Under the patronage of the Environment Quality Authority chairperson Eng. Adal Attirah and the Jenin Governor Major General Ibrahim Ramadan and with the support of the SwitchMed project, the first Environmental Fair was organized on Tuesday 28th November 2017 at the North Gate Hotel in Jenin City.

In the opening ceremony the Governor of Jenin emphasized the importance of mainstreaming the sustainable consumption and production practices, and that the organization of this exhibition confirms the importance of the Environment Quality Authority role to protect the environment. In addition to that, he emphasised that the occupation is the main cause of destruction of the Palestinian environment. Moreover, he said that this expo and hence the concept of Sustainable Consumption and Production are new activities and were not available a few years back. He added that we should work hard in order to protect our environment and keep this governorate resilient and environment friendly.

The representative of UN Environment and SwitchMed coordinator Mr Luc Reuter focused on the importance of the Sustainable Consumption and Production as one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and hence the importance of this project which is being implemented in the region and Palestine. He further emphasised the importance of the attitudes and behaviour of individuals,of a society, and decision makers to adopt and choose more sustainable consumption and production patterns to make the required difference in protecting the environment. Moreover he briefly presented the SwitchMed program and its objectives and the already achieved results. He concluded by thanking the officials for the political support of the State of Palestine in the process of developing and implementing Palestine’s Sustainable Consumption and Production National Action Plan. Palestine is among the first countries to develop and start implementing such a national plan, which is considered as an indicator of success in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

The SwitchMed sustainable consumption and production programme aims to promote a switch by the Mediterranean economies towards sustainable consumption and production patterns and green economy, including low-emission development, through demonstration and dissemination of methods that improve resource and energy efficiency. It also seeks to minimise the environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of products and services and, where possible, to promote renewable energy.

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