Earth Today | UN Environment Assembly opens in Kenya

THE SEVENTH session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) is now underway in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

UNEA-7 brings together Ministers of Environment, intergovernmental organisations, multilateral environmental agreements, UN system entities, civil society, youth, and the private sector from across the globe to advance solutions for a resilient planet.

The UN Environment Assembly is the world’s highest decision-making body on the environment, with its membership including all 193 UN Member States. It meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies; decisions and resolutions then taken by Member States at the Assembly also define the work of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

“Today we reaffirm our shared responsibility: to transform our determination into tangible results for people, ecosystems, and our planet’s stability,” noted H EAbdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri, President of UNEA-7 and President of the Environment Authority of the Sultanate of Oman in a December 8 release from the United Nations Environment Programme.

“We convene at a decisive moment. Around the world, communities continue to endure the intertwined impacts of climate change, land, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, challenges that test not only our economies and societies but the very trust in our collective will,” he added.

SPIRIT OF COMPROMISE

“Our success this week depends not only on the outcomes we adopt but also on how we reach them, through trust, transparency, the spirit of compromise, and inclusiveness,” he said further.

This year’s Assembly will be negotiating 15 draft resolutions on issues ranging from saving the world’s glaciers to reining in massive seaweed blooms and reducing the environmental impact of artificial intelligence. While not legally binding, UNEA-7 resolutions help countries find common ground and have in the past laid the groundwork for precedent-setting international agreements.

“This Assembly must dig deeper than ever, because environmental challenges are accelerating. The rise in average global temperatures will likely exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius within the next decade, bringing escalating consequences with every fraction of a degree. Ecosystems are disappearing and land is degrading. Dust storms are intensifying. Toxins continue to pollute our air, water and land,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP.

“And this Assembly must dig deep, because the world is in turbulent geopolitical waters, which adds stresses and strains to multilateral processes. We all want the same thing: a better future for ourselves and for our families. This means a stable climate; a safe, clean and sustainable environment; and a pollution-free future,” she added.

UNEA-7 was preceded by a Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, a Cities and Regions Summit and Youth Environment Assembly that saw more than 1,000 youth delegates from across the world come together to agree and issue the Global Youth Declaration that puts forward youth priorities to UNEA.

Alongside discussion over the draft resolutions, UNEA-7 will feature three high-profile discussions, exploring why environmental sustainability is critical to industry, global finance and human health.