Switzerland
United Nations Environment Programme
Ahead of the Stockholm+50 International Meeting, held on 2–3 June 2022 to mark 50 years since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the EMG organized a two-part Nexus Dialogue series in November 2021 to reflect on five decades of UN engagement on the environmental agenda.
The Dialogues brought together a diverse range of voices with experience working with and across the UN system. Participants reflected on key achievements, persistent challenges and lessons learned since 1972, and shared recommendations for strengthening future implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development.
Drawing on the themes of the Stockholm+50 leadership dialogues, the series provided a space for intergenerational and institutional reflection and helped inform the EMG’s contribution to the Stockholm+50 International Meeting.
Taking Stock of Our Responsibility & Opportunity
23 November 2021 02:00
Taking Stock of Our Responsibility & Opportunity
The first dialogue in the EMG’s Stockholm+50 series looked back at five decades of UN environmental action since the landmark 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Participants reflected on major achievements, persistent challenges and lessons learned in integrating the environmental dimension of sustainable development across the UN system.
The discussion highlighted important advances, including the development of international environmental law and institutions, stronger links between environmental and sustainable development agendas, greater stakeholder participation, and successes such as international cooperation on ozone protection. At the same time, participants pointed to continuing challenges, including fragmentation across the UN system, gaps between political commitments and implementation, inequalities in development and resource use, and the need to better integrate social, economic and environmental dimensions.
The Dialogue provided an opportunity to draw lessons from the past 50 years and consider how greater coherence, solidarity and collaboration could strengthen implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda.
Foreseeing the Future of Our Responsibility & Opportunity
30 November 2021 14:00
Foreseeing the Future of Our Responsibility & Opportunity
The second Stockholm+50 Nexus Dialogue shifted the focus from reflection to the future, asking how the UN system could accelerate progress towards a healthy planet and sustainable development for current and future generations. The discussion explored how the UN could work differently, strengthen cooperation and translate environmental commitments into more effective action.
Participants emphasized the need to rethink humanity’s relationship with nature, reinvigorate multilateral cooperation and global solidarity, and strengthen coherence across UN entities and environmental agreements. They also highlighted opportunities to address unsustainable production and consumption, redirect investment towards nature-positive outcomes, strengthen environmental rights and protections, and give greater voice to youth, Indigenous Peoples and other stakeholders.
The Dialogue generated forward-looking recommendations for Stockholm+50, including stronger nexus-based approaches, more integrated implementation, greater multistakeholder engagement and renewed attention to intergenerational equity. Its messages helped inform the EMG’s contribution to the Stockholm+50 International Meeting in June 2022.