25 institutions accommodated in the International Environment House: International Environment House inaugurated in Geneva
Bern, 14.09.1999 - The Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Geneva are giving support to Geneva as an international centre of competence for the environment. The International Environment House, inaugurated this Tuesday in Geneva, contributes to implementing this policy. During the press conference Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Philippe Roch, Director of the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL) and Laurent Moutinot, State Councillor of Geneva Canton, stressed the importance of this building as a place for people from the many international environmental organisations in Geneva to exchange ideas and look together for potentially positive interactions.
During the inauguration Klaus Töpfer thanked the Swiss Government for its efforts to improve opportunities for the exchange of ideas and for developing partnerships in Geneva, a city of major importance for the United Nations, and for action on environmental issues. Making reference to the topics of "chemical substances" and "trade and environment" the UNEP Executive Director mentioned that there are already partnerships in Geneva between UN institutions and other environmental organisations.
Phillipe Roch pointed out that "with a view to sustainable development, the International Environment House is to encourage interactions between environmental activities and those relating to social and economic development". This has already been started with the creation of the Geneva Environment Network, facilitating contacts between not only environmental organisations, but also the environmental sectors of the major world organisations based in Geneva.
Laurent Moutinot expressed his hope that this building will make a contribution to a world network of environment and sustainable development. The State Councillor stressed that "The environment and sustainable development are permanent fields of excellence in Geneva."Centre of environmental competence
Environment is one of the most important fields of international activity in Geneva. Several conventions essential for environmental protection have established their secretariats here: CITES, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species; the Basel Convention, concerned with the exportation of dangerous waste, and the Convention on Transboundary Atmospheric Pollution. Nearby, in Gland (Canton of Vaud) are the offices of WWF International and the headquarters of the World Conservation Union (IUCN), which are two important players in non-governmental environmental action, as well as the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on the protection of wetlands. The European Office of UNEP is also in Geneva. It is also worth mentioning that, since the Rio Earth Summit, most of the organisations of world importance in Geneva have been developing the environmental aspects of their activities.Two years ago the Federal Council decided that the building inaugurated today was to house organisations in Geneva active in the fields of environment and sustainable development. More than 25 organisations, institutions and secretariats, including the European Regional Office of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are already housed here. The building is the property of the Swiss Confederation, and the international environmental organisations housed here do not pay any rent, though they are responsible for upkeep and general costs. The International Environment House is managed by the Building Foundation for International Organisations (FIPOI), an institution of Geneva Canton and the Swiss Confederation.
Publisher
Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
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