Major Groups and Stakeholders Key Messages to Ministers at the
11th GC/GMEF,
Bali, 23 February 2010

All 9 Major Groups, Business and Industry, Children and Youth, Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, Local Authorities, NGOs, Scientific and Technological Community, Women, Workers and Trade Unions, have worked during their 2-day Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum to prepare their input to the environmental ministers at the 11th UNEP GC/GMEF. They were joined by other stakeholders including autonomous regional organizations and authorities. Together, as all sectors of Civil Society, they present the following recommendations to ministers.

Regarding Environment in the multilateral system, Civil Society including all major groups:

• calls on governments to take actions for strong international environmental governance and agrees that UNEP is the principal body in the field of the environment and should be strengthened.
• recommends the active involvement and participation of civil society organisations throughout the international decision-making process and its implementation. This must reflect the expertise and diversity of Major Groups and Stakeholders. We recommend the creation of a Major Group and Stakeholders advisory body for the High Level Working Group on IEG.
• believes that a strong IEG will require compliance mechanisms to be established and strengthened, including through enforcement based on national legislation.
• believes that a strong IEG needs to ensure the protection of the natural resource base of our planet as well as social welfare and economic progress, fostering equality, reducing poverty and creating sustainable jobs in a balanced and integrated manner.

Regarding RIO +20, Civil Society including all major groups:

• calls for a negotiated ministerial declaration from the 11th GC/GMEF to give clear direction for the preparation and key aims of the RIO+20 summit. This declaration should consider the full involvement of civil society and all major groups in the process leading up to Rio+20, during the summit itself and in its follow up.
• urges governments to ensure that all major groups and stakeholders can fully participate in the work of the open-ended preparatory committee for Rio+20 as stated in the General Assembly Resolution 68/236
• expects from the Rio+20 discussions a strengthened environmental pillar of sustainable development, however issues related to the other two pillars of sustainability should be equally covered in Rio+20 debate making sure that social and financial/economic organizations are also involved in its preparation.
• commits to mobilize their constituencies in order to support the successful output of the summit

Regarding the Green Economy, civil society including all major groups:

• recognizes that the natural capital is the basis of our economies, its erosion should be prevented and new indicators of measuring economic growth should include i.a. loss of biodiversity and loss of ecosystem services.
• recognizes that the contemporary economic models need urgent rethinking, creating new paradigms such as the green economy initiative, bearing in mind that the green economy should be in accordance with sustainability principles.
• believes the new economy should be green, inclusive and just, and must be a driver of the transition of our societies to a truly sustainable one, transforming our live-styles and creating decent jobs.
• believes the green economy should create opportunities for progress and development worldwide, helping to reduce the differences between developed and developing countries, between poor and rich, and between women and men.
• calls on governments to empower Civil Society, including all major groups, to play a role in facilitating transition to promote green economy by undertaking actions toward achieving sustainable development.
• recognizes, that in support of green economy, an integrated and coherent policy mix (i.e. command-and-control, market-based instruments, awareness, education and skills development) needs to be developed, in close consultation with civil society organisations including all major groups, by all countries.

Regarding Biodiversity and Ecosystems, civil society including all major groups:
• expresses concern over the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation that undermines human development and well-being.
• calls on governments to set new Biodiversity Targets and ensure they are fully met.
• calls on governments to promote synergies when implementing policies on biodiversity and ecosystem management. This requires full implementation of ecosystem management approach with the CBD (i.e. using cross sectoral and multidisciplinary approach),
• calls for the promotion of scientific research for policy development and implementation.
• asks governments and other stakeholders to continue discussions on the establishment of IPBES (International Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), and ensure that major groups and stakeholders are fully integrated in its development.
• urges for more participatory research to be supported on key issues of biodiversity and ecosystem management such as economic instruments, ecosystem service payment, REDD, biodiversity inventories and gene banks. In those cases that are relevant, these researches should be gender-sensitive and the results should be made available to the communities.
• asks for full involvement of major groups and stakeholders in biodiversity and ecosystems monitoring, policy development and implementation.

Regarding the ExCOPs, civil society including all major groups:

• asks for governments to recognize and value the unique perspective and contribution of civil society, including all major groups, and their important role in policy development and implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, and thus request the full participation in the “synergy process”.
• believes that synergy among conventions must be based on equity across countries and attention to future generations. In the synergy process, we support the increase of cost effectiveness and coherence, but it is important to ensure, that the articles and principles of the conventions are not in any way weakened by this process. It is very important to ensure that a lifecycle approach to chemicals management is used to strengthen the conventions and
• urges parties to ensure that all three conventions are transposed into national law to ensure full compliance with all articles and principles of the conventions.