United Nations Environment Programme Environment and Communication: Navigating a Spider's web Remarks by Mr. Strike Mkandla UNEP Representative to AU, ECA and Ethiopia This presentation will probably involve audience discussion, which will create action items. Use PowerPoint to keep track of these action items during your presentation In Slide Show, click on the right mouse button Select “Meeting Minder” Select the “Action Items” tab Type in action items as they come up Click OK to dismiss this box This will automatically create an Action Item slide at the end of your presentation with your points entered. 10 th Inter-agency Round Table on Communication for Development Addis Ababa, February 2007

Change at UNEP  New Executive Director(ED), Achim Steiner  Many changes and new faces in Senior Management Team(SMT)  Reinforcement of mandate and increased optimism

Complexity of the Environment  Spider’s web-complex but interconnected  Global Environmental Governance referred to as the organization of the impossible (as cited in the book “Global Environmental Governance: A reform agenda”) –Multiple actors within and outside the UN system –Multiplicity of frameworks - Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)  Difficulty of communicating linkages

Partnership-Imperative and Inescapable  Big mandate and very limited resources  Catalytic role-promoting action by and through others  Mission statement - “to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring,informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations”.  Inter-agency partnership built in from the beginning

Inter-agency partnership for Capacity Building and Communication  Historic emphasis on inter-agency collaboration –24 th UNEP Governing Council attended by UNDP, World Trade Organization(WTO), UNIDO, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UN-Habitat –Inter-agency frameworks - UN-Water, UN-Energy –Support to African Ministerial Bodies - AMCEN, AMCOW –Inter-agency partnership for NEPAD/AU under UNECA’s coordination

Some examples of the collaboration in program development and implementation  UNEP’s capacity building for sustainable development - dependant on UN partnership –Partnership with UNDP 1. The Bale Strategic Plan 2. Poverty and the Environment –Partnership with UNIDO 1. Establishment of cleaner production center

–Partnership with UNESCO on Eco- schools and Environmental Education –Partnership with UN-Habitat on Water for Cities –Partnership with WHO on Phase out Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) –Partnership with UNCTAD on Trade and Environment 2. African Round Table for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ARSCP) 3. Ozone Action Program Continued…

Other Partnerships  8 th Global Civil Society Forum (GCSF) attended by INGOs, NGOs, CBOs and major group organizations  Partnership with Google Earth  Partnership with IUCN  Partnership with International Olympic Committee on environmental checklists for various spots  Partnership with International Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) - production of environmental notes for parliamentarians

 UNEP activities dependant on cooperation and collaboration 1.Response to natural disasters - UNOCHA, UNHCR, FAO, WMO, ITU and WFP 2.Early Warning and Assessment –GEO - many global, regional and local partners –AEO - regional, sub-regional and global partners –Millennium Eco-system Assessment –Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) Continued…

The way forward 1.There must be sharing of credit and visibility among agencies for common or joint programs. 2.A way must be found to get top – level buy-in and commitment at the highest levels of UN organizations for coordinated C4D.

Continued… 3.There must be a collective and holistic vision for C4D. 4.While respecting agency mandates, linkages across agency and thematic boundaries must be made in communicating in such fields as the environment.