From 23 to 27 May, ICLEI Members will meet in Nairobi at the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The event (UNEA-2) marks the first ever dialogue between local leaders and the highest-level delegations of the environment's decision-making body.

This second session of the Assembly will focus on how the world can fulfil the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a specific focus on how to create a healthy environment and healthy people. The event will result in key resolutions and a global call to action for all actors to address critical environmental challenges.

The UN Environment Assembly 2 comes at an important time, as it follows the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement in 2015, both of which make strong reference to the role of local and subnational governments in advancing the global sustainability agenda. Local, state, and municipal leaders are increasingly involved in global processes and their engagement in UNEA-2 will strengthen the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and help shape the next UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) where the New Urban Agenda will be defined.

In Nairobi, the full ICLEI delegation involved with UNEA delegations will include:

City of Vancouver, Canada

• Andrea Reimer, Councillor, Chair of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee

Vancouver is a leader in ICLEI's Renewable Energy Network and in energy-related partnerships with UNEP, it complies with the Mayors' Compact, was the 2012 Global Earth Hour Champion and is the reporting entity of Climate Carbon Registern.

City of Tokyo, Japan

• Toshiyuki Yamazoe, Senior Advisor for International Business Relations
• Keiichi Kobayashi, Head of Strategic Planning and Resilience Office
Toyama is a new Member of ICLEI and a proud host of G7 events.

Quezon City, Philippines

• Marherson Tolentino, Senior Environmental Specialist, Quezon City, Philippines
Erwin Tena, Management and Auditing Analyst, Quezon City, Philippines
Quezon City is committed to the Covenant of Mayors and is a pioneer in ICLEI Global Network Sustainable Procurement.

ICLEI World Secretariat

• Yunus Arikan, Head of Global Advocacy and Policy, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

The interaction between local leaders and high-level representatives at UNEA-2 also follows the first dialogue between Mayors and Environment Ministers as part of the G7 Environment Ministers’ Meeting earlier this month in Toyama, Japan, where ministers recognised the growing importance of cities’ role in promoting environmental protection and tackling climate change. ICLEI Member City Toyama in Japan will bring this G7 Environment Ministers’ Meeting outcome to the UNEA discussions.

On 24 May, ICLEI, UNEP and UN-Habitat will also be co-hosting a side-event called “Urban World 2030” at the UNEA-2 Sustainable Innovation Expo.

History

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and UNEP have been undertaking collaborative work for over 25 years. UNEP was one of ICLEI’s founding institutions in 1990, and since then, ICLEI has been an active participant in UNEP Governing Council meetings. More recently, in 2015, ICLEI joined UNEP for a Joint Call to Action at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit, and at COP21, ICLEI and UNEP signed a new Memorandum of Understanding that expands this partnership until 2020.

In 2012, on the way to the historic United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), ICLEI supported a stronger role for UNEP which would also allow for the engagement of local governments. At the time, world leaders also reinforced the call for UNEP, resulting in UNEA as a new governing body to give prominence to the global environment.

In March 2016, Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul and Chair of ICLEI, published a article in Our Planet, a UNEP publication.

Further information on the long-standing relationship between ICLEI and UNEP is available. here.

Information about the UN Environment Programme Major Group of Local Authorities here.