Green Forum adds voice to accelerating action towards a sustainable future

In the lead-up to the international meeting marking the 50th  anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, an online community group was launched in 2021 to serve as a space to share experiences and initiatives to protect the planet.  

 

The Green Forum’s Stockholm+50 group is designed to strengthen stakeholder ownership and engagement on the main  themes  of the conference, and provide more accessible information to the wider public on Stockholm+50 and help contribute to deliberations on relevant issues before, during and after the meeting. 

 

The meeting, to take place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 2-3 June 2022, aims to help further implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Paris climate change agreement, and promote sustainable recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

 

“Our aim is clear, we want Stockholm+50 to make a concrete contribution to accelerating the transformation to a sustainable future,” said Annika Strandhäll, Sweden’s Minister for Climate and the Environment whose country is hosting the meeting with support from the Government of Kenya. “We are running out of time and urgent action is needed. These challenges are global, and we must meet them with a global response that drives action on the ground.” 

 

One of the outcomes of the 1972 meeting was the  Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, resulting in what is often seen as the first step towards the development of international environmental law. It also created the  United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the UN system. 

 

“While Stockholm+50 will be a time to celebrate past achievements, it will also be a time to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen in her opening remarks at the Stockholm+49 Summit – a stakeholder-led event in the run-up to Stockholm+50 – adding that it will strengthen the integration of environmental and development agendas towards securing a healthy planet and human prosperity. 

 

The Green Forum’s group will ensure  an inclusive and highly interactive process to address complex environmental challenges and encourage more collaborative dialogue, and ultimately help frame and shape the focus of the Stockholm+50 meeting.  

 

Youth are also expected to play an important role in the participatory process. At the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021, UNEP launched the Youth Task Force project so that young people can provide inputs to various thematic areas as well as facilitate youth consultations and mobilize youth organizations that want to become involved in Stockholm+50. 

 

“Today’s youth are often excluded from contexts that shape their future,” said UNEP Youth Programme Coordinator  Juan Pablo Celis Garcia. “Youth must be included in decision-making processes at all levels.” This includes the Stockholm+50 meeting and other international fora. 

 

The Stockholm+50 Group is one of a number of Green Forum groups and discussions where members can exchange ideas, experiences and insights on key topics and issues – such as climate change, natural capital, resource efficiency, sustainable infrastructure and COVID-19 recovery – and collaborate on different initiatives and projects. 

 

There are currently 36 Groups that include such topics as trade, development and sustainable development, water security and green growth, and sustainable finance policy, and 16 Community Discussions, ranging from climate change and agriculture to the circular economy and blue economy. While Discussions allow users to join freely, the Groups offer a unique space for certain clusters to collaborate on specific challenges or projects while maintaining a degree of confidentiality. 

 

The Green Forum is managed by the GGKP, a global community of organizations and experts committed to collaboratively generating, managing and sharing green growth knowledge.  

 

In addition to being an online community space for professionals to share and discuss insights in the pursuit of a sustainable economic transition, the Green Forum provides a space for them to share the latest events, opportunities and blogs in relevant fields. 

 

“The Green Forum provides policy, industry, finance actors and civil society with the ability to seamlessly interact as peers and address common challenges, pursue joint opportunities and advance the sustainable economy transition,” said  Benjamin Simmons, Head of the GGKP Secretariat. “Everyone is encouraged to contribute to discussions in the lead-up to Stockholm+50.”