Stockholm+50 Regional Consultation Europe And North America

The Stockholm+50 meeting, which is scheduled to take place from 2-3 June 2022 in Stockholm, Sweden, will commemorate the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action. As part of the preparatory process for Stockholm+50, a series of five regional multistakeholder consultations is taking place to ensure inclusivity and participation of regional stakeholders. These consultations aim to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to, among other things, review and assess how the global environment can be supported to help countries and regions attain the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on capacity building and on innovative and enhanced means of implementation. The West Asia Regional Multi-stakeholder Consultation took place from 11-12 May 2022. Participants highlighted issues of concern to the region, particularly relating to waste reduction and management, water resources management, sustainable agriculture, and poverty eradication. They also made a variety of proposals on actions that should be taken to address the region’s challenges, with many emphasizing the need to enact and enforce laws relating to waste management and the protection of rights, and the need for behavioral change to implement a circular economy model. They called for engaging civil society organizations (CSOs), women, and youth in relevant actions. The regional consultation was organized by UNEP and GO4SDGs (Global opportunities for SDGs). Opening Remarks Abdul-Majeid Haddad, Deputy Regional Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) RegionalOffice for West Asia, moderated the session. Åsa Hjelt, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden in Lebanon and Syria, said everyone must get involved in environmental protection if we want to succeed, underlining that “we don’t have another 50 years to get our act together.” She noted the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown what can be achieved through cooperation, and stressed that the environmental crisis is “no less severe” than COVID-19.