UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be
in Kenya in June to attend a high level environmental meeting whose
main agenda will be to address the rise in cases of poaching.
The
first UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) will bring together high level
representatives from 160 UN member states and will see over 1,200
participants from government, business and civil society converge in
Nairobi for five days.
Ministers of Environment and
Foreign Affairs, Chief Executive Officers of some international
organisations and judges are expected to attend the conference that will
take place in Nairobi from June 23 to 27, 2014.
A
statement from UNEP stated that “ Ministers and international leaders
will gather to address two key sustainable development and environment
topics of current international concern, namely: Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), including sustainable consumption and production and the
illegal trade in wildlife to address the escalation in poaching and
surge in related environmental crime.”
According to the
conveners, the environmental rule of law will also be discussed by
leading representatives of the international judicial community,
including Chief Justices, Attorney Generals and Judges.
The role of Finance in the Green will also be addressed in the meeting.
UNEA
is the newly constituted UN platform for decision making on environment
that is tasked to chart a new course in the way the international
community addresses environmental sustainability challenges.
As
the new governing body of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as well as
the world’s Environment Assembly, UNEA has the mandate to make strategic
decisions and provide political guidance in the work of UNEP and
promote a strong science-policy interface.
The
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP Mr Achim Steiner
said the broad range of actors from the world of economy, finance,
social sciences, legislation and the judiciary will participate in the
conference to help shape the global environment agenda.
“In
this new forum, UNEP and its partners will be able to provide
governments and other policymakers with the science, policy options and
platform, for international cooperation to more effectively address the
environmental dimension of sustainable development.
“The
convening of the first UNEA session in Nairobi – home of UNEP and the
often referred to environment capital of the world – represents a
coming-of-age for the global environment community,” he said.
Kenya’s
Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Martin Kimani
said Kenya is ready to host such a high profile meeting.
“Our
country has made immense strides in building a Green Economy – observe
our cutting edge geothermal developments and the high percentage of our
GDP from nature tourism.
“The success of UNEA and UNEP
are high in our priorities. Kenya is taking every measure to ensure the
success of this landmark event. We are inviting delegates from around
the world to actively participate in this historic moment and make their
contributions to the assembly in a safe and friendly city that is
rolling out every welcome to them,” he said.
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