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Your Excellency Leila Benali, President of UNEA-6 and Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of Morocco,
Ambassador of Colombia, Mr. Pedro Leon Cortes Ruiz,
Deputy Permanent Representative of Portugal, Mr. Miguel Antonio Luis,
Colleagues and friends.
Thank you for the invitation to speak at the Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum. We at UNEP hold this well-established platform in high esteem and consider it an integral part of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).
My thanks to the Major Groups Facilitating Committee and to all who worked hard to prepare inputs to the draft resolutions and decisions, which will be going in front of the sixth assembly when it begins tomorrow. I am pleased that you have organized your meeting into groupings that align with the UNEA-6 resolution clusters – which will allow you to deliver focused and relevant recommendations.
Today, I am not going to talk about specific resolutions. After all, I am not here to guide you. You are here to guide us. And your guidance is incredibly important. The triple planetary crisis – the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste – affects every single person and group on this planet. And every single person and group on this planet has the power to affect the triple planetary crisis, positively or negatively.
So, we need to hear from non-governmental organizations. From indigenous peoples. From children and youth. From women. From local authorities, scientists, business, farmers and trade unions. You all have your own lived experiences, expertise and knowledge. When Member States take your diverse ideas onboard, the policies they set and actions they take will take account for your realities. They will be more effective. But this is not a one-way street. UNEP and Members States also rely on you to take the international environmental agenda to grassroots level. When we listen to each other, when we respect each other and when each of us adjusts our actions accordingly, this is real inclusive multilateralism.
So, I am pleased that the number of Major Groups and Stakeholders organizations accredited to UNEP has swelled from a few hundred to well over one thousand. Your voices are louder now than ever before. I encourage organizations here today but not yet accredited to seize the opportunity to add to this chorus by getting accredited. That way, you will have access to meaningful participation, inclusiveness and transparency in intergovernmental decision-making processes supported by UNEP.
I am also pleased that this forum will shortly host an informal dialogue between Major Groups and Stakeholders and Member States to decide on new ways to cooperate after UNEA-6. I look forward to engaging in this discussion. Such initiatives, like UNEA-6 itself, are clear signs that environmental space is where we can all transcend geopolitical strife. Where we can find common ground between competing interests. Where we can be a single community that delivers climate action, nature action and pollution action – all in the interests of a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future.
UNEA-6 is an opportunity for the UN, Member States, multi-stakeholder organizations and partners to coordinate their efforts. I encourage you, the Major Groups and Stakeholders, to advocate for ambitious outcomes. To advocate for effective implementation of resolutions. And, of course, to play your part in implementing action on the ground.
