UNEP NEWS March 2008

One UN in Uruguay

A meeting was held in Montevideo, Uruguay, in coordination with the One UN in Uruguay Team and the Security Management Team. The UNEP Regional Director participated in these meetings, which discussed the management and execution mechanisms of the projects that will be financed by the One UN Coherence Fund.

Third Latin American and Caribbean Meeting of the Network of Regional Governments for Sustainable Development (NRG4SD)

The Third Latin American and Caribbean nrg4SD Meeting on Climate Change was organised by the NRG4SD Network, in cooperation with the Sao Paulo CETESB and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The meeting, which took place on March 14th and 15th at the Ibirapuera Park Auditorium, was opened by top representatives of Regional Governments. Afterward, the event featured the following three roundtables, each one made up by five regional representatives and a moderator: 1st Table: Brazilian Regions; 2nd Table: Latin American and Caribbean Regions; 3rd Table: regional members of NRG4SD from other continents.

On the afternoon of Friday, March 14th, the meeting ended with a presentation on ethanol technology in the Sao Paulo State Environment Agency.

The UNEP / ROLAC Regional Director, Ricardo Sanchez Sosa, participated in the roundtable that dealt with the following: Latin America: Governance Efforts and Impacts, as well as in the opening session.

A technical visit was made to the Municipality of Cubatão (70 km from the City of Sao Paulo), where the attendees could see the evolution and recovery of the industrial zone’s petrochemical industry.  

Detailed information on the Meeting, the meeting’s agenda, as well as the presentations made at the three roundtables is available at:
http://www.nrg4sd.net/pags/AP/AP_Eventos/index.asp?

Peru: Ibero - American Seminar on Integrated Water Resources Management

Water experts and authorities from 20 Ibero-American countries met on March 3rd and 4th in Lima to learn and exchange experiences on the drafting and implementation of water management policies in a Seminar on National Water Resources Plans in Ibero-America.

This important international meeting was opened by the Agriculture Minister, Ismael Benavides, and was attended by the Chief of the National Institute for Natural Resources (INRENA), Jose Luis Camilo Ivanisevich, in addition to the Water Resources Intendant, Carlos Pagador.

The key objective was to make contributions, so that Ibero-American countries can make progress on the integrated management of water resources and comply with the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the need to use water in a sustainable fashion.

The background of this meeting dates back to 2000 at the World Water Forum held in The Hague, where positions reached by consensus among countries were adopted and global goals to guarantee access to potable water and cleanup, as well as a sustainable use of water resources, were established.

The Seminar on National Water Resources Plans also has its origin in the last Conference of the Ibero-American Directors General for Water, where the INRENA, through the Water Resources Intendancy, presented the report on the preparatory meeting, emphasising the significance of supporting the drafting and implementation processes of the National Plans for the Integrated Water Resources Management (GIRH).

The UNEP / ROLAC made a presentation on the organisation’s water policies and strategies.  

Workshop: Access to Environmental Justice in countries in the Andean Region

With the participation of judges, prosecutors, attorneys, and attorneys general from the countries in the region, a workshop to exchange experiences in and seek consensus on environmental justice in the Andean region was held in Lima at the quarters of the Andean Community Secretariat General.
The workshop “Access to Environmental Justice in Countries in the Andean Region” was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in cooperation from the Secretariat General of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) and the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA).

This workshop was held as part of the Environmental Law Programme of the UNEP Regional Office, which is carrying out activities to train and exchange experiences in matters dealing with environmental law access in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the opening, CAN Secretary General Freddy Ehlers stressed that there is ever more awareness about the significance of incorporating environmental matters into the legal entities of countries. “Somehow, the rights of plants and animals to be protected are being introduced,” he pointed out.

He recalled that at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change held last December in the Indonesian island of Bali, it was acknowledged that the international community should pay for the conservation of forests. He said that according to recent research carried out by the “Ecologic Track” organization, should this measure be made possible, it would be up to Peru to pay approximately $4 billion and up to Ecuador to pay approximately $500 million by virtue of the contribution of their forests to carbon capture.

At the first session of the workshop, the trends of environmental law and justice and the regional and global context on the matter were analysed. At the second session, each participating country made a presentation on the difficulties and normative development that are taking place regarding matters dealing with environmental justice access.

At the third session, the institutional values of environmental justice access -- in other words, the role of public institutions devoted to the defence of the environment, such as environmental prosecutor’s offices -- were examined. Finally, the fourth session addressed specific problems, such as justice access by indigenous peoples and the appraisal of natural resources and environmental services, among others.

Workshop in the Caribbean Sea along with the Cropper Foundation

A regional workshop with representatives from the Cropper Foundation and UNEP / ROLAC was held in Trinidad and Tobago from March 9th to March 11th aimed at developing a tentative agenda for the Caribbean Sea.  

GEO Loja was presented

With the participation of the Regional Coordinator of the Geo-Cities Project of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Geo-Loja, perspectives on urban development, was presented in this Ecuadorian city.

This is how Loja joins a series of (40) Latin American and Caribbean cities that already have environmental assessments.
In Loja, the process was attended by the local town hall, as a political partner, and Nature and Culture International, as a technical partner, and had the support of Peru’s University of the Pacific and the Private University of Loja.

Emilio Guzman, UNEP Representative at the presentation of the GEO Loja, said, “the reason we are here today is the end of the GEO-Loja process. I am pleased and thankful for being able to have people committed with this issue of making environmental assessments, identifying the problems we have worldwide, and planning actions to protect the natural environment.”

Panama CAP Support Network Meeting

A meeting of the Executive Committee for Customs Reinforcement of the Protocol of Montreal was held in Panama City at the UNEP / ROLAC facilities. Delegates from Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay attended the meeting. The project has the support of the Environment Ministry of the Government of Canada. The Committee reviewed and approved the plans of action for implementation in countries in the region.

Seminars: Dialogue on Ecology Economic and Ecology Policies

The seminar entitled Dialogue on Ecologic Economy and Ecologic Policies was held at the Knowledge Centre, in Foz de Iguacu. It had the support of the UNEP and the cooperation of the five countries located in the La Plata River Basin. New paradigms on Ecologic Economy and Ecologic Policies were presented to the participating governments, as well as to the civil society representatives and higher education institutions which were present.

In addition to participating in this event, the UNEP Brazil Office Director held bilateral meetings with authorities to discuss possible synergies with UNEP. Let us add that the person responsible for UNEP Environmental Education Network, Enrique Leff, also participated in this event.

Euro LAC parliamentarian Assembly in the Dominican Republic

A meeting by European and Latin American parliamentarians took place recently in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where the Regional Director and the Project Coordinator made a presentation on the Global Environmental Citizenship Project, as agreed upon at the meeting of the PARLATINO Environment Commission in Montevideo on October 31st, 2007.

Alter the presentation, the UNEP Regional Director handed a summary of his presentation, as well as documents on the project, to the European and Latin American parliamentarians present. The two sides agreed to prioritise this issue in order to be able to make progress as soon as possible.

Chile: Presentation on Environmental Films

At the University of the Border in Temuco, a Presentation of Environmental Films opened on March 12th, in cooperation with the Environment Institute, the Public Health Institute, and the School of Journalism of this higher education institution.

The film festival was organized by the UNEP /ROLAC Information Unit, which facilitated the presentation with the main films that won at the International Festival of Environmental Film and Video in Goias, Brazil. The festival will last until June. A film will be shown each week, followed by a debate.

National Integrated Network for Development Planning in the Latin America and the Caribbean

A meeting organised by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) was held on March 18th to discuss an initiative for the creation of a National Integrated Network for Development Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of the objectives of this organization will be to manage funds and draft strategies for sustainable development. The meeting took place at the UNEP / ROLAC quarters in Panama City.

Web Conference: Youth and the Environment

The Web Conference entitled Youth and the Environment, organised by TalckingIT Global.org, was held on March 19th.
The Division of Early Warning and Assessment of the UNEP / ROLAC participated in this conference, whose core issue was GEO for Youths and TUNZA: the role of youths in Latin America for environmental protection and sustainable development.

Strenghthening on Information Access and People Participation's in Environmental Policies

A GEO training session took place at the second meeting of the Project “Strengthening of Information Access and People’s Participation in Environmental Policies” in Brasilia, Brazil, on March 25th and 26th, 2008.

The Division of Early Warning and Assessment of the UNEP / ROLAC organised the meeting for this project, which is being implemented by the Brazilian ONG Forum and the Social Movements for the Environment and Development (FBOMS), with help from the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil (MMA) and the British Embassy in Brasilia and support from the UNEP Office Coordinator in Brazil, Cristina Montenegro.

Approximately 20 people from non-governmental organisations and Civil Society groups participated in this meeting.

GEO Health in Sao Paulo

A meeting to review the pilot projects of the GEO Health in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was held on March 27th to March 29th, 2008, and was facilitated by the Division of Early Warning and Assessment of the UNEP / ROLAC, in cooperation with the UNEP Office Coordinator in Brazil, Cristina Montenegro. Experts from two pilot centres in Argentina and Brazil attended the meeting, where the results of the implementation of GEO Health were shared and a last revision of the methodology was discussed.

Haiti: New Ozone Officer

Haiti’s new Ozone Officer, appointed in December 2007, was invited to the UNEP / ROLAC from March 25th to March 27th, 2008, to be trained on the performance of his duties.

The officer was trained on ozone layer depletion, the Montreal Protocol, and the projects approved by the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, including Institutional Strengthening, the Halones Project, and the Refrigerant Management Plan.

The UNEP / ROLAC also facilitated a meeting between the National Ozone Officer and the UNDP Office in Panama to examine and understand the procedures to execute UNDP projects and the projects necessary within the framework of the UNDP Management Plan on refrigeration components, which is being implemented along with the UNEP / ROLAC.

The UNEP Regional Director, Ricardo Sanchez Sosa, also held a meeting with the new ozone officer of the Caribbean country.

Saint Lucia: Workshop Chlorofluorocarbons

A subregional workshop to review the Management Plan, Terminal phase for Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and the Protocol of Montreal Agreement to eliminate ozone-depleting substances took place in the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia from March 16th to March 19th.

The event was organised by the UNEP / ROLAC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning, Development, Environment and Housing of Saint Lucia.

During the workshop, national ozone officials from St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were briefed on the current situation and challenges of the implementation of each one of their TPMP (Terminal Phase-Out Management Plan).

The Policy and Enforcement Officer of the Montreal Protocol of the UNEP / ROLAC and a MP UNDP Programme Officer facilitated this meeting.

The representative from Trinidad and Tobago gave support to this meeting through South-South Cooperation. All the ONOs presented their countries’ situations regarding the case.

The most outstanding issues were the need to have, at the national level, institutional methods for supervision and evaluation and to improve the channels of communications among their offices and the UNEP and the UNDP. All ONOs agreed to present their TPMP requests, second sections required by the UNEP and the UNDP in time for the approval of the 55th Meeting of the Multilateral Fund, scheduled for May 2008. Four women and four men attended the workshop.

Toward to Sustainable and Integrated Management of the Caribbean Sea: Identifying Research Priorities and Data Gaps

On March 10th and 11th, 2008, the Cropper Foundation agreed to hold a meeting of the Group of Experts in the issue “Sustainable and Integrated Administration of the Caribbean Sea” in Trinidad and Tobago. In order to give context for the identification of research needs and data gaps, various reports on “the Evaluation of the Caribbean Sea Ecosystem: What Science Tells Us” and “Sustainability and the Focus-A SIDS of the Caribbean Sea” were presented.

Other presentations focused on issues on maritime administration, the administration of large marine ecosystems, maritime disputes, and the implications of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that established the Commonwealth of the Caribbean, including the CARICOM Simple Market and Economy (CSME).

They gave the context for the identification of information priorities and gaps. The thematic areas considered include, among others, scientific research needs (fishing, shared resources, connectivity of the coral reef services ecosystem, tourist sector), the monitoring of water quality and hydrocarbon pollution, research needs to support sea management (waste, cruiseline industry, navigation, needs and gaps at the institutional level, and policies). It is anticipated that the research needs will be included in the Work Programme of the Caribbean Sea Commission.

Workshop: Validation of the Study on Cartography and Analysis of the Vulnerability of Climate Change

The UNEP Office Coordinator in Brazil was invited to participate in the workshop entitled “Validation of the Study on Cartography and Analysis of the Vulnerability of Climate Change”, presented by the Strategic Studies Management Centre (CGEE), on February 21st. The workshop included areas such as soils, forests, coastal zones, and health and examined risks and impacts.

During the workshop, preliminary recommendations on adaptation policies and strategies were also made.

Upcoming Activities

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• March 7th, Loja, Ecuador
  Urban Environment Perspectives: GEO Loja

• March 13th-14th, Lima, Peru
  Subregional Workshop on Environmental Justice Access (Andean countries)

• March 25th-26th, Santiago, Chile
  Subregional Workshop Young TUNZA/GEO Southern Cone

• April 22th-24th, Caracas, Venezuela
  First International Parliamentarian Summit toward the Latin America and Caribbean Environmental Charter
  
  

  April, San Jose, Costa Rica
  TUNZA Subregional Workshop for the sub-region: Meso-America and Spanish-Speaking Islands of the Caribbean

• May 7th-9th, Panama
  GEOLAC Meeting

• Bolivia (Tentative Date)
  International Conference on Lake Titicaca