Highlights and images for 27 August 2025

Opening the one-day Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum (MGSF) one-day meeting, Lenora Qereqeretabua, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fiji, highlighted the role of Pacific Islanders as custodians of a region “that holds the key to the health of humanity.” She called on UNEA-7 and the international system to deliver real action not “delay disguised as diplomacy.” Abdullah bin Ali Al Amri, UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) President, encouraged all present to use the MGS to build alliances, hear regional voices, and craft solutions together.

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Deputy Director, highlighted the “transformative power of local advocacy,” and urged the Forum to produce actionable recommendations.

Ladislaus Chang’a, International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) Vice-Chair, updated participants on progress toward the IPCC’s 7th Assessment Report, highlighting also its forthcoming special reports and methodology reports.

MGS then met in plenary throughout the day. Speakers discussed grassroots community responses to environmental challenges, including examples from Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Bangladesh, as well as regional perspectives. In subsequent sessions, they discussed the triple planetary crisis and development challenges, as well as the role of science, technology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advancing solutions.

Ajay Kumar Jha, Centre for Community Economics and Development Consultants Society (CECOEDECON), India, stressed issues of climate justice, nuclear justice, food sovereignty, decolonization, and the need to shift the control of production systems to address equality, pollution, and the crisis of overproduction. Several other MGS participants called for a moratorium on deep sea mining and cautioned against deploying untested geo-engineering technologies to address climate impacts.

In the afternoon, UNEA-7 President Abdullah bin Ali Al-Amri held a dialogue with stakeholders. He expressed hope that UNEA can reduce the number of resolutions adopted, focusing instead on a few that are scientifically grounded and supported with funds for implementation. Participants raised questions about the institutional design of the science-policy panels on chemicals and waste, the fate of the plastics treaty talks, balancing environmental protection with economic growth, and mining activities taking place at world heritage sites, among other issues. Abdullah anticipated that UNEA-7 will provide opportunities for Member States to discuss the future of the plastics treaty process.

Subrata Sinha, UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, highlighted opportunities for MGS to contribute to the governance process, for example by commenting on the draft Medium-Term Strategy (MTS) 2026-29 for UNEP, the draft ministerial declaration, and any draft resolutions. He noted that the Asia-Pacific region has put forward three draft resolutions to UNEA, which address: accelerating the transition to a circular economy; promoting the climate resilience of coral reefs; and the role of children and youth in environmental and climate action. He invited all to share “success stories” in developing sustainability solutions.

Six side events took place during the day on: air quality targets; harnessing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion and strengthening environmental rule of law, health and access to justice in environmental matters across the Pacific; scaling up food systems; plastic pollution; end-of-life electric vehicles (EVs) and EV batteries; and scaling up actions on One Health.

During the side event on the ICJ, speakers highlighted the potential for constitutional and legal reforms, developing regional mechanisms for environmental justice, and supporting an upcoming UN General Assembly resolution to operationalize the ICJ opinion.

At the One Health side event, a dozen speakers from UNEP and across the region provided insight into the concept and urged implementation of the One Health approach in the Asia-Pacific region from a range of perspectives, including financial, donor, government, regional and UN institutions, and youth.

In a “valedictory session” at the close of the day, Sivendra Michael, Ministry of Environment, Fiji, urged participants to carry the words spoken at the MGSF back to their communities, institutions and governments, saying, “The children of our region are watching us and they will live in the world shaped by decisions made here.”