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By Baboloki Semele
The resumed fifth session of the Environment Assembly (“UNEA-5.2”) will convene in Nairobi from 28 February 2022 to 2 March 2022 and in addition, a special session of the Environment Assembly to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (“UNEP@50”) will be held on 3 and 4 March 2022, back to back with the resumed 5th session, under the leadership of the Presidency and the Bureau of the sixth session of the Environment Assembly hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) brings together representatives of the 193 Member States of the UN, businesses, civil society, and other stakeholders to agree on policies to address the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. The overall theme for UNEA-5 is “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Briefing the media today, (10 February 2022) UNEP’s head of communications Daniel Cooney noted that chemicals and waste management, marine litter, and a green recovery from COVID-19 are some of the issues the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) will address when it convenes for the second part of its fifth session.
Environment ministers are also expected to adopt a declaration on strengthening actions for nature to achieve the SDGs. He pointed out that the theme highlights the pivotal role that nature plays in human lives and in social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development.
He says UNEA-5 is an opportunity for the Member States to share best practices for sustainability, as it will create momentum for governments to build on and catalyse impact on multilateral environmental efforts to protect and restore the natural world on which economies and societies depend. Cooney says looking ahead to the resumed session of UNEA.5, the UNEA President has re-initiated the consultations process on a ministerial declaration.
According to Cooney, UNEP@50 is a time to reflect on the past and envision the future as it provides an opportunity to reinvigorate international cooperation and spur collective action to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste., and he emphasized that no country or continent can solve these global crises alone, because each nation has a crucial role to play in protecting people and the planet in innovative ways. As of current, 63-member states have registered to attend the event physically in Nairobi, whereas 34 opted for virtual participation.
For his part, Mohamed Atani, head of communications and outreach, for the Africa office noted that the two critical global environment meetings take place, a few months after the close of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow which made important progress in a number of areas.
And as Africa prepares to host Cop 27, it is envisaged that the resumed 5th session of the Environment Assembly and the fiftieth celebration of the United Nations Environment Programme, will set the momentum and give countries an opportunity to revisit and strengthen their 2030 targets by the end of 2022 to align them with the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals, and in addition, give a platform for nations to consider further actions to curb potent non-carbon dioxide gases, such as methane, and includes language emphasizing the need to phase down unabated coal and phase-out fossil fuel subsidies.
Atani told the press that African countries being Algeria, Morocco, Malawi, and Uganda have shown interest in assuming the UBEA presidency, and an internal caucus is ongoing to find a way of having a single African nominee.
UNEP’s director of ecosystem division, Susan Gardner told the media that UNEA-5.2 will consider draft resolutions on several topics, such as marine/plastic litter; nature-based solutions and biodiversity; chemicals and minerals; green recovery and circular economy; and organizational and administrative matters.
On marine/plastic litter, Rwanda and Peru submitted a draft resolution on establishing an intergovernmental negotiating committee to negotiate a legally binding global agreement on plastic pollution. The agreement would aim to reduce the discharge of plastics into the environment by covering all stages of the plastic life cycle and by adopting a circular economy approach to plastics. Japan also put forward a draft resolution on establishing an intergovernmental negotiating committee for an international legally binding instrument to address marine plastic pollution, with the goal of completing its work by UNEA-6.
On nature-based solutions, a resolution on Sustainable Lake Management, drafted by Indonesia and co-sponsored by Pakistan, addresses protection, restoration, and wise use of lakes with respect to water quality, erosion and sedimentation, and aquatic biodiversity; integration of lake management into national and regional development plans and policies; and development of international networking and collaboration for sustainable lake management.
A draft resolution from the EU supported by Costa Rica, Colombia, and Pakistan, addresses nature-based solutions for supporting sustainable development. A draft resolution on sustainable nitrogen management was submitted by Sri Lanka. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Senegal, and South Sudan has proposed a resolution addressing the animal welfare-environment-sustainable development nexus.
On chemicals and minerals, a draft resolution from Switzerland calls for a comprehensive and ambitious new instrument to promote and support the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020. By this text, governments would decide to extend the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening for the Chemicals Cluster for five years, and they would request the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to identify possible international actions to address issues of concern, particularly regarding risks posed by lead, cadmium and arsenic pollution.
A draft resolution from Costa Rica, Ghana, Mali, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, and Uruguay supports establishing a science-policy panel to support action on chemicals, waste, and pollution. This follows a request by UNEA-4 that the UNEP Executive Director prepares an assessment of options for strengthening the science-policy interface.
The resulting assessment examines potential impacts of and outputs from a strengthened SPI for chemicals and waste. Per the draft resolution, an ad hoc open-ended working group would prepare a proposal for establishing the panel. The proposed terms of reference for the working group indicate that it would address: the institutional design of the panel; arrangements for identifying and engaging with experts; procedures for agreeing on the panel’s reports and assessments; and proposals for financing the work of the panel.
Switzerland submitted a draft resolution co-sponsored by Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, and Senegal on mineral resource governance. If adopted, the resolution would mandate an ad hoc open-ended working group with developing recommendations to reduce the environmental impacts of mineral extraction along the full life-cycle of the mine, including processing and refining, and enhancing responsible business practices.
On green recovery, a draft resolution from Mongolia focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure, encouraging Member States to align infrastructure planning and investments with the SDGs and the Paris Agreement to advance green recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic. It encourages the implementation of the International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure and their integration into national policy and legal frameworks.
UNEA-5.2 will also consider three draft resolutions submitted by the African Group on green approaches for sustainable recovery from COVID-19, enhancing circular economy and biodiversity and health, suggesting that UNEP should raise awareness on the linkages between biodiversity loss and the increase in zoonotic diseases; support mitigation of risks posed to human, animal and environmental health; and undertake a global assessment of the linkages between biodiversity and health.
