Keila Gramajo, Advisor/Sub-secretary of Public Policy with the President’s Planning and Programming Secretariat (SEGEPLAN), Government of Guatemala

The United Nations Environment Management Group, in cooperation with the UNDP-UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative, organized the Nexus Dialogue 2: Poverty and Environment in the Sustainable Development Goals during the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, held under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council, on 13-14 July and 19 July 2017, in New York City.  

The Environment Management Group Nexus Dialogue Series contributes to a common understanding of the integrated goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the requirements and opportunities which these bring to UN agencies in supporting the implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda in a coherent and collaborative manner. The Dialogues provide an occasion for UN agencies and other stakeholders to identify areas of mutual interest and to better understand the transmission channels through which an action in one sector may impact the outcomes of another.

The Nexus Dialogue 2 consisted of three interlinked segments: the Technical and Policy segments, How a Nexus approach enables effective partnerships, synergy and implementation at country level (13-14 July), and the High Level Political Forum Side Event, Poverty reduction through sustaining environmental and natural resources: Integrating the poverty-environment nexus into development for poverty elimination (19 July). 

The unique contribution of the Poverty-Environment Initiative to achieving sustainable development was highlighted at the Nexus Dialogue 2.  The Nexus Dialogue Technical segment was facilitated by Isabell Kempf, who together with Nik Sekhran, Director of Sustainable Development, UNDP, presented the new project Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals  and shared relevant lessons from the Initiative’s decade-long experience promoting integrated approaches to achieving sustainable development in least developed  countries and countries with emerging economies in the developing world. 

During the Technical Segment, Poverty-Environment Initiative countries illustrated poverty-environment mainstreaming and their links to Sustainable Development Goals in practice.

Ms Keila Gramajo, Advisor/Sub-secretary of Public Policy with the President’s Planning and Programming Secretariat (SEGEPLAN), Government of Guatemala, addressed formulating the National Development Plan and landing the Sustainable Development Goals at local level in Guatemala through land management and social inclusion.

Mr. Rasmane Ouédraogo, Coordinator of UNDP–UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative, Burkina Faso, spoke on using the Poverty-Environment Nexus as part of an integrated approach for Sustainable Development Goals implementation in Burkina Faso. 

Michael Stanley-Jones, Programme Management Officer, Poverty-Environment Facility, shared the Poverty-Environment Initiative’s experience of supporting the mainstreaming of gender into Malawi’s National Agricultural Policy 2016 and work undertaken jointly with UN Women and The World Bank on the gender gap in agricultural productivity in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.

The Policy segment, held on 14 July, addressed challenges and opportunities for enhancing environment and poverty nexus partnerships as well as issues that require strategic planning by the United Nations system, including through the work of the Environment Management Group. The session was chaired by Mr. Elliot Harris, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, UN Environment, and Director of the Environment Management Group.

Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment, opened the High Level Nexus Dialogue side event.  Among the key findings of the side event:

• Marginalized communities are at risk from climate, disaster, and conflict-induced stress. Specifically when land, coastal areas, and water sources are degraded, many poorer populations struggle to survive. In order to preserve these natural resources and support the development of resilient communities, support is required from all levels of government and industry.
• Government participation in funding, policy, and resources is crucial to address the poverty-environment nexus. Efforts by related organizations to address this nexus issue need to support state and national plans, and vice versa.
• Alongside these efforts from governments and organizations, having industries and individual companies become involved in the process will contribute to the overall success in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Companies that commit to improving the sustainability of their operations and establish clear deadlines influences other companies to do the same.
• Approaching the poverty-environment nexus requires an integrated approach involving many stakeholders in order to eradicate poverty at the international, national, and local level.

Nexus Dialogue 2: Poverty and Environment in the Sustainable Development Goals

How a Nexus approach enables effective partnerships, synergy and implementation at country level

The 2nd Environment Management Group Nexus Dialogue opened on 13-14 July 2017 in New York, during the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. It focused on the poverty and environment nexus in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Nexus Dialogue 2 had two parts. A technical segment, held on Thursday, 13 July, explored opportunities to strengthen the implementation of the Goals by looking at lessons learned and good practices at the nexus of poverty and the environment at country level. 

Technical Segment – Enabling new partnerships- implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at the poverty-environment nexus at country level  (Wednesday, 13 July):

– Ms. Isabell Kempf (Facilitator), Co-director (UN Environment), Poverty-Environment Initiative, Nairobi

– Mr. Tim Scott, Senior Policy Advisor, United Nations Development Programme, New York

– Mr. Rasmane Ouedraogo, Poverty-Environment Initiative, Burkina Faso

– Ms. Keila Gramajo, Advisor/Sub-secretary of Public Policy (SEGEPLAN), Government of Guatemala

– Mr. Nick Sekhran, Director, Sustainable Development, United Nations Development Programme

– Dr. Eric Kemp-Benedict, Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute, Cambridge MA, USA

– Dr. Erik Chavez, Imperial College London

– Mr. Michael Stanley-Jones, Poverty-Environment Initiative, UN Environment, Nairobi

– Mr. Juan Chebly, Lead Adviser on Partnerships and Outreach, UN Environment, New York

A subsequent policy segment, held on Friday, 14 July, addressed challenges and opportunities for enhancing environment and poverty nexus partnerships as well as issues that require strategic planning by the UN system, including through the work of the Environment Management Group.

Policy Segment – Enabling new partnerships- implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at the poverty-environment nexus at country level (Friday, 14 July)

– Mr. Elliott Harris, Assistant Secretary General, UN Environment

– Mr. Paul Ladd, Director, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development

– Mr. Tom Bigg (moderator), Director of the Strategy and Learning Group, International Institute for Environment and Devleopment

– Ms. Isabell Kempf, Co-Director, UNDP-UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative

– Dr. Erik Chavez, Research Fellow, Imperial College London

– Mr. Rasmane Ouédraogo, Poverty-Environment Initiative Coordinator, Burkina Faso

– Mr. Tim Scott, UNDP Senior Policy Advisor on Environment in New York

Live Stream  

The Nexus Dialogue Technical, Policy and High Level segments were live streamed and recorded on the Environment Management Group YouTube channel.

High Level Political Forum Side Event (Wednesday, 19 July), organized by the UN Environment Management Group in cooperation with the UNDP-UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative 

Poverty reduction through sustaining environmental and natural resources:
Integrating the poverty-environment nexus into development for poverty elimination

 Part 1

Nexus Dialogue 2 on Poverty and Enviornment (Thursday, 13 July)

Enabling new partnerships – implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at the poverty-environment nexus at country level (Technical Segment)

Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Enabling new partnerships- implementing the Sustainable Development Goals at the poverty-environment nexus at country level (Policy Segment)

Part 5

The Environment Management Group Nexus Dialogue 2 was further supported by the Government of Switzerland, UNDP-UN Environment Poverty-Environment Initiative, Imperial College London, Stockholm Environment Institute, and the University of Geneva.

The Poverty-Environment Initiative’s contribution to the Nexus Dialogue 2 was made possible through the support of the Governments of Norway, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom, and the European Union.

For more information, see https://unemg.org/emg-nexus-dialogues/dialogue-2

Michael Stanley-Jones, Programme Management Officer, Poverty-Environment Facility, shared  Malawi’s experience of mainstreaming gender into the National Agricultural Policy 2016 and the Poverty-Environment Initiative’s work on the gender gap in agricultural productivity in Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.