News from Global Environmental Governance Project

Geplaatst op 13-05-2010

NEWS
May 2010
Negusu Aklilu Action Shot 2

 www.environmentalgovernance.org
 
"Quest for Leadership," New GEG Project Documentary
Thumbnail from Quest for Leadership_Maurice Strong2Environmental change is real, global, and demands action. While many battles have been won, we are still losing the planet, argue prominent environmental leaders. A coherent, comprehensive, effective, and efficient system of environmental governance is key to ensuring environmental protection and sustainability. Quest for Leadership, the new documentary from the Global Environmental Governance Project, recounts the story of environmental governance through the eyes of the individuals who created and led national and international institutions for environment and development. It seeks to inspire bold, unflinching leadership in new generations of environmental activists around the world who can shatter stereotypes, create a climate of cooperation and devise an analytically sound and morally grounded agenda for action.

Featured are Bill Ruckelshaus (first and fifth Administrator of the US EPA), John W. McDonald (US Department of State 1947-1974 and 1978-1987), Gus Speth (UNDP Administrator 1993-1999) and the five consecutive Executive Directors of the UN Environment Programme: Maurice Strong, Mostafa Tolba, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Klaus Töpfer, and Achim Steiner.

Quest for Leadership is a sequel to Quest for Symphony and was also produced by Emerging Leader Joe Ageyo, an Environmental Journalist and News Editor for NTV, Kenya.  As an Emerging Leader, Joe committed to reporting from the Global Environmental Governance Forum in Glion and producing two documentaries - before and after the Forum. GEG Project Director, Maria Ivanova, was Executive Producer.
 
Global Environmental Governance Forum Recognized as Significant in Key UNEP Publications
The five consecutive UNEP Executive Directors
UNEP Executive Directors
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has cited the Global Environmental Governance Forum in Glion Switzerland in June 2009 as one of the most significant events on environmental governance for the year 2009.

In the UNEP 2009 Annual Report, in the Executive Background Papers (UNEP/GCSS.XI/10), and in the 2010 Yearbook, the Forum was spotlighted for its contribution to the international environmental governance debates.

"A forum of 80 environmental leaders, convened by the Global Environmental Governance Project in Switzerland, in June, and co-sponsored by UNEP, fostered intergenerational dialogue, inspired renewed environmental leadership and generated new thinking on the subject of international environmental architecture," points out the UNEP 2009 Annual Report. This unique collaboration of environmental leaders whose contributions spanned over four decades fostered a new wave of leadership in global environmental governance.
 
11th Special Session UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum
Global Ministerial Forum Logo, BaliThe 11th UNEP Special Session Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF) convened in Bali, Indonesia in February 2010. Government ministers and senior officials from more than 135 countries deliberated on international environmental governance, the green economy, and biodiversity and ecosystems. A notable outcome of the forum was the adoption of the Nusa Dua Declaration. The declaration urges for improved governance of the global environment, recognizing that the "governance architecture has in many ways become too complex and fragmented."

The 11th Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum held as a pre-session event, gathered representatives of civil society from around the world to exchange  views and consult on key environmental issues to be addressed by members states during the GC/GMEF.  Elected as one of two North American Civil Society Representatives, GEG Project Director Maria Ivanova worked with colleagues from all major groups to formally open the intergovernmental process on international environmental governance to input from civil society. To date, the  official consultations on the topic have been restricted to government officials and no formal input from other actors has been possible.

In response to the demand from civil society representatives, Paragraph 9 of decision on international environmental governance (see UNEP/GCSS.XI/1) advises the UNEP Secretariat to seek relevant input from civil society from all regions for the work of the Consultative Group of Ministers or High-level Representatives on international environmental governance. Watch GEG Project Director, Maria Ivanova, discuss the civil society process and the governmental decision, here.
 
Key Publications
Science Magazine CoverScience Magazine published Julia Marton-Lefevre in an editorial on biodiversity.

Ivar Baste guest authored "Green the UN System: The Significance of a Footprint"for Climate-L.org.

Founding UNEP Executive Director Maurice Strong and Felix Dodds, Executive Director of Stakeholders Forum, co-authored a viewpoint article, "Reviving the Spirit of Rio," for BBC.

Global Climate Governance Beyond 2012, an assessment of policy options for future global climate governance co-edited by Frank Biermann was published by Cambridge University Press

Emerging Leader Cinnamon Carlarne and Law Professor at the University of South Carolina will be publishing Comparative Climate Change with Oxford University Press in August 2010.

Maria Ivanova published "UNEP in Global Environmental Governance: Design, Leadership, Location" in Global Environmental Politics (vol. 10, issue 1). 
Events

UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, GEG Project Director, Maria Ivanova, and government representatives from Kenya and Italy will speak at the upcoming UNEP side event on "A set of options for improving International Environmental Governance." The event will take place during the first PrepCom for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development on 18 May 2010 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
UNITAR
Yale logo

The 2nd UNITAR-Yale Global Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy will take place from September 17-19, 2010 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Anticipated outcomes of the conference include: a research agenda, enhanced knowledge sharing, and greater effectiveness of institutions engaged in action to address climate change. Scholars and experts are invited to submit abstracts for proposed papers by 23 May 2010. Those wishing to attend the event must express an interest by 15 June 2010.

In collaboration with the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii and Emerging Leader Bryan Bushley, the GEG Project will co-host a workshop on 24 June 2010 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars for 20 undergraduates students from Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, and the Philippines on 24 June 2010.

In November 2010, Emerging Leader Cinnamon Carlarne will host a conference, "Three Degrees of Separation; Exploring Linkages between International, National, and Regional Climate Policy," at the University of South Carolina School of Law, which will explore the implications of the 2009 Copenhagen Conference and subsequent international negotiations.

Negusu Aklilu Action Shot 2GEG Project Director Maria Ivanova joined French Environment Minister, Ms. Chantal Jouanno on a panel discussion, "From Copenhagen to the 2012 UN Conference for the Environment and Sustainable Development." The event took place on April 8th at the United Nations in New York and was convened by the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations.

On 8 April 2010, Executive Director of Fundacion Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN) and Emerging Leader Maria Eugenia Di Paola, presented the Annual Environment Report 2010, which covered the central topic of environmental policy and governance in Argentina and the region in 2009.
 
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Announcements

On Earth Day, 22 April 2010, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner was reelected for a new 4-year term (2010-2014).

In April 2010, former UNEP Executive Director Elizabeth Dowdeswell was appointed President of the Council of Canadian Academies.

John Scanlon, former principal adviser to the UNEP Executive Director and GEG Forum participant, was appointed as the New Secretary-General of CITES.

GEG Forum participant and Chair of the G-77 and China in 2009, Ambassador Lumumba Di-Aping, has been selected for the prestigious Yale World Fellows Program.

Joe Ageyo Bio Image Emerging Leader Joe Ageyo and Senior Change Management Adviser for UNEP, Jacob Duer, (both GEG Forum participants) have bJacob Duereen selected for the highly competitive two-year Catto Environment Fellowship of the Aspen Institute.

Emerging Leader Philip Osano interviewed Dr. Jeff McNeely, IUCN Chief Scientist, and Dr. Kevin Urama on Kenya Broadcasting Company's 'Eco-Show.' McNeely and Urama are currently working on the UNEP International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management and Sustainable Water Management Working Group.
Cinnamon CarlarneEmerging Leader Cinnamon Carlarne was named one of University of South Carolina's first research 'rising stars.'

GEG Project Director Maria Ivanova has been awarded the Goddess Artemis/Women of Achievement Award from the Euro-American Women's Council.

GEG Project Director, Maria Ivanova, has accepted a position on the faculty of the John W. McCormack Graduate School in Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts in Boston starting 1 September 2010.
 
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This email was sent to info@protipico.nl by maria.ivanova@environmentalgovernance.org.