The European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius, met Monday with the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, in Brussels to discuss the key global developments and milestones in cooperation since their last high-level meeting in 2021. These include the historical outcomes of the Fifth Session of the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA-5.2), progress in the ongoing negotiations on a legally binding international agreement on plastics, as well as the outcomes of recent global environmental processes.

 

The meeting had a special focus on the future of the European and global green transition in the current context, where economic, social, political and geopolitical realities have led to the unprecedented degradation of our planet and the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.  UNEP and the European Commission reiterated their wish to join forces to maintain the momentum for urgent action on climate change, biodiversity preservation, ecosystem restoration, green economy and pollution.

 

The two held a discussion devoted to how to jointly support the assessment of the environmental impacts of the war in Ukraine and the green reconstruction of the country, based on UNEP’s preliminary review, as well as on tackling the direct consequences of the war on many fronts, especially energy and food security.

 

Both parties stressed the need to strengthen and further operationalize cooperation through common strategic and regional engagement to maintain the global momentum for the green and digital transition, with science and human rights at the center. They agreed on actionable recommendations to address the planetary crises through cooperation and enhancement of synergies and interlinkages with food systems, energy transition and sustainable finance.

 

This dialogue builds on the existing regular and well-established collaboration between the different services of the European Commission, the European External Action Service and UNEP, at policy and programmatic levels, in the support of solutions though environmental multilateralism.