UN Environment Assembly UNEA-6 Kicks Off in Nairobi Attended by 5,000 Delegates
Written by Catheryne Ooko on February 26, 2024
The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) kicked off at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi on Tuesday.
UNEA-6, spanning five days, stands as one of the world’s paramount decision-making bodies concerning the environment, with a core objective of fostering harmony between humanity and nature while enhancing the well-being of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Addressing the assembly, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, Soipan Tuya, disclosed that over 5,000 delegates from the 193 United Nations (UN) Member States, including Heads of State and Government, are slated to participate in the 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly.
“More than 5,000 delegates from the 193 UN Member States, including Heads of State and Government, have convened for this year’s 6th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), the preeminent UN decision-making body on environmental issues, at the UN Complex in Gigiri,” Tuya announced.
Leading the Kenyan delegation, CS Tuya will spearhead discussions on critical environmental matters, culminating in a Ministerial Declaration spotlighting pressing issues, with the Plastic Treaty topping the agenda.
“The 5-day UNEA-6 will delve into a wide array of topics under the theme, ‘effective, inclusive, and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution’, addressing the triple planetary crisis, and culminating in a Ministerial Declaration outlining the path forward,” she emphasized.
This sixth edition of UNEA follows a previous event held in Nairobi from February 28 to March 2, 2022, which concluded with the adoption of 14 resolutions aimed at halting the progression of the triple planetary crisis and advancing actions for nature to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
Every two years, all 193 UN Member States convene to collectively address critical environmental challenges facing the planet.
