UNEP and its Member States in the Pan-European region have worked towards identifying regional priorities and emerging issues to be addressed during UNEP’s 2018-2021 programme period. Key topics discussed include water, climate change, resource efficiency, air pollution, ecosystems management and biodiversity as well as chemicals and waste.

The development of UNEP’s next Medium Term Strategy (MTS) embeds the renewed mandate from the Rio+20 outcome document The Future We Want and the emerging Sustainable Development Goals, recent UNEA resolutions, findings of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) and UNEP’s environmental foresight process. With the aim of developing a regionally responsive and globally coherent strategy, UNEP consults the Committee of Permanent Representatives, regional fora, secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements, major groups and stakeholders as well as other strategic partners. An informal consultation meeting for the Pan-European region was organized in Geneva on 15 April in the margins of the 66th UNECE session. The meeting was attended by 12 representatives of Member States and the Director of UNECE’s Environment Division. Member States have been invited to provide also additional written comments, and the summary of the regional consultation will be sent as an input to the MTS drafting team at UNEP headquarters. The MTS 2018-2021 is expected to be adopted by UNEA at its second session on 23-27 May 2016.

“I welcome the engagement of the Member States across the Pan-European region in defining priorities that they want to see UNEP focus on in the coming years, in line with its strengthened mandate and in response to regional and country needs” said Jan Dusik, UNEP’s regional director, following the consultations.

For more information: marika.palosaari@unep.org