Published: 09 May 2011
European Environment Agency (EEA) Executive
Director Jacqueline McGlade will be in New
York this week, working towards a historic
environmental summit next year.
Inspiring sustainable development
In 1992, the landmark Earth Summit in Rio
de Janeiro proposed a new form of environmental
governance, building breakthrough environmental
agreements on climate change and biodiversity.
This week the United
Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
(CSD) meets at UN Headquarters in New York,
and EEA Executive Director Jacqueline McGlade
will be there to help set the agenda for
next year's 'Rio+20 summit', which aims
to assess progress and look to the future
with new themes of the green economy and
environmental governance.
The Sustainable Development
Commission aims to "inspire governments,
economies and society to embrace sustainable
development as the central principal."
It was established in 1992 and is charged
with implementing recommendations agreed
at the 1992 Summit.
Sustainable consumption
in a green economy
The EEA and its Topic
Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production
co-hosted an expert seminar on sustainable
consumption in a green economy with the
Nordic Council of Ministers, which gathered
a large number of policy makers and other
stakeholders attending the CSD. EEA executive
director, Jacqueline McGlade made a keynote
speech on pathways to sustainable consumption
and chaired a panel debate with high-level
policy makers.
The seminar focused
on the consumption perspective in a green
economy, with a view at experiences from
Europe and other regions of the world and
panel discussions of how to promote sustainable
consumption patterns and sustainable lifestyles
globally that stimulate a greening of the
economy.
'In order to reach the
sustainable development goals and solve
environmental problems, we must address
environmental impact from both the production
and consumption side, and further strengthen
environmental considerations in economic
and sectoral policy,' Prof. McGlade said
at the event.
Sustainable production
Prof. McGlade will also participate in a
key side event, 'Sustainable Consumption
and Production – the building blocks for
a Greener Economy'.
The objective of the
side-event is to look forward to the UN
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)
in June 2012 and discuss the linkages between
sustainable consumption and production and
policy instruments and practices for building
a green economy within the framework of
sustainable development and poverty eradication.
Teenagers, Facebook
and the environment
The EEA is also using new communication
tools. Prof. McGlade will present the newly
launched EEA Facebook page at the Marymount
Middle and Upper Schools in New York, and
will speak with students about the environment
and sustainable development. The event will
include interviews and discussions with
the school’s newspaper and environment club.
