Abschlussrede auf der Hochrangigen Tagung zur Halbzeitbilanz des Prozesses Umwelt und Gesundheit in Europa

Minister, Deputy Ministers, Excellencies, Dr Netanyahu, Dr Grotto, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, let me start by thanking all delegates and partners for your presence and active participation in the conference and for your professional and constructive contributions. 

I thank the Chair for an excellent summary of the meeting. Let me build upon that with some key policy messages that have emerged from this meeting, which we will take forward to our two governing bodies: the WHO Regional Committee for Europe and the UNECE [United Nations Economic Commission for Europe] Committee on Environmental Policy. The meeting was very important as it allowed us to take stock of where we are between Parma and the next ministerial conference. We have reviewed both the achievements so far and the roadblocks that we need to break down in order to speed up the implementation and achievement of our targets. 

As you have heard in the last two days, I am a strong supporter of this Environment and Health Process – not only because I have been involved in one way or another since its inception but also because I am a firm believer that today's complex health problems cannot be solved without cross-sectoral work, or in some cases whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches. Let me just mention the huge inequity which scars the European Region and many of the noncommunicable disease issues that create around 80% of the mortality and morbidity in our Region. The recent Ebola outbreak has also been a reminder that without strong commitment to build up the International Health Regulations' core capacities, which again require intersectoral work, our health security will remain weak.

This new way of governance, to which all European Member States signed up when they adopted Health 2020 in consensus in 2012, is at the heart of Health 2020 but also at the heart of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The European Environment and Health Process is deeply rooted in these two policy instruments and this is essential for effective implementation. The Process is also critical to achieving several of the SDG goals and targets. 

At the end of these two days, I hope you share my diagnosis that the Environment and Health Process is alive and kicking. It can support Member States to get to the "end game" of some of the environmental and health challenges that hamper the development of our societies to their fullest potential, while others will remain with us for some more time.

The Environment and Health Process has achieved a lot in the last decades, as we discussed yesterday, and it has great potential ahead of us. This is because it has embarked on issues that bring added value to both sectors: this win-win situation is the key to ensuring the support of both sectors. To remain relevant, we need to identify topics that are important in achieving the objectives of both sectors. We can do better together than alone. We also need to capitalize on what yesterday you defined as being the distinctive features of this Process.

• It is a process that provides evidence-based assessments and tools, as you have seen in the many documents released on this occasion.
• It is a process that provides normative guidance and synergy for the implementation of many international agreements.
• It is a process that, through the partnership between WHO and UNECE, has strong institutional legitimacy, a clear mandate, broad convening capacity and links to the political governing bodies of both the health and environment sectors.
• It is a process that can establish and develop partnerships, with other intergovernmental and hopefully regional economic integration organizations and civil society, including youth. This will benefit from the clarification that will be brought up by the decisions of the World Health Assembly regarding the engagement with non-state actors.

As I said, this is a good model and learning experience for our work with other sectors. I also noted that even in this Environment and Health Process we need the involvement of some other sectors.

We had excellent discussion yesterday on our progress and challenges. I see three important issues here for the way forward.

• We should continue to institutionalize the Process at both regional and national levels. Your requests for strong political engagement and commitment, for more opportunities to meet and exchange in different configurations and for a more inclusive governance structure are all clear indicators of your ownership of the Process and commitment to make it succeed. Governance is crucial to our success and we have to get it right. We have to make the existing structure work by continuously exploring and identifying areas where possible adaptation and change may be required. As governance must be adapted continuously to the changing environment and priorities, this issue has to be on our agenda all the time and we must explore it further, in consultation with you. If any further change is required to the governance structure adopted in Parma, this should be integrated into the outcome document of the next ministerial conference. 
• We should continue to increase the visibility of our work, and should use every opportunity for this purpose, including making statements at upcoming global and regional events and organizing side meetings at highly visible important events, like the United Nations General Assembly, when the post-2015 development agenda is adopted.
• We should remain focused on the unfinished business and priorities to which we committed in Parma, while preparing our future agenda. Our work in the next two years will have to be a combination of these two aspects, as we prepare for the next ministerial conference. For this to be right, we need to set up a preparatory process that is inclusive, transparent, streamlined and visible to all parties involved. This process will also need to remain focused, allowing for completion of unfinished business while at the same time standing up to the new challenges and linking effectively to the ongoing processes that provide synergy. It will also require consultation with the WHO and UNECE governing bodies and with the public.

I am delighted to see that in your feedback on the proposed road map many of you have indicated interest in and commitment to leading and supporting the "unpacking" and exploration of many of the themes and challenges that form the environment and health agenda of the 21st century. We will need to reconcile the complexity of the underlying global issues with your loud message that we need to deliver a strong, clear and focused political outcome for the ministerial conference. 

Let me close by thanking Alexander, not only for effectively chairing this meeting but also, most importantly, for his tireless work as the Chair of the Task Force. We look forward to continuing work with you in the Ad-hoc Working Group and to benefiting from your advice, experience and rich input to its work. I also wish all the best to Dragan, who is taking over from Alexander in this challenging yet exciting duty of chairing the Task Force: please be assured that the secretariat is ready support your work. I thank the Ad-hoc Working Group for its excellent support in the preparation of this conference. The extension of its mandate and its enlargement to more members provide the Task Force with an effective and committed group to prepare a most exciting ministerial conference. Thanks to the speaker, panellists, facilitators and all of you who made this meeting a great success.

But none of this would have been possible without the extraordinary, friendly and generous hospitality of Israel. You made all of us feel warmly welcome and at home. The staff of the ministries of health and environmental protection have been simply wonderful. It is impossible for me to do justice to all those who need to be thanked, but let me name in particular Sinaia and Liora: you have been our daily companions in the journey to Haifa, and it has been an honour and a pleasure to work with you and your colleagues. Thanks from the bottom of our hearts. 

I very much look forward to continuing these discussions with the Ministerial Board and Task Force, with the WHO and UNECE governing bodies and with our partners inside and outside the Process.

Thanks for your participation, attention and engagement. Our people deserve it.