27th Regular Session of the UNEP Governing Council concludes 

The 27th Regular Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum concluded on the 22nd of February 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. This was the first Universal Session of the Governing Council following the decision to this regard by the Rio+20 outcome document and the subsequent General Assembly Resolution 67/213 establishing universal membership in the Governing Council. The delegation from Maldives in the meeting was led by the Minister of Environment and Energy Dr. Mariyam Shakeela.

During her statement at the Ministerial Plenary, Dr. Shakeela highlighted the slow pace of development of effective measures and agreements to address global environmental issues. Noting the strategies adopted at a national level in the Maldives with regards to environmental management, Dr. Shakeela urged the UNEP, with its new mandate to scale up its efforts to address global environmental issues. Furthermore, she also highlighted the importance of maintaining not seeing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in isolation and not forget about MDGs in the process. Furthermore, the Minister also noted the importance of the integration of climate change issues in the post-2015 development agenda.

During the Session, the Minister, along with the Minister of Environment, Finland, Ville Niinisto, Co-Chaired the Ministerial Roundtable discussions on emerging policy issues. This roundtable discussion dealt with responsiveness to country needs, science-policy interface, secure, stable, adequate and increased financial resources to fulfil UNEP’s mandate, stakeholders’ participation, future ministerial engagements and institutional arrangements. This roundtable discussion was one of the most important as it dealt with the approaches to respond to the new mandate of UNEP and the manner to upgrade and strengthen it as set out during the Rio+20. The report of the discussions was presented to the President of the Governing Council at the closing Ministerial Plenary.

The Minister also participated in several side events during the meeting, where she either Co-Chaired or was among the panellists. In this regard, in her role as the Co-Chair, the Minister made a statement at the side-event ‘What future for the Arctic’, where she highlighted the inherent link between events at the Arctic and its impact on the Maldives. As a panellist in the side event ‘The Benefits of Mitigating Short-Lived Climate Pollutants – Experiences  from countries and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC)’, Minister Dr. Shakeela highlighted the importance of action on reducing Short-lived Climate-Pollutants (SLCPs) and the impact of non-action to this regard on small island states such as the Maldives. She also noted that the Maldives, through its Maldives Climate Observatory – Hanimaadhoo (MCO-H) had been contributing significantly to the research on SLCPs. The research conducted at MCO-H was instrumental in driving the understanding on SLCP and contributed a large degree, along with the 2011 UNEP report on SLCPs to the formation of the CCAC.

In addition to this, the Minister also attended the High-Level Forum on Gender and Environment, organised by the Network of Women Ministers and Leaders for the Environment and United Nations Environment Programme (NWMLE). During this meeting the Minister facilitated the session on climate change, gender and health.