PNG National Consultation Workshop Concept Note

Papua New Guinea Stockholm+50 National Consultation Workshop

Alfred Rungol

Concept Note

 

Stockholm+50

“A Healthy Planet for the Prosperity of All – Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity”

 

Papua New Guinea Stakeholder Consultation Workshop

 

 Date:  Tuesday, 24th May 2022

        Venue:  Hilton Hotel, Port Moresby

 

                                                                                    

1. Background

Five decades after the 1972 UN Conference in Stockholm made the link between environment and poverty and placed it at the forefront of the international agenda, Stockholm welcomes the world again in June 2022. The United Nations General Assembly, through its resolution 75/2801 of 24 May 2021, decided to convene an international meeting in Stockholm on 2 and 3 June 2022, to commemorate 50 years since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. The General Assembly agreed on the theme of the international meeting Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”, and decided to organize collaborative and multi-stakeholder discussions around the following leadership dialogues:

·       Leadership dialogue 1: Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all.

·       Leadership dialogue 2: Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

·       Leadership dialogue 3: Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.

These dialogues are expected to contribute to the international meeting by yielding clear and concrete recommendations for action at all levels, including through strengthened cooperation. All relevant stakeholders – including organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations, international financial institutions, and other interested international bodies and nongovernmental organizations (i.e., organizations with “an interest in the field of the environment, civil society organizations, indigenous peoples’ organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the youth, the private sector and philanthropic organizations”) are invited to contribute to the discussions of the international meeting and their preparation.

By commemorate the watershed moment that the 1972 conference represents, and reflect on the current situation we find ourselves, through addressing the intergenerational responsibility, focusing on the implementation opportunities, and recognising interconnectivity between stakeholders and between policy issues. Stockholm+50 offers an opportunity for nations like Papua New Guinea and its stakeholders to collaborate, share expertise and address complex nexus issues for urgent actions and long-term system change. It can identify solutions and actions of a cross-cutting nature to drive implementation through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, leaving no one behind.

The Government of PNG (GoPNG) has shown its commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the similar conventions including UNFCCC. This includes mainstreaming climate change and environment in its development priorities, as captured in the national long-term political vision, plans, and strategies; Vision 2050, the National Development Strategic Plan 2010-2030, and the Medium-Term Development Plan III. These strategies are founded on the concepts of helping to strengthen and diversify the foundations of PNG’s economic growth while taking action to both increases the country’s resilience to climate change and take steps to further mitigate emissions and ensure adaptation resilience are measure and implemented. The most recent steps in developing these policy approaches have been the development of PNG’s Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution, the SDG 13 Climate Action Roadmap and working on its National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Furthermore, Government is now working some of its regulatory framework which will provide legal bases of progressing some of the newly develop policies and plans in PNG.

Moreover, as PNG strive to recover and reset from the pandemic and global lockdown, Stockholm+50 provides a fourfold opportunity to:

a)    rebuild relationships of trust for strengthened cooperation and solidarity (including by reimagining our futures together through engagement, knowledge sharing and learning);

 

b)      accelerate system wide actions needed to recover and build forward from the pandemic (including through innovative finance for an equitable recovery, mechanisms to address debt through collective action, and creating fiscal spaces to support just transition pathways to a low carbon, circular, nature positive and resilient development);

 

c)     connect and build bridges across agendas (drawing together the commitments from the global processes of 2021 and 2022 to strengthen the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda and sustainable development); and

 

d)    rethink conceptions and measures of progress and wellbeing to provide a new compass of collective welfare.

Additionally, the meeting offers an opportunity to explore emerging areas in support of a healthy planet. Possible examples include making universal the recently recognized human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,20 rights of nature, exploration of alternative knowledge systems, 21 adoption of a wider “One Health” approach to address issues around the human-animal-ecosystem health interface, and recognition of the need to learn from other cultures and paradigms to protect, reciprocate and live in solidarity. As the UN Secretary-General has pointed out, “humanity’s welfare – and indeed, humanity’s very future – depend on solidarity and working together as a global family to achieve common goals”.22 Stockholm+50 opens the way for accelerating actions to achieve the 2030 Agenda and beyond to a 50-year timeframe.

2.  Objective

The main objectives are;

1.    Gather collaborative view and multi-stakeholder recommendation through discussions around the following leadership dialogues:

a)    Leadership dialogue 1: Reflecting on the urgent need for actions to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity of all.

b)    Leadership dialogue 2: Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

c)     Leadership dialogue 3: Accelerating the implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development in the context of the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development.

2.    Seek view of stakeholders on the approaches that will be conducted on Stockholm+50 themes and the consultation process.

3.    Discuss among stakeholders on possible pathways to a healthy planet, that is, discussion on existing activities/programs and project to address “Stockholm+50: a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity”

 

3.  Expected Outcomes

The expected outcomes from the validation workshop include;

·       Discuss and complete questions under each Leadership Dialogue themes

·       Seek recommendation on from stakeholders on Stockholm+50 purposes and its objectives include way forward on the next step.

 

4.  Participants

The Stockholm+50 consultation workshop will be attended by representatives from the following;

·      Public Sector

-          Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council (PM&NEC)

-          Department of Provincial and Local Level Government Affairs (DPLLGA)

-          Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA),

-          PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA),

-          Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA),

-          Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL)

-          Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP)

-          Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM)

-          Department of the Office of the State Solicitor (OSS)

-          Department of Provincial Affairs and Local Level Government (PALLG)

-          National Energy Authority (NEA)

-          Department of Transport (DoT)

-          Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management (MPGM)

-          Mineral Resource Authority (MRA)

-          Department of Community Development (DCD)

-          Department of Lands and Physical Planning (DLPP)

·      International Development Partners

-          Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

-          United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

-          Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)

-          U.S Agency for International Development (US Aid)

-          Australian Aid (AusAID)

-          Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI)

 

·      Civil Society Organizations

-          The FORCERT

-          Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

-          The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

-          Centre Environmental Law & Community Rights Inc (CELCOR)

 

·      Private Sector

-          New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL)

-          Forest Industry Association (FIA)

·      Research and Academia

-          National Research Institute (NRI)

-          PNG Forest Research Institute (FRI)

-          University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG)

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