UN Body Elects CALD Chair as President

CALD Chairperson Oyun Sanjaasuren was elected as first President of United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) on 23 June 2014.  Mrs. Oyun, who also serves as Mongolian Minister for Environment and Green Development, was chosen by more than 1200 participants from 193 countries that met in Nairobi, Kenya for the UN body’s inaugural session.

“The next two years will be critical for achieving progress on environmental, climate change, and post-2015 development agenda issues. It is the historical responsibility of the UNEA, UNEP, and us, Environment Ministers, to get it right. We do not have the luxury of time”, Mrs. Oyun said in her acceptance speech.

Mrs. Oyun’s election came at a time that CALD is also spearheading environmental initiatives for political parties in Asia. CALD embarked on a climate change programme in 2011, and in the past three years, the network has made significant inroads in making climate change a foremost liberal agenda among its member-parties.  In 2012, CALD adopted a historic statement on climate change which became an overarching framework in instilling environmental consciousness in its members and the general public.

In a CALD congratulatory letter signed by Philippine Presidential for Environmental Protection Neric Acosta, the organization pledged its full support to Mrs. Oyun’s commitment to advance environmental, climate change and post-2015 development agenda issues globally.  The letter also conveyed CALD’s confidence that under Mrs. Oyun’s leadership, “UNEA would become a stronger and more powerful voice for the cause of the environment worldwide.”