Earth Today | Toward a more resilient planet

THE RECENTLY concluded seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) has yielded 11 resolutions, three decisions and a Ministerial Declaration intended to advance solutions for a more resilient planet.

More than 6,000 people – representing 186 countries – registered for the week-long assembly, held at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, focused on advancing solutions to tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation, as well as pollution and waste.

“The UNEA-7 resolutions move forward the work of Member States on safeguarding coral reefs, on the sound management of the minerals and metals essential to the energy transition, on the sound management of chemicals and waste, on the sustainable use of Artificial Intelligence, and on finding sustainable solutions through sport,” noted a release from the UNEP last month.

Other resolutions adopted focus on international cooperation to combat wildfires, strengthening work on the environmental dimension of antimicrobial resistance, protecting glaciers, and addressing sargassum seaweed blooms and more.

“What has been achieved here proves that this bridge is indeed capable of carrying the world’s ambitions towards a better future,” noted His Excellency Abdullah bin Ali Al-Amri, president of Oman’s Environment Authority and president of UNEA-7.

“The conclusion of this session doesn’t mean the end of our mission. The measure of our success will not be limited to what we’ve adopted on paper, no matter how important and strategic, but by what we will see on the ground in terms of cleaner air, cleaner water, restored ecosystems, sustainable ecosystems, green job opportunities and more resilient societies capable of facing the challenges of the future,” he added.

The assembly also approved UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) for the next four years, and the associated Programme of Work for the next two years.

“You will now return to the world outside the negotiation halls. A world in which – let us not forget amid our euphoria – people are dying, homes and livelihoods are being destroyed, economies are being damaged, and inequity is growing because action on environmental challenges has not been fast or strong enough,” said UNEP’s Executive Director Inger Andersen in her closing remarks.

“Yes, you have brightened the beacon and better lit the path forward. But we must now, together, hurry down this path to make good on our collective promise to deliver real solutions for a resilient planet and resilient people,” she added.

The assembly was preceded by a Youth Environment Assembly – bringing together more than 1,000 young delegates to advocate for the inclusion, empowerment, and meaningful participation of young people in global environmental governance – and by a Cities and Regions Summit that highlighted the critical role of local and regional governments in delivering integrated solutions and driving transformative environmental change from the ground up.

Among other things, a host of UNEP’s Goodwill Ambassadors also joined UNEA-7 to reinforce messages on solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues – UNEP’s Patron of the Oceans and endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh climbed Mount Kenya, which holds one of the last three glacier sites in Africa and is expected to lose all of its ice within the next five years, while Tanzanian hip-hop artist Frida Amani, UNEP’s Advocate for Ecosystem Restoration – performed a new song, Resilience, at the High-Level Segment alongside the Kenya Boys Choir.