Delegates at the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) gathered to celebrate the work done by Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) on Wednesday.
UNEA President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri (Oman) opened MEAs Day, highlighting its significance as a defining moment within the decade of action, with less than five years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), underlined that UNEP is well aware of the high cost of fragmentation as well as the rewarding benefits of synergistic action.
Bojan Kumer, Slovenia, and President of the 23rd Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention (COP 23), highlighted the 2016-2025 Mediterranean Strategy for Sustainable Development, aimed at aligning the region’s socio-economic goals with achieving the SDGs. Mansour Hilal Almushaiti Alanazi, Saudi Arabia, drew attention to the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership launched at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP 16.
Want to dig deeper into today's talks? Read the full Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily report.
Via video message, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, Vice-Minister for Climate, Energy, and Environment, Brazil, and COP30 President of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), reiterated the Brazilian Presidency’s commitment to act on the calls heard in Belém. Joswa Aoudou, Cameroon, speaking for the Presidents of the COPs to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions, underlined that cooperation among MEAs needs to deepen in order to leverage co-benefits for people and planet.
Daniela Durán González, Colombia, spoke for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP16 Presidency, underscoring that climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, and pollution are deeply interconnected, and will require interconnected solutions. Jeanne-Marie Huddleston, Chair of the Executive Body of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), stressed the need to strengthen synergies across MEAs and maximize co-benefits.
The Assembly then spent the day engaging in two high-level dialogues:
- “Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” – Turbocharging MEAs Implementation through Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society Approaches; and
- “Keeping the Promise” – Boosting SDG Implementation through the MEAs.
The Committee of the Whole (CoW) also worked throughout the day in two parallel contact groups to address four clusters of issues related to: nature and climate; governance and law; circular economy, chemicals, waste and pollution; and strategic, budgetary, and governing bodies matters.
During the CoW’s closing plenary, delegates forwarded seven resolutions to UNEA for adoption, including on Sargussum seaweed blooms, coral reefs, fires, youth participation, and sports. A resolution on strengthening UNEP headquarters in Nairobi was withdrawn, but the proponent, Mexico, resubmitted a new text to be considered during UNEA’s closing plenary. This was opposed by many, noting the lack of time to fully consider the new draft.
Many regretted the withdrawal of the draft resolutions on the protection of deep-sea ecosystems, and on crimes affecting the environment. Delegates still need to reach consensus on the draft decisions on the Medium-Term Strategy and the Programme of Work, and on the date and venue of UNEA-8. They also called for more time to agree on the draft resolutions on artificial intelligence, chemicals and waste, antimicrobial resistance, and glaciers and the cryosphere.
CoW Chair Joyelle Clarke (Saint Kitts and Nevis) proposed the way forward, calling on delegations to continue discussions on outstanding drafts in informal settings throughout the day on Thursday. She closed the CoW at 12:19 am.
Delegates also attended the launch of the UN Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals and a high-level breakfast on advancing the Global Environmental Data Strategy.
Around the venue, various other events were convened, including on:
- Enabling sustainable markets through ecolabels;
- Advancing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment through a just transition for generations of tomorrow;
- Advancing circularity on digital product information systems for a resilient planet;
- Science for environmental diplomacy for school children in rural schools to advance sustainable solutions for a resilient planet; and
- Ethical pathways to a just and resilient planet.
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All ENB photos are free to use with attribution. For OECPR-7 and UNEA-7 please use: Photo by IISD/ENB | Anastasia Rodopoulou
Opening of the MEAs Day
Mansour Hilal Al Mushaiti, Vice Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia, was welcomed by UNEA-7 President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri, Oman.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director, UNEP
Aoudou Joswa, Stockholm Convention COP 13 President, Cameroon
Bojan Kumer, Minister of the Environment, Climate and Energy, Slovenia, and Barcelona Convention COP 23 President
UNEA-7 President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri, Oman
Jeanne-Marie Huddleston, Chair, Executive Body of the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
Daniela Durán González, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Colombia, and CBD COP16 Presidency
Mansour Hilal Al Mushaiti, Vice Minister of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia
André Corrêa do Lago, Vice-Minister for Climate, Energy, and Environment, Brazil, and UNFCCC COP30 President, addressed the session via a video message.
Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, BRS Conventions
Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environment at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia
UNEA-7 President Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Amri discusses with Radhika Ochalik, Secretary, Governing Bodies and Stakeholders, UNEP, before the MEAs opening session.
OECPR-7 Chair Sultan Hajiyev, Azerbaijan
Delegates from Oman
Radhika Ochalik, Secretary, Governing Bodies and Stakeholders, UNEP, discusses with a delegate from China.
High-level Dialogue: Turbocharging MEAs Implementation through Whole-of-Government and Whole-of-Society Approaches
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Chair David Obura
Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, CBD
Festo Dugange, Deputy Minister for Vice President's Office (Union and Environment), Tanzania
Rohey John, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Natural Resources, The Gambia
Grethel Aguilar, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Evelyn Ndlovu, Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Zimbabwe
Lelise Neme, Director-General, Ethiopian Environmental Protection Authority (EEPA)
Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Fiji
Musonda Mumba, Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Asad Naqvi, CBD Secretariat, and Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, CBD
Ermira Fida, Deputy Secretary, IPCC, and Luthando Dziba, Executive Secretary, IPBES
High-level Dialogue on Boosting SDG Implementation through the MEAs
IPCC Chair Jim Skea
Izabella Teixeira, Co-Chair, International Resources Panel
Noura Hamladji, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNFCCC
El Hadji Abdourahmane Diouf, Minister of the Environment and Ecological Transition, Senegal
Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
Musonda Mumba, Secretary General, Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Megumi Seki, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat
Camila Isabel Zepeda Lizama, Mexico
Monika Stankiewicz, Executive Secretary, Minamata Convention
Yolanda López-Maldonado, Indigenous Peoples and their Communities
Amy Fraenkel, Executive Secretary, Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS)
Tatiana Molcean, Executive Secretary, UNECE
Alice Shackerfold, UN Women
Steven Victor, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment, Palau
High-Level Dialogue on MEA’s Day Conclusions
Ligia Noronha, UN Assistant Secretary-General, and Head, UNEP New York Office
Hambardzum Matevosyan, Minister of Environment, Armenia
Batbaatar Bat, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Mongolia
IPBES Chair David Obura
Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary, BRS Conventions
Izabella Teixeira, Co-Chair, International Resources Panel, UNEP
Panelists pose for a family photo at the end of the session.
Contact Groups
Nader Al-Tarawneh, Jordan, Co-Chair of Cluster D, and Radhika Ochalik, Secretary, Governing Bodies and Stakeholders, UNEP
Kanako Okano, Japan, Co-Chair of Cluster A
Kamala Huseynli-Abishova, Azerbaijan
Claudia Taboada Flores, Dominican Republic
Abdulaziz Abdullah AlButti, Saudi Arabia
A view of the room during Cluster A on Nature and Climate
A view of the dais during Cluster B on governance and law
Martin Röw, Germany, Co-Chair of Cluster B
Miguel Luís, EU
Closing Plenary of the Committee of the Whole
Ontumetse Ontumetse, Botswana, Co-Chair of Cluster C
Sara Elkhouly, Egypt, Co-Chair of Cluster B
Joyelle Clarke, Chair, Committee of the Whole
Sidsel Bjøl, EU
Romy Sonia Tincopa Grados, Peru
Lagi Toribau, Vanuatu
Valentina Sierra Domínguez, Uruguay
Senimili Nakora, Fiji
Delegates from Fiji and Vanuatu
Around the Venue
Women's Action on Silencing Gendered Language
