Minamata Convention secretariat receives innovation prize at UNEP’s Kipepo Awards
The secretariat of the Minamata Convention has received the innovation prize at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP’s) Kipepeo Awards. The award ceremony took center stage in the October UNEP global town hall meeting. Over 50 projects were submitted across the three categories as the teams sought top honours. The categories were classified into Innovation award; Environmental impact award and Collaborative Teams Award.
The Kipepeo Awards recognized the unique and new solutions implemented at the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on mercury (COP-4.2) held early in the year in Indonesia, highlighting that the secretariat “delivered a successful COP while navigating uncharted territory”.
Minamata COP 4 was the first UNEP Conference of Parties for a multilateral environment agreement to convene in person since the outbreak of the pandemic. A small 15-person team planned and overcome numerous challenges from COVID protocols to logistical items linked to travel, connectivity challenges for Parties along with identifying the best online platforms for complex negotiations, to legal matters like definitions of participation for decision making and election of officers, etc. They delivered a successful COP while navigating uncharted territory.
Similarly, the plastic team won the Environmental Impact award against considerable odds, the plastics team came together across divisions and disciplines to support the process resulting in the UNEA 5.2 resolution on plastic pollution and the formation of the intergovernmental negotiating committee. Their success was due in large part to their crystal clear technical support and wise navigation across potentially sensitive issues like competing national and business interests, not to mention geopolitical conflict.
With the current projections of plastic production and plastic waste, the opening of a normative space for regulating plastics along the full life cycle is a historic achievement. The global press and international community recognized the strength of the achievement, representing years of research, engagement, and advocacy.
The Innovation category had a total of 15 nominations. The element sought in this category was for their work to improve delivery of programmes or services through implementing unique and new solutions.
In the Environmental Impact category – This category featured 14 nominations and the panel sought the element of transformational change delivery for people and planet. This is at the top of agenda for UNEP and the multilateral environment agreements and the teams showcased work on the triple planetary crisis. The reviewing panel looked for projects that demonstrated outstanding impact to advance the environmental agenda at the local, national, regional or international level and prove the sustainability and scalability of the same. They looked for details on how the nominees measured impact, the relevance, scope and outreach along with the expected or unexpected positive effects.
While the Collaborative teams – This was the most popular category of the 2022 Kipepeo Awards, it featured 22 nominations. The reviewing panel employed this criteria: exceptional teamwork dynamics amongst its members, working collaboratively and convergently to achieve organizational goals, soliciting inputs, genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise.
