Background on Stockholm+50

Stockholm+50 will commemorate the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and celebrate 50 years of global environmental action. By recognizing the importance of multilateralism in tackling the Earth’s triple planetary crisis – climate, nature, and pollution – the event aims to act as a springboard accelerate the implementation of the UN Decade of Action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals, including the 2030 Agenda, Paris Agreement on climate change, the post-2020 global Biodiversity Framework, and encourage the adoption of green post-COVID-19 recovery plans.

Representatives of countries will return to Sweden for the Stockholm+50 Conference to discuss how to achieve a sustainable and inclusive future for all. The world has taken great steps to protect and preserve our environment since 1972, but at this make-or-break moment for climate action, Stockholm+50 could usher in a much-needed new push on environmental awareness and action for the next half-century, just as it did five decades ago.

The International Labour Organization will join the international environmental community at Stockholm+50 to envision and shape the future of work for a healthier planet and the well-being of people. Take a look at the ILO’s participation in the conference:

Soft launch of the Green Jobs for Youth Pact

Thursday, 2 June 2022, 09:30-10:45 CEST

100 million jobs worldwide could be created in the sectors of sustainable energy and circular economy by 2030, according to the ILO. However, serious investments in upskilling and reskilling are needed to reap the employment benefits and avoid future generations lost to unemployment.

To address this, ILO, UNICEF and UNEP will partner to accelerate commitments to secure green jobs and skills in key countries and in high-impact sectors. Building on existing efforts and joint lessons learned, the ambition of this initiative is to contribute to a just transition to a low-carbon and circular economy that supports solutions to the triple planetary crisis. During S+50 the UN agencies will convene a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss the urgency and next steps in securing green jobs for youth. This will lead up to a launch of the Green Jobs Pact by COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.

In addition LinkedIn will be joining in Stockholm, whom we have an important MoU with. Similarly, IOE member from United States Council for International Business is joining, as well as key PAGE and CA4J country representatives.

This event will

• Initiate the Green Jobs Pact – calling for expression of interests from governments, civil society, workers, employers, businesses and academia
• Include multi-stakeholder panel discussion on green jobs for youth and the skills urgently needed for a sustainable, just and inclusive transition
• Discuss with governments and leaders, how to move forward the Pact on Green Jobs for Youth

Green Jobs for Youth Pact Commitments:

• Countries can join the Pact by committing to improve policy coherence between environmental, employment and skills policies, for example by pushing national climate education curricula and/or including just transition, skilling and reskilling in countries NDC;
• Private sector companies and social partners joining the Pact will commit to promote and create green jobs in their business, as well as to support skilling and reskilling initiatives for green jobs in their business, specifically for young people;
• Knowledge higher education partners can also join the Pact if they are already or are committed to create learning tools supporting skills development or reskilling for green jobs.

Organizers: ILO, UNICEF and UNEP.

Our responsibility, Our opportunity: Revisiting Economics & Finance to Accelerate Action for People & Planet

Thursday, 2 June 2022, 13:30-14:45 CEST

Linear and fossil-based economic and finance models of the past are no-longer an option in a world of increasing planetary crisis, climate risks, growing socioeconomic uncertainties, inequalities and poverty. These times of multiple and interconnected global crises call for broad-based partnerships that address economic, social and environmental dimensions in tandem that create resilience, sufficiency and increased capacities for human well-being and prosperity.

Our challenge is to correct the gross misallocation of capital that is depleting natural resources and ecosystems, while eroding social foundations and trust in public institutions. Our responsibility is to accelerate policy and investment shifts for an inclusive, green, system-wide socioeconomic transformation that creates new sustainable development pathways and ensures prosperity for all within planetary boundaries. Our opportunity is the Stockholm+50 Conference, bringing together global leaders to urgently accelerate action on the SDGs.

Organizers: UNEP, ILO, UNDP, UNIDO & UNITAR under the auspices of the United Nations Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), together with funding partners, partner countries, and partner initiatives including the Environment for Development Initiative, Stockholm Resilience Center (Stockholm University), Poverty and Environment Action, UNEP Finance Initiative, among others.

Stockholm +50 Action Hub event: Using the clothes we love to protect the nature we need

Friday, 3 June 2022, 14.00-15.15 CEST

The textile industry is globally important for driving industrialisation, trade, development, social value, and female empowerment. However, the way we produce and consume textiles is unsustainable, and is already contributing to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Addressing these impacts needs a systemic approach and a paradigm shift towards circularity. The entire textiles value chain must work together to confront the consumption patterns that are the driver of harmful impacts, using tools such as circular business models and circular design. This shift is needed – not only to confront the drivers of the adverse impacts of textiles but to also highlight the solutions in terms of circular design and circular business models, bringing together everyone to walk the same path.

This event will benefit from the expertise gained to date through UNEP-led research and consultations with 200+ actors, with an exclusive preview of the upcoming UNEP roadmap for a sustainable and circular textile value chain, which outlines priority actions for each stakeholder group. The event will provide a space to discuss and agree on concrete steps to be taken at the international level to aid implementation of the identified priorities, with a focus on holistic actions for sustainable consumption patterns and circular business models.

Organisers: The Government of Kenya, UNEP, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Financing Circularity: for a sustainable recovery and green jobs

Friday, 3 June 2022, 13:00-14:15 CEST

Unsustainable consumption and production are overburdening the Earth’s resources, threatening not only the environment but human well-being. Over the last 50 years, human population has doubled, the extraction of materials has tripled, primary energy production has more than tripled, the economy has grown nearly fivefold, and global trade has grown tenfold. But the price of this economic growth is the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

The shift from a linear model (extraction, consumption, and waste), towards a circular model is pressing. Circularity is a promising pathway to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Countries, companies and institutions around the globe are embracing approaches on circular economy and building cooperation to accelerate this shift towards circularity.

This side event will bring together champions on circularity, including financial institutions such as AfDB, IDB, and private banks from various regions, and key institutions like UNEP, UNEP FI, ILO, WEF, EMF, GIZ and the African Alliance on Circular Economy, the LAC CE Coalition. They all will share their work on promoting financial mechanisms and instruments to accelerate the transition to a CE and to contribute to a sustainable recovery and green job generation.

Organizers: *GO4SDGs, in close collaboration with the African Alliance on Circular Economy, LAC Coalition on Circular Economy, UNEP-FI, WEF, IDB, AfDB, ILO, GIZ and EMF.