03 June 2016 - DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje was successfully elected by acclamation as one of the Vice Presidents of the UNEA-2 Bureau representing the Asia Pacific Group at the opening session of the UNEA-2 on May 23. The newly-elected Bureau members of the UNEA-2, comprising of a President, eight Vice Presidents, and a Rapporteur representing five geographical regions will serve a term until December 06, 2017, at the closure of UNEA-3.

The Assembly, which represents the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, enjoys the universal membership of all 193 UN Member States and the full involvement of major groups and stakeholders. Countries represented in the UNEA-2 Bureau are Costa Rica as President; Philippines, Iraq, Barbados, Gabon, Nigeria, Czech Republic, Montenegro, and the United States of America as Vice Presidents; and Belgium as Rapporteur.

At the opening of the Ministerial Dialogue on “Commonalities and complementarity: joining forces for a more effective delivery of the 2030 Agenda,” Secretary Paje stated that almost half of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are directly linked to the environment and to multilateral agreements (MEAs). Hence clustering the MEAs in relation to the SDGs would ensure the integration of efforts towards the central theme, that is, “To leave no one behind.” Secretary Paje further stated that in order to ensure coherent implementation of MEAs at the national level in support of the 2030 Agenda and vice versa, there is a need to increase support for four “I”s: Institutions, Implementation, Investments, and International Cooperation.

In an interview with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) for an outreach video, Secretary Paje highlighted that the Philippines and UNEP both share the commitment to advancing a global environmental agenda that promotes coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development. He remarked that investing in UNEP is investing in our future given our collective responsibility of ensuring a healthy and conducive environment that will sustain our future generations. Secretary Paje further highlighted that as a newly-elected vice president of the UNEA-2 Bureau, he would ensure that the mission and mandate of UNEP would be carried through in all national, regional, and international environmental efforts.

UNEA-2, which ran from May 23 to 28, adopted a total of 25 resolutions on a wide range of environmental issues such as, among others, on delivering on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, supporting the Paris Agreement, on the marine environment, biodiversity and wildlife, chemicals and waste, consumption and production  as well as on institutional matters including the UNEA cycle, medium-term strategy 2018-2021, management of trust funds and earmarked contributions, and enhancing the work of UNEP. END