Delegates at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, negotiated until late into the night. More than a dozen resolutions are adopted. The Federal Environment Minister sees success.
The United Nations Environment Assembly has agreed on decisions on the management of water resources, chemical waste and the environmental impact of mining. Representatives of the 193 member states adopted a total of 15 resolutions at the end of the week-long meeting in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
The Environmental Assembly (UNEA) is the world’s highest decision-making body for environmental matters. The sixth UN Environment Assembly was the largest meeting of its kind to date with more than 140 ministers and almost 6,000 delegates.
Progress in protecting global water resources
In Nairobi, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) praised the environmental conference as a “beacon of multilateralism” in a difficult situation. “Global environmental policy faces huge challenges, and geopolitical conflicts make it difficult to find good solutions.”
From the German delegation’s perspective, the meeting nevertheless brought “decisive progress” in protecting global water resources. The German ministry also highlighted a resolution on dealing with dangerous chemicals and their waste. The global framework for chemicals adopted in 2023 under the German presidency will be anchored in the work program of the UN Environment Program and thus strengthened internationally.
Other resolutions include increased measures to curb sandstorms and desertification, cooperation in the fight against air pollution, protecting marine biodiversity and dealing with particularly toxic pesticides. African countries in particular pushed for a resolution that addresses the environmental impact of mining minerals and metals.
Wars and their environmental impacts
A draft submitted by Ukraine that called for a stronger focus on the environmental impacts of armed conflicts caused discussion. This resolution was also adopted – although the representative of Russia, whose country has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for two years, complained about the “politicization” of the meeting.
The failed resolutions included, among other things, a draft introduced by Switzerland to promote technologies to influence the intensity of solar rays. While advocates say this could help slow global warming, countries in the Global South worry about unintended impacts on agriculture.
Source: Stern
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