UN Assistant Secretary-General and Head of New York Office at UNEP |Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group
Mr. Satya S. Tripathi is UN Assistant Secretary-General, Head of New York Office at UNEP and Secretary of the UN Environment Management Group.
A development economist and lawyer with nearly 40 years of varied experience, Mr.Tripathi has served with the UN since 1998 in key positions in Europe, Asia and Africa in the areas of Climate Change, Human Rights, Democratic Governance and Legal Affairs.
He was Head of Human Rights Investigations for the UN in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH); Chair of the Committees on Laws, Treaties and Administrative matters for the UN-mediated Cyprus unification talks in 2004; UN Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias where he facilitated international cooperation and funding of over US$ 7 billion for post-tsunami and post-conflict recovery efforts in support of the Indonesian government and affected populations; and Executive Head of UNORCID, a UN System Office of 10 UN Agencies established by the UN Secretary General in 2011 to facilitate the implementation of a US$ 1 Billion REDD+ partnership between Indonesia, Norway and other stakeholders on climate change mitigation and adaptation through the conservation of forests and preservation of peat-land and bio-diversity. Mr. Tripathi was instrumental in establishing the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF) in Indonesia in 2016 and the Sustainable India Finance Facility (SIFF) in 2017 to leverage ‘private finance for public good’ at mega-scale to achieve transformative social and environmental impact for millions of people in developing countries. He previously served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Advisory Council on Forests; and with the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) as a senior distinguished fellow.
- How is UNEP spearheading the pace of sustainable development, especially in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic?
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) works with a variety of stakeholders including Member States to place the environment at the heart of decision making to benefit people and the one planet we all share. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wakeup call to all of us, highlighting how vulnerable we are as a society.
While the world is doing its best to protect people from COVID-19, global environmental challenges continue to impact the lives of people around the world. We have seen this with the fires in California, Siberia and Australia, while other countries are experiencing drought, floods, hurricanes. We are also seeing unprecedented rates of glacier melt and sea-ice loss. This year we had several warmest months since we began keeping records 141 years ago. We are currently losing species at rates never seen in the history of our planet. Scientists have warned us about the consequences of not acting for human health, our economy and welfare. In the latest edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report, environment related risk is on the top five global risks facing the world.
Nature provides many goods and services and is often taken for granted. It provides us with clean air and water, protects us from flood and drought and provides food and medicine. We simply cannot live without nature. IPBES estimates that deforestation and land degradation would cost the world 10 percent of global GDP every year in lost ecosystems services such as preventing harmful nutrient run-off into streams or decreasing the effects of floods. It is estimated that air pollution is causing an estimated 7 million premature deaths every year, and this is entirely avoidable. Pollution also has detrimental impacts on climate, biodiversity and ecosystems, and quality of life in general. There can also be no sustainable development without urgently reducing emissions to mitigate climate change. It threatens livelihoods and the peace and stability of our societies. Time is running out.
COVID-19 is also a clear reminder that human health is linked to the planet’s health. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning that these pathogens jump from animals to humans. They account for seventy-five percent of all emerging infectious diseases in the last few decades. To prevent future outbreaks, we must address the threats to ecosystems and wildlife, including habitat loss, illegal trade, pollution and climate change. It is not an option to go back to business as usual after the pandemic. We need to use this opportunity to set our society on a better path to achieve the SDGs. This is a message that was highlighted strongly by world leaders at the opening of the UN General Assembly in September this year. In doing this, addressing climate change, protecting nature, and reducing pollution and waste will be absolutely critical and requires strong leadership, multilateral cooperation, engagement by all sectors of society and all of us. It will be impossible to achieve the SDG targets without taking the environment into the equation.
- Are we closer to the realization of SDGs 2030 amidst the contemporary socio-economic-environmental milieu in the Last Decade of Action?
The 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals provide a global roadmap for bold and transformative decisions to put an end to extreme poverty, inequality and address environmental challenges by 2030. Good progress has been made but we need to do more to ensure a more prosperous future and one in which no one is left behind.
Before the COVID pandemic, progress was made in areas like reduction in poverty, maternal and child mortality and increased access to essential services such as electricity. We now risk undermining the progress that has been made. In addition to being a health crisis, COVID-19 is also an economic and social crisis. It is a challenge to the multilateral system and all countries to respond to this. The United Nations family are now also working across all pillars and all aspects of the crisis.
Even though many measures have been taken by countries to protect the environment, they are not yet at the scale needed. We are still losing species at an unprecedented rate. 2019 was the second warmest on record.Unfortunately, we are far from being on track to reach the targets set out in the Paris agreement, both the 1.5°C and 2°C targets. We do expect greenhouse gas emissions to drop somewhat in 2020 due to the pandemic, but this is only temporary. The greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere is still too high and increasing. To get on track to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions need to fall 7.6 per cent every year between 2020 and 2030.
This entails changes across our societies. Our food system is one example. Presently, the way we produce, transform, distribute, consume, and dispose of food is causing environmental, social, and human health problems on a global scale. This needs to change. Many people depend on the oceanwhich is suffering from unsustainable use, environmental degradation, CO2 saturation and acidification. The good news is that we can change this.
We have enough agricultural land to produce the food we need. We can protect nature more and we can build better societies while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. One key measure will be to scale up sustainable consumption and production and building a circular economy.
All of us should use this crisis to set our society on a better path for all and build a society in harmony with nature. Everyone needs to work together to overcome this crisis with stimulus packages and fiscal reforms that are greener and more sustainable.
- A lot more has been spoken on ‘Localization of SDGs’ since last few years. How is United Nations, under your stewardship ensuring the implementation of local actions that are innovative, inclusive, and sustainable?
The United Nations family under the stewardship of Secretary General Guterres is working with all stakeholders to achieve the 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNEP has a particular responsibility for the environmental dimension across the targets and is committed to working with all parties to achieve the 2030 agenda.
To help countries speed up progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals, UNEP, in partnership with other United Nations entities and beyond, is working towards the full integration of the environmental dimension in national policies and investments, providing and sharing scientific data and statistics on environmental indicators and supporting countries in monitoring the environment.
UNEP also helps inform policy with science to support decisions at the global, regional, and national levels.
