From February 26 to March 1, 2024, UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program, based in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted the sixth session of theUnited Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6).
UNEA-6 concluded with the adoption of fifteen resolutions, two decisions and a ministerial declaration.. Measures that aim to combat problems linked to climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution.
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But not only. For the first time at an Environment Assembly, there was discussion of how cooperation and multilateralism, leading to a series of successful environmental agreements, can be fundamental tools to contribute together to a more just and sustainable future.
What does the United Nations Environment Assembly do?
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) is the world's leading environmental decision-making body and sets itself the objective of trying to “restoring harmony between humanity and nature, improving the lives of the world's most vulnerable people“. In particular, UNEA sets the global environmental agenda and guides the work of UNEP, the United Nations Environment Program.
In the just concluded edition, a record number of people participated: 6,000 delegates, including 7 heads of state and 139 ministers and vice-ministers, as well as experts, civil society activists and representatives of labor and industry, demonstrating how many of these multilateral meetings are an opportunity to gather different points of viewwith the aim of concentrating efforts towards a common objective.
About that, the central theme of UNEA-6 was multilateral environmental agreements and how these have contributed and can help overcome issues related to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Cooperation can help us overcome crises
UNEP helps administer more than twenty agreements and related entities. These conventions, some of which are old, such as the 1975 Mediterranean Action Plan, still contribute to protecting threatened species, limiting pollution and preserving biodiversity.
These include the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an agreement that helps regulate trade in more than 38,000 animals and plants. Or the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which played a fundamental role in limiting the ozone hole and its consequences.
It should be emphasized that even recent years, despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and geopolitical tensions, have been characterized for some very important results for environmental cooperation. In 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was approved, which aims to protect more than one million animal and plant species threatened with extinction. In 2023, the so-called was signed High Seas Treaty, to conserve marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdictions. Finally, during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, member countries announced an agreement to supporting vulnerable countries against the consequences of climate change.
What else emerged at UNEA
The outcome document of the United Nations Environment Assembly highlights how adopting effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions is a fundamental process to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It also recognizes the urgency of addressing certain global environmental challenges, such as desertification, land and forest degradation.
But above all, calls on countries to work together effectively, sustainably and inclusively, involving young people, indigenous peoples, women and less represented categories. Finally, to address global environmental challenges more effectively, it highlights the need to strengthen UNEP in terms of financial resources, operational capacities and coordination role.
The seventh session of UNEA will be held in December 2025.
