From a learner to a key actor

From where I come from, it is often said “if mountains can meet, then men shall always meet”. I always thought it was a consolatory statement whenever we had to go away from a friend or someone we cherish, but little did I know a famous re-union will proof to me how true the statement is. The short story started last August 2019 when I was privileged to be one of the 21 participants who attended the “77th UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Short Course on Ecosystem Management – Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Services”. Spending almost a month with 20 young talented and inspiring professionals from diverse countries around the world, dedicated and sacrificing every minute of their life’s in fighting for the conservation of our biodiversity was a unique experience for me.

The various course lectures, group works, field and study trips were just awesome. Nevertheless, I thought I was at the end of my excitement until we had a study trip at the Isle of Vilm, words can’t explain the experience. However, one of the main highlights of the stay at Vilm was the course on “CBD-COP negotiation simulation”. Under the coordination of Dr. Axel Paulsch, a seasoned CBD-COP negotiator, we were drilled on negotiation skills, language alignment, getting what we want via compromise, pressure building….. Passionate on issues relating to blending science and policy as far as biodiversity conservation is concerned, I found my world during the simulation exercise. Futhermore, I was boosted when Dr. Paulsch at the end of the exercise said and I quote “Simon, I am convinced soon, very soon, you will be at the international stage, this time around in the real, negotiating for your country”. Those were just words isn’t it??? Yes they were, but never underestimate the strength of words.

Last February to March 2020, 1000 delegates from 142 countries met in Rome-Italy for the Second Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the CBD on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The main aim of the meeting was for parties to engage in negotiations towards the elaboration of an agreed main text of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

I was greatly privileged to be designated as one of the two delegates who represented Cameroon to the negotiations. But this privilege was amplified when I met one special personality in the meeting. Guess who??? – Dr. Axel Paulsch – The famous re-union took place. I was full of emotions when I met this wonderful professional who across CIPSEM and the SC77 course, empowered me with innovative negotiating skills.

Our re-union was smooth, humble, peaceful and quiet just like nature itself. The humble character of the re-union was expressed when Dr. Paulsch told  me as we met and I quote “yesterday you were a learner but today you are my colleague and I will be honoured to get your perspectives relating to the negotiations we are about to embark in”. The words say it all. On my side, whenever I had to speak either in the name of my country or the African group, I felt the weight of the responsibility and the unique privilege I had not only as a delegate from my country, but as a CIPSEM SC77 Alumnus having his course instructor in the same conference hall listening to him participating in the development of a new biodiversity framework that shall re-shape life on earth and participate the sustainable well-being of hundreds of millions of people.

Meeting Dr. Paulsch gave me the opportunity to finally accept the statement that “if mountains can meet, then men shall always meet”. But beyond statements, participating in the Rome negotiations was another proof of the skills learned, knowledge gained and senses built during the CIPSEM experience, which goes a long way to highlight the rich and innovative content of the CIPSEM course programs.

At the certificate award ceremony of the CIPSEM SC77 course, I had the honour to be one of the two speakers who spoke on behalf of our fellow course mates. I remember telling them that, “if we don’t want to be victims of the destruction of biodiversity, we should be actors of its conservation and to do this, rather than trying to do things right, we should always do the right things”. CIPSEM has done its part and I’m convinced we SC77 Alumni are doing our everyday in our universities, government agencies, NGOs, CSOs, businesses, etc.. And this is true because the re-union at the Rome meeting wasn’t only with Dr. Paulsch but I also met my SC77 course mate Mr. Yew Aun Quek, who was part of the Malaysian Delegation.

 

by Mr. PATAMAKEN ANECK Simon Ndibnuh,

Senior Environmental Engineer, Ministry of Environment, Protection of Nature and Sustainable Development-Cameroon, SC77 CIPSEM Alumnus

Working hard for restoration

CIPSEM alumna Dr. Adejoke Olukemi Akinyele was hosting the “Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR)” side event at the XXV IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil.

In this 11-episode series, you’ll have the chance to follow the “Forest Landscape Restoration Implementation: Progress on the Ground” side-event hosted October 1st, 2019 at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) XXV World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil. The side-event is a milestone in the IUFRO-led forest landscape restoration (FLR) snapshot analysis, a project that aims at an independent scientific exploration of efforts contributing to forest landscape restoration (FLR) in selected landscapes in nine Bonn Challenge countries, three each in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This project is generously funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

An excursion to the BMUB and 3rd German Future Earth Summit in Berlin

After a month of studies in Dresden at CIPSEM, we (EM41) had an opportunity to go to Berlin for a visit to the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and attending the 3^rd German Future Earth Summit. As scheduled, we left Dresden in the early morning of February 7^th heading to Berlin by train. As soon as we arrived, on the way to our first stop, we encountered an old piece of the Berlin Wall and the line that used to divide the city. We got to the Ministry of Environment. Ms. Königsberg received us and told us about the history of the house, Berlin and The Wall. She showed us maps and old photos from that time. We did a tour of the building, through the patios and the standing Wall. We proceeded to the conference room where we met with Mr. Contius, head of the division “United Nations, Agenda 2030, Cooperation with Developing and Newly Industrialized Countries” at the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).

Mr. Contius talked to us about Germany’s Multilateral Work for Sustainable Development and its relevance on the national level. He explained that the main goal of his division involves narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, and help businesses go green. That way, there will be a change of course in order to achieve as many SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as possible by 2030. Germany mainly focuses on 3 issues: energy, agriculture and traffic; through the “5 Ps”: people, planet, prosperity, partnership and peace. After having lunch at the Ministry, we went to the greywater recycling project station at Block 6. Mr. Nolde, manager of the project, explained the history and the overview of his project on how it operates. The facility is a decentralized recycling station, which according to Mr. Nolde is the best way for water treatment and reutilization in order to maximize energy efficiency. In the evening, Dr. Lindner gave us a quick tour around Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag, on the way to a wonderful dinner at Hopfingerbräu im Palais.

On the following 2 days, we joined the 3^rd German Future Earth Summit – From Knowledge to Action at the Umweltforum. This summit provides a platform for researchers, scholars, NGOs, practitioners to discuss and figure out the challenges, especially in science, regarding the agenda 2030 of Sustainable Development. This year, the focus of the Summit was on KANs or Knowledge-Action Networks, in order to build bridges between the scientific community and other stakeholders and decision makers.

During the summit, we were divided into different roundtable discussions and sessions according to our professional and academic expertise and interests. This helped us understand, discuss and share ideas among all attendees. It was a great opportunity for us, EM41 Fellows, to meet many scholars and researchers, and build networks with them for future cooperation.

Overall, the Berlin Excursion gave us a great opportunity to understand Germany’s Environmental Policy, build networks and explore a vibrant city.

by Josefina Achaval-Torre (Argentina) & Chandara Yem (Cambodia)

Dresden Nexus Conference – at the science-policy interface

by Andrea Vera (Peru) & Fernanda Martinelli (Brazil)

During three days we had the opportunity to participate and be involved in the Dresden Nexus Conference (DNC). The conference was held at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum (a must see museum if you are in Dresden) from 17th to 19th May.

This biannual conference was focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Nexus Approach: Monitoring and Implementation. Major topics covered were ‘Wastewater Reuse in Nexus Perspective: Environmental, Economic and Societal Opportunities’, ‘Smart Green Cities: Adaptation and Urban Resilience’, ‘SDG Agenda: Achieving SDGs’, and ‘Resource Recovery and Reuse in Multifunctional Land-Use Systems’.

It was a great space for networking, discussion, lectures and sees the results from case studies around the world. DNC is a platform that brings all stakeholders and actors (researchers, implementers, decision makers) together implementing the Nexus Approach. But what does it mean to implement the ‘Nexus Approach’? This was the first question that some of us were wondering during the conference. First, this approach is focused on Water-Soil-Waste and that all natural resources are interconnected to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  Amazing goal! But, it is a serious challenge as we look forward to reduce poverty and provide enough food and water for all. Second, this approach also aims to join scientist, implementers, decision-makers and donors to exchange experiences, discussions and close the gaps between actors. This was well addressed, but more involvement from the private sector is needed.  Finally, it seeks to improve governance and participation to implement the Nexus Approach outside the academic circle and intersect all efforts from individuals to governments.

One of the newest sections in the conference was the World Café. During 60 minutes, in a round-table, we dialogued about multifunctional land-use systems and resource management. Every person could choose on which table to participate according to their field of expertise or interest. An expert moderated the discussion and noted the main points of interest to be taken into account for the next conference. Questions like ‘What data is missing?’, ‘How can we monitor and what potentials indicators could we use?’, ‘Which stakeholders should be involved?’, ‘What are the next steps? Where are the information and knowledge gaps?’: among other were discussed and summarized into key points.

Some final remarks that we need to bear in mind: you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Management and monitoring is important in every work, so we can see where we are and how are we achieving the goals; we must work together, build bridges between all actors and stakeholders, make connections between governments and financial sector. Let’s move from laboratories and start field implementation. As the Agenda 2030 says: ‘let’s ensure that no one is left behind’.

Photos by Anna Görner

PAGE Ministerial Conference 2017

– Relative Anxiety –

by Sean Townsend (Jamaica)

On March 27, 2017, the CIPSEM EM40 cohort travelled to Berlin, Germany to attend the second staging of the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) Ministerial Conference. Before exploring the activities of this 2-day conference, it is first important to reflect on the genesis of PAGE.

Plenary session at PAGE 2017

Insight Awards for young entrepreneurs

EM40 cohort attending the PAGE Conference

In 2012, Rio+20 (the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development) was held in Brazil. The conference’s outcome document entitled “The Future we Want” was a call to action for governments, businesses and the UN alike to support countries interested in the transition to a green economy in an inclusive manner (for people, the planet and prosperity). This call to action resulted in the creation of an action plan, which would use the window of opportunity identified for achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs), as well as laying a foundation for addressing climate change from 2015-2030. This plan would involve Ministers, heads of UN Agencies, business and thought leaders, representatives from civil society and development partners and so the PAGE was launched in 2013.

The focus of the 2017 conference was to explore how our investments, lifestyles and growth patterns can be “enablers” for the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. It also sought to answer questions such as:

• What are the necessary ingredients for the transformational change required to deliver prosperity for all on a healthy planet?
• How can the shift to the Green Economy be accelerated by widening existing partnerships and initiatives to build inclusive green economies?

It should be no surprise that the conference was well organised. It consisted of several main plenary sessions addressed by influential keynote speakers who took the opportunity to make jabs at the current USA administration, especially because of the denial of the existence of climate change which is quite clear to the rest of the world, but that is not the focus of this reflection. Parallel sessions ranged from fascinating case studies presented by state ministers, leaders of global companies as well as young entrepreneurs all working towards the smooth transition into the Green Economy. I should also mention the food provided was superb and dining with the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum was neo-historic.

At first, it was fascinating to observe the level of thinking which has been put in at the higher level by the PAGE partners and the myriad of factors under consideration. But I could not help but wonder how does this transition into reality? How does it accommodate John Public and those of us residing in the developing world?

EM40 group enjoying the dinner at the Berlin History Museum

With these questions, I decided to dialogue with my fellow participants to get feedback to these questions. Like myself, many were impressed with the organisation of the conference and the level of thinking put into the process by scholars and sector leaders. However, we could not help but feel left out of this people-centric process as there was no definitive plan of action and those that were illustrated seem to address stakeholders “who must be aliens from another planet,” as expressed by one of the participants. Many felt the transition to the green economy was imperative but the developing world is not ready, and there is no proper plan of action to address this. It seemed it was business as usual; providing aid to developing countries, instead of building capacity in the true sense to enable us and to put a stop to this dependency on developed countries. During one of the discussion forums, one participant expressed that PAGE 2017 was like “a ‘family wedding’ where one could be caught up with the global family;” I then wonder if the developing world was a distant cousin.

Nonetheless, it was a great opportunity to network, meet leaders of industry and state as well as meet fellow compatriots and especially the women working in this area. The EM40 cohort also took the opportunity to share with conference participants, information on the CIPSEM programme. Who knows, maybe in the near future the CIPSEM programme may include some high profile participants with deep governmental nepotic connections.

EM40 cohort practicing to take the lead in the future (PAGE 2027)

EM40 participants networking at PAGE 2017

EM40 participants networking at PAGE 2017

Perhaps transition into the Green Economy requires an action plan developed by the developing nations for implementation, influenced by the ideas of the youth and adapting those of the developed nations.

Conference ‘Where are we steering the planet – New goals for a more sustainable development worldwide’

Within the framework of the UN ‘2015: Time for Global Action’ campaign, the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB) organized a conference dealing with different aspects of global sustainable development. After the opening speech given by parliamentary state secretary Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter (to watch the video, click here), and a speech by the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Gerd Müller, three international panels consisting of experts from different fields discussed the significance and implementation of the Post-2015 development agenda.

(Photos: A. Lindner)

EM38 at the Dresden Nexus Conference 2015

Over 350 participants from 65 countries came to Dresden to join the Nexus Conference on Climate Change, Urbanization and Population Growth from 25th to 27th of March 2015. Among them the CIPSEM EM38 course participants representing 22 countries from those 65… not bad at all!

During three days three different aspects of global change were covered in talks and in a poster session: climate change, urbanization and population growth. Special attention was paid on how the integrated management of environmental resources guided by the nexus approach may help to achieve the potential targets of the post-2015 agenda.

(Photos: A. Lindner)