Global environment assembly urges solidarity for green transition

The high-level segment of the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) opened Thursday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, with a rallying call for unity to secure a green and resilient future for the planet amid geopolitical headwinds.

In a video message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said UNEA-7 was taking place against a backdrop of an intensifying ecological crisis driven by rising temperatures, biodiversity loss, and air pollution.

"Yet this assembly offers hope. With just five years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, UNEA-7 is a moment to invest in resilience, commit to justice, and remember what we are fighting for," Guterres said, calling for rapid scaling up of solutions that promote water management, climate resilience, sound management of minerals, and artificial intelligence.

As the world's highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters, UNEA has since 2014 set priorities for global environmental policy and governance, with universal membership of all 193 UN member states.

Kenyan President William Ruto said UNEA-7 provides an opportunity to reaffirm the vitality of multilateralism in advancing a just, fair, green and resilient transition for countries on the frontline of the climate crisis.

Ruto stressed that global economic transformation, driven by digital technologies, should be aligned with enhanced protection of natural habitats, equity and human dignity to avert exclusion, conflict and pollution.

Annalena Baerbock, president of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said UNEA-7 should serve as a wake-up call for countries to intensify action on climate disasters, species extinction and waste pollution that have placed a heavy burden on economies and public health.

"It is time for actions that match our convictions. Time to confront the triple planetary crisis; climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution with seriousness equal to the scale of the threats," Baerbock said in a video message.

Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri, president of UNEA-7, said the five-day assembly is expected to adopt sweeping resolutions aimed at stabilizing the climate, restoring biodiversity and promoting circularity.