SWITCH-Asia

Date: 5 June 2020       Time: 10.15 - 12.30 hrs. (Bangkok Time Zone)            Langauge: Thai (mainly)               Watch Video 

BACKGROUND

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder to our society that there is intimate relationship among humans, animals and the environment. The transmission pathways of diseases, such as COVID-19, from animals to humans highlight the extent to which human activity is placing increasing pressures on the health of our natural environment, with damaging consequences to the society. It is increasingly recognized that, in the post-crisis recovery process, we cannot continue with the business-as-usual approach, which would further increase environmental externalities such as carbon emissions and pressure on biodiversity and ecosystems .As governments introduce stimulus packages to support job creation, poverty reduction, development and economic growth, we need to support efforts towards “building back better”, by ensuring that the health of our planet, including our natural resource base, as well as people’s well-being are not undermined, while efforts should be made towards capturing opportunities for leap-frogging to green investments, such as renewable energy, smart housing, etc., to be guided by the principles and standards of sustainable production and consumption. It is in this context that the Institute of Public Policy and Development (IPPD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have agreed to collaborate in the following key initiatives:

WED 2020

World Environment Day (WED) is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment and engaging more people to take necessary actions. Held annually since 1974, the Day has also become a vital platform for promoting progress on the environmental dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals. With the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) at the helm, over 150 countries participate each year. Major corporations, non-governmental organizations, communities, governments and celebrities from across the world adopt the World Environment Day brand to champion environmental causes. The 2020 World Environment Day theme is “biodiversity” and this global campaign will highlight how humans are inextricably linked to and depend on nature for our existence and quality of life. The European Union recently released its new growth strategy, called EU Green Deal that aims to transform member states into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of GHGs in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. (EU, 2019). To achieve these aims, it is essential to increase the value given to protecting and restoring ecosystems to the sustainable use of resources and to improving human health. 

POLICY WEBINAR

The SWITCH-Asia RPAC, funded by European Union (EU) through UNEP Regional office for Asia and the Pacific is constantly working in the region to promote sustainable use of natural and environmental resources with careful attention to potential trade-offs among economic, environmental and social objectives through Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). The concept is to ensure sustainable consumption and production practices necessarily entails to respect the biophysical boundaries of the planet and to reduce current global consumption rates in order to fit with the biophysical capacity to produce ecosystems services and benefits (SDG12). 

The organization of the Policy Webinar is proposed as a part of WED celebration to recognize the importance of biodiversity and to highlight important linkages between sustainable use of natural resources and human well-being especially safety and quality of life. Increasing threats to the health of humans and ecosystems is at an alarming rate and calling for more sustainable action-oriented policies from different authorities for a better and safer life. The Webinar will discuss common goals and understanding on sustainable society shared and share good practices and experiences in greening key sectors with SCP principles that contribute substantially to poverty alleviation and transition towards low-carbon and green economies. The Webinar will then end with recognition of value in building cooperation. Means and measures to build sustainable society in Thai context among different sectors will be highlighted. Different roles and responsibilities and innovative way forwards for closer cooperation will be discussed.

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