The world's top decision-making body on the environment is meeting in Kenya's capital on Monday to discuss how countries can work together to tackle environmental crises like climate change, pollution and loss of biodiversity.
The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi brings together governments, civil society groups, scientists, and the private sector to find collective solutions to pressing environmental issues.
\"None of us live on an island. We live on planet Earth, and we are all connected,\" said Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which is leading the process. \"The only way we can solve some of these problems is by talking together.\"
At the meeting, member states are discussing a raft of draft resolutions on various topics that the assembly adopts upon consensus. If a proposal is adopted, it sets the stage for countries to implement the agreed-upon measures.
In the last round of talks in 2022, also held in Nairobi, governments adopted 14 resolutions, including the creation of a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution globally. Andersen described it as the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.
This year, countries have submitted 20 draft resolutions for discussion, addressing issues such as restoring degraded lands, combating dust storms, and reducing the environmental impact of metal and mineral mining.
Despite differing priorities among countries, Andersen noted that there's generally \"a forward movement\" on all draft resolutions for UNEA-6. With a focus on multilateralism, UNEP aims to build on past agreements like the Minamata Convention on mercury controls and the Montreal Protocol's efforts to heal the ozone layer.
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UN member states meet to plan solutions to global environmental crises
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