Key international figures join meeting of Nordic climate and environment ministers
Astrid Schomaker and Leena Ylä-Mononen met with the Nordic ministers.
The international community is in the midst of what the UN calls the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The causes and consequences of all three are closely interlinked and reinforce each other. While research suggests a need for urgent action, increasing strain is being put on multilateral co-operation on the environment and climate change. Not only is the geopolitical landscape more complex and tense, but competition for resources and technology is increasingly fierce, and funding is a particularly difficult challenge.
All of these issues were raised when the Nordic climate and environment ministers met for the first time this year, and were joined by Astrid Schomaker of the UN CBD and Leena Ylä-Mononen of the EEA. The meeting discussed ways for the Nordic countries to support multilateral co-operation on the environment and climate, including in the negotiations on plastics, major EU policy initiatives, and the negotiations under the Convention on Biological Diversity at COP17 in Armenia in October.
“The way the Nordic countries are able to work with each other and deliver integrated policy solutions is a good example for countries everywhere, regardless of their current capacity. We mustn’t let the fact budgets are tight take our eye off the long-term challenge posed by the deterioration of our natural environment. If the Nordic countries stick to their commitments, and even go further, it will make a huge difference,” Schomaker pointed out.
The way the Nordic countries are able to work with each other and deliver integrated policy solutions is a good example for countries everywhere, regardless of their current capacity.
“Nordic co-operation on the environment and climate actively supports scientific work that underpins key UN conventions and major EU initiatives. I am pleased to note that our contribution is regarded as valuable in the Nordic Region and beyond,” says Karen Ellemann, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Joint declaration
International co-operation also dominated the discussions at the last meeting the ministers held back in October, when they issued a joint declaration reaffirming their commitment to multilateral co-operation and their unequivocal support for a rules-based international order, which they described as a prerequisite for solving the global environmental crises.
