United Nations Environment Programme

Environment and Communication:

Navigating a Spider's web

Remarks by Mr. Strike MkandlaUNEP Representative to AU, ECA and

Ethiopia

10th Inter-agency Round Table on Communication for Development

Addis Ababa, 12-14 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– 24th 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 UNIDO1. 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 8th 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 collaboration1. 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.