 September, a Quadripartite webinar will present results from the 2024 Tracking Antimicrobial Resistance Country Self-Assessment Survey (TrACSS). → Join on Zoom from 14:00 to 15:30 CEST
  • Read more on Antimicrobial Resistance, the Environment, and the Role of Geneva.

Minamata Online | Exploring Implementation of the Convention on Mercury

This week, Minamata Online — a series of webinars informing on the activities of the Minamata Convention on Mercury and on the various aspects of mercury pollution — will resume for its fourth season, with two new sessions:

10 Years of Existence, 10 Years of Fighting: Alternatiba Léman Festival 2024

This year marks the 10th edition of the Alternatiba Léman Festival, a gathering of local climate initiatives aimed at mobilizing all civil society actors and raising public awareness on the climate crisis. From 15 to 21 September 2024, numerous activities will take place around Geneva:

  • On Sunday, 15 September, Alternatiba Léman will kick off in the Jonction Gardens with the arrival of the Tour Alternatiba. From 10:00 to 18:00 CEST, and various occasions for exchange, talks, conferences and animations will feature organizations from Grand Genève and of tour Alternatiba France. The Geneva Environment Network will contribute to the World Café «Faiseurs locaux du faire différemment!» providing inputs from International Geneva.
  • Next week, a series of free conferences, roundtables, workshops and screenings are organized at Uni Mail, Cinélux, MEG – Musée d’ethnographie Genève, Jardins de la jonction, L’ESPACE and Espace 3DD, followed by the Village of Alternatives in Parc des Bastions, on Saturday 21 September. → Consult the full program

What (Else) To Read Next?

  • WTO Reform: Catalyst for a Sustainable Trade System and Transformative Change | Jan Yves Remy | TESS | 6 September 2024
    A WTO reform agenda where sustainability is placed at the centre is an opportunity to shape a multilateral trading system that is equitable, sustainable, and inclusive.
  • Vicious circle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution has major impacts | WMO | 5 September 2024
    A vicious cycle of climate change, wildfires and air pollution is having a spiralling negative impact on human health, ecosystems and agriculture, according to the WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin No. 4, which explores the intricate relationship between air quality and climate. The chemical species that lead to a degradation in air quality are normally co-emitted with greenhouse gases. Thus, changes in one inevitably cause changes in the other.
  • New air quality management platform to support global clean air action | UNEP Press Release | 5 September 2024
    Ahead of this year’s International Day of Clean Air and blue skies, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition has developed and launched an Air Quality Management Exchange Platform designed to help air quality professionals everywhere tackle air pollution. The platform is a one-stop-shop that provides the latest air quality management guidance and tools proposed to meet WHO Air Quality Guidelines interim targets.
  • Transforming a Synthetic World: The Political Economy of Petrochemical Transitions | Joachim Peter Tilsted | Department of Technology and Society, Lund University | September 2024
    This thesis explores the political economy of petrochemical transitions and the features that define the contestation over the future of fossil-based industry growth. The thesis investigates the linkages between fossil fuels, chemicals, and synthetic materials and the material, institutional, and discursive power of petrochemical incumbents.
  • Why gender matters for addressing chemical pollution | Mengjiao Wang, Angeliki Balayannis, Hanna-Andrea Rother, Minu Hemmati | The Lancet Planetary Health | September 2024
    Exposure and risk assessment data continue to use the mean European male, with mean body weight and height, for extrapolation of animal data. These data then inform risk criteria, policies, and legislation. Consequently, solutions are often ineffective, especially for individuals undertaking gendered and racialised chemically intensive work. This study argues that science–policy panel on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention’s work should address the uneven and differentiated harms from chemicals, particularly along the lines of gender.
  • Observers Engagement Guide | Plastics INC Secretariat | 4 September 2024
    This guide has been prepared to provide guidance on the modalities for observers’ participation and engagement in the INC process. It serves as a resource for easy access of information and opportunities for observers, with useful links and relevant instructions before and during INC sessions.
  • Sortir les munitions des lacs suisses, une opération à haut risque | UNIGE | 4 September 2024
    Une opération de nettoyage au “coût financier gigantesque” qui monopoliserait des experts rares et surqualifiés pendant des années, au péril de leur vie. Hors de question de prendre cette voie pour l’armée. Et “plus le temps passe, moins les munitions sont maniables et plus elles risquent de relâcher leurs produits toxiques”.
  • A local-to-global emissions inventory of macroplastic pollution | Joshua W. Cottom, Ed Cook & Costas A. Velis | Nature | 4 September 2024
    Littering is the largest emission source in the Global North, whereas uncollected waste is the dominant emissions source across the Global South. The findings of the study can help inform treaty negotiations and develop national and sub-national waste management action plans and source inventories.
  • Waste Incineration and the Environment | Arnika, CEJAD Kenya, CREPD Cameroon, Toxics Free Australia, and IPEN | 4 September 2024
    Burning waste, especially plastics, produces unsustainable and unmanageable hazardous air emissions and large amounts of highly toxic solid residues (ash), concluding that alternatives to incineration should be implemented globally.
  • Waste management won’t solve the plastics problem — we need to cut consumption | Matthew MacLeod | Nature | 4 September 2024
    Machine learning has been used to turn a survey of local waste-management practices into a global inventory of plastic emissions. The data show that tackling plastic pollution will require reduced production and consumption.
  • UN weather chief Celeste Saulo: We can’t let fear of climate change paralyse us | Geneva Solutions | 4 September 2024
    Since the beginning of the year, Argentine meteorologist Celeste Saulo has been at the helm of the Geneva-based UN agency specializing in weather, climate and water, the first woman to do so. As if destined by her name to care for the whims of the sky, the new secretary general is resolute in her commitment to tackle the growing number of extreme weather events.
  • Integrating night studies into climate science | Alessio Kolioulis, Andreina Seijas & Michele Acuto | Nature Climate Change | 3 September 2024
    Night-time activities substantially impact climate change yet remain widely overlooked in climate research and action. The authors advocate for incorporating night studies into discussions surrounding climate socio-ecological dynamics to develop equitable and effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, especially in cities.
  • State of the Climate in Africa 2023 | WMO | 2 September 2024
    Africa bears an exceptionally heavy burden from climate change and disproportionately high costs for essential climate adaptation. On average, African countries are losing 2-5% of GDP and many are diverting up to 9% of their budgets responding to climate extremes.

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