Full report- External Celebration of World Environment Day 2021 Date: Thursday 3 June 2021 | 14.00-16.40 (Beijing Time) Thursday 3 June 2021 I 11.00-12.00 (Indian Time) Friday 4 June 2021 I 13.00-16.00 (Bangkok Time) Saturday 5 June 2021 I 16.30-18.00 (Pakistan Time) Venue: Hybrid (Beijing and Real-time Live Streaming) (China) Online via Zoom (India and Pakistan) Live Broadcasting from Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) Disclaimer This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Advocacy Component and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. Page | 1 Table of Contents List of Acronyms: ............................................................................................................................... 3 Background: ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Logistical information about the event .......................................................................................... 6 Review on Participants: ................................................................................................................... 7 Summary of key messages: ............................................................................................................ 8 Welcome and Opening remarks:.................................................................................................. 11 Panel sessions: ................................................................................................................................ 18 Conclusion sessions: ..................................................................................................................... 30 Highlights of discussions: ............................................................................................................. 31 Evaluation/Assessment results: .................................................................................................. 32 Annexes: ............................................................................................................................................ 33 Annex 1: The Final Agenda .......................................................................................................... 33 Annex 2: Leaflets of the events .................................................................................................... 38 Page | 2 List of Acronyms: AIT Asian Institute of Technology BCG model Bio-Circular-Green Economy model BFFP Break Free From Plastic CE Circular Economy COVID-19 Coronavirus Disease 2019 EU The European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO-RAP Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations-Reginal Office for Asia and the Pacific IGSNRR Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature MEE Ministry of Ecology and Environment MoNRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment NSM National Science Museum Thailand SCP Sustainable Consumption and Production SDGs Sustainable Development Goals SDPI Sustainable Development Policy Institute SGGSCC Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce SMEs Small and Medium-sized Enterprises SWITCH-Asia SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Advocacy Component RPAC UN United Nations UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFSS United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards UNFSS- UNFSS Action Track 2 – Shift to healthy and sustainable consumption ActionTrack2 patterns WED World Environment Day Page | 3 Background: SWITCH-Asia is the programme funded by the European Union (EU) to promote sustainable consumption and production (SCP) across the Asian Region. The SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Advocacy Component (RPAC), implemented by United Nations Environment Programme, is designed to strengthen the dialogue at regional, sub-regional and national policies on Sustainable Consumption and Production and thereby contributing to green growth and reduction of poverty in Asian countries. World Environment Day (WED) takes place every year on 5th June as the United Nations’ flagship day for promoting worldwide awareness and action for the environment. This year’s observance of World Environment Day is on the theme of ‘ecosystem restoration’ and focus on resetting our relationship with nature. It also marks the formal launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030. This year, 2021, RPAC plans to celebrate the WED, with the theme of ‘Ecosystem Restoration’ and the key message is ‘Reimagine. Recreate. Restore’ Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Food Production and Consumption On this national dialogue, China is looking forward to advocating SCP with a focus on farmland ecosystem and sustainable consumption and production in China. Farmlands now cover more than one-third of the Earth's land surface and are perhaps our most vital ecosystems to sustain human-kind. In China, farmland is facing multiple challenges, including food security risk, ecosystem degradation, reduction of cultivated land and climate change, due to the rapid industrialization, urbanization, and increased population. Restore agricultural ecosystems by using nature, such as using crop rotations, and growing more diverse crops and integrating them with livestock would boost farm productivity. The resource circularity in food production and consumption can also contribute to the development of resilient ecosystems, such as increased agricultural efficiency through local production of food, enhanced ecosystem by adopt of agro-ecological practices and food waste composting. This national dialogue aims to highlight environmental issues and raise awareness on links between ecosystem restoration and sustainable food consumption and production. Empowering Youth for Sustainable Consumption and Production & Ecosystem Restoration Increasing food consumption by a growing population, together with changing dietary habits, poses an immense challenge for the global food system including India with the second largest population in the world. A crucial question is how to meet the increasing demand for food and provide healthy diets for all for the decades to come without undermining the Earth’s resources and crossing planetary boundaries. At the same time with the rise in online food delivery due to pandemic, packaging waste (mostly plastic) has emerged as a key concern. In line with the WED theme of ecosystem restoration, SWITCH-Asia RPAC in partnership with Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce (SGGSCC), University of Delhi organized a webinar for youth, to highlight the vital role of applying SCP principles for the resilient ecosystems with a focus on Sustainable Food Systems. This webinar aimed to inspire youth Page | 4 action and engagement towards adopting sustainable, organic and healthy diets while being mindful of the packaging waste and issues around it. Launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration For too long, we have been exploiting our planet’s ecosystems beyond the ecological carrying capacity. This has caused serious imbalances in ecosystem services and the human life support system. This trend needs to be redressed, for the sake of human survivability. Ecosystem restoration, in other words ‘turning from exploiting nature to healing it’, is absolutely essential. World Environment Day 2021 is the first year of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global mission to revive billions of hectares of ecosystems, from forests to farmlands, from the top of mountains to the depth of the sea. World Environment Day offers a global platform for inspiring positive change. It pushes for individuals to actively improve their consumption behaviour; for businesses to develop greener models; for governments to invest in repairing the environment; and for youth to build a greener future, for people to reinvigorate a coalition between humanity and nature. Ecosystem restoration In Sustainable Consumption and Production Context Pakistan is the global host for WED 2021. Accordingly, SWITCH-Asia RPAC, implemented by UNEP, in collaboration Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organized an online webinar on “Ecosystem Restoration in Sustainable Consumption and Production Context” on 5th June 2021. The webinar objectives are to celebrate the WED, highlighting the concept of ecosystem restoration to members of the general public through voices from the ground, showcase relevant best practices and expert opinion on links between ecosystem restoration and SCP as well as strengthening a dialogue on green economy and SCP in Pakistan. Page | 5 Logistical information about the event Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Food Production and Consumption The national dialogue linking ecosystem restoration to sustainable food production and consumption was organized by SWITCH-Asia RPAC in partnership with Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGSNRR), to celebrate the World Environment Day 2021 in Beijing (IGSNRR meeting room) with livestreaming on 3rd June 2021. The event was conducted in Chinese. Empowering Youth for Sustainable Consumption and Production & Ecosystem Restoration The webinar on empowering youth for SCP and ecosystem restoration was organized by SWITCH-Asia RPAC in partnership with