North American Regional Consultation Meeting
for the 10th UNEP Global Civil Society Forum
Day One - November 13, 2008, Washington, D.C.

Participants discuss Climate Change and Disasters and Conflict Management in Breakout Group

The North America Civil Society Consultation in Washington, D.C. opened with over 40 participants from the US and Canada.  Welcoming remarks were made by Manish Bapna (WRI), Amy Fraenkel (UNEP RONA), and co-facilitators David Foster (Blue Green Alliance) and Morag Carter (David Suzuki Foundation).   UNEP representatives provided a summary of UNEP’s role, its Governing Council, and the UNEP civil society engagement process.  The group began exploring ways to improve North American civil society input into the upcoming Global Civil Society Forum and Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum meetings. 

Some of the key points raised in the discussions were the following:

• The alarming degradation of the environment in many respects and the global financial crisis warrant decisive and bold action from a range of actors, including UNEP. Civil society has an important role to play in helping international institutions address these challenges in the design, implementation and monitoring of these institutions’responses.
• The recent election of new American president opens a new window for U.S. participation in international processes. In that context, the role of North American civil society should be reexamined to fully leverage this political shift.
• It is critical for UNEP to actively engage with civil society in the design, implementation and evaluation of its program of work. Participants welcomed the improvements made in the past years to bring the voice of the major groups and the stakeholder branch to the governing council. However, they pointed to lingering limitations and noted that additional reforms are needed to ensure that civil society participation is continuous, meaningful and influential.
• Environmental issues should be integrated into the regular decision-making processes of governments, international institutions and civil society as opposed to being considered separately. As an example, energy policies, environmental and financial challenges are inextricably intertwined and the global response to the economic slowdown should incorporate environmental concerns and promote sustainable behavior and economic growth.
• UNEP’s identification of six priority areas brings with it advantages for efficiency but also challenges for coordination across divisions and offices and for ensuring that other environmental issues do not remain unaddressed. The impact and relevance of partnerships should be assessed and improved through monitoring and evaluation of past partnerships and communication of lessons learned.

The day closed with break-out sessions on climate change, disasters, and conflicts; harmful substances and hazardous wastes and resource efficiency/sustainable consumption and production; and ecosystem management and environmental governance.  The consultation reconvenes on Friday, November 14 at 8:30 am to discuss agenda items for the upcoming Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum.