A Call for Global Unity: Shaping a Sustainable Future for All
A World in Crisis Demands Collective Action
Your Excellencies, distinguished leaders, and friends, we gather in the beautiful land of Kenya, a nation that has embraced the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for over five decades. As we convene for the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), we stand at a crossroads, facing environmental challenges that threaten our very existence.
Welcome to Nairobi, the environmental capital of the world, where decisions are made that will shape the future of our planet. Here, at UNEA-7, we aim to build upon our shared history of unity and success, not for mere symbolism, but to drive a sustainable future and provide solutions that are essential for a resilient Earth.
But here's where it gets controversial: why should we care about these solutions? Well, every nation, every city, every business, and every individual stands to gain from a stable climate, thriving biodiversity, healthy lands, and a pollution-free planet. The environment is not an optional extra; it is the bedrock upon which peace, prosperity, and economic stability are built.
When we neglect this foundation, we jeopardize our future, our economies, and our societies. This is a harsh reality, but one we must face head-on.
The three leadership dialogues we hold today and tomorrow emphasize this point. Human health and planetary health are intertwined. Economic prosperity, business success, and planetary health are all interconnected. The stability of our financial systems relies on a healthy planet. An economy that depletes its natural resources ultimately undermines its own stability.
The seventh edition of UNEP's Global Environment Outlook, released earlier this week, reinforces this message. It reveals the heavy toll environmental challenges have taken on human, economic, and planetary well-being, claiming millions of lives and costing trillions of dollars annually. If we continue down this path of fossil fuel reliance, resource extraction, and environmental destruction, the damages will only worsen, impacting global GDP, claiming more lives, exacerbating inequality, and depleting the natural resources that sustain our economies and businesses.
However, the report also offers a glimmer of hope. It reminds us that another future is within our grasp. By investing in a stable climate, healthy nature, fertile lands, and a pollution-free planet, we can enjoy significant economic gains, prevent millions of premature deaths, lift countless people out of poverty and hunger, achieve greater equity and climate justice, and so much more.
Reinforcing environmental action is not a luxury; it is a necessity for growth and justice.
Excellencies, this Assembly is about making decisions that improve lives globally. It's about choosing a path that advances our national interests today while safeguarding the interests of future generations. It's about proving that multilateralism can still deliver solutions in a world that desperately needs them.
To achieve this, we must carefully balance the advantages of development and technology with the avoidance of their unwanted side effects. These side effects can be deadly and disruptive: extreme weather, droughts, degraded nature, unproductive land, toxic air, and more. They are becoming more frequent and intense, threatening to undo the progress we've made in human development.
And this is the part most people miss: no single government can tackle these issues alone. The response must be collaborative, spanning sectors, borders, societies, and financial systems globally.
That's why UNEA-7 represents a diverse range of stakeholders: business and industry, children and youth, farmers, Indigenous Peoples, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, the scientific community, women, workers, and trade unions. We also have the Multilateral Environmental Agreements and their leaders here, working together to strengthen action across environmental challenges.
Multilateralism has already shown its strength at this UNEA, with resolutions on safeguarding coral reefs, managing minerals and metals sustainably, and addressing issues like sargassum seaweed blooms. These resolutions, which Member States will now review, demonstrate the power of cooperation.
In a world marked by geopolitical fractures and environmental crises, multilateralism must prove its worth. Here in Nairobi, the global community has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to deliver when it matters most. From the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol, which healed the ozone layer, to the ongoing negotiations on plastic and the birth of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution, UNEP and UNEA have shown that cooperation across borders and differences is not only possible but delivers tangible results.
So, let us look beyond the storms and fix our gaze on the horizon. Let us envision a future where we secure a stable climate, a clean and healthy environment, and a pollution-free world that benefits every nation, every person, and every future generation.
The journey ahead will be challenging and lengthy, but delay will only make the task more daunting. Every year we postpone ambitious, science-guided decisions, the cost of inaction rises. The human catastrophe deepens, and the window for solutions narrows.
Excellencies, the world is watching. It expects signals of determination and solidarity from this Assembly. It expects the multilateral system to function effectively, even as we strive to improve it. The world expects us to align our words with actions, to protect the most vulnerable from the impacts of climate change and environmental crises.
Let us ensure that when history reflects on this Assembly, it will be remembered as a turning point where we chose to act boldly, at the scale these crises demand. The future of our planet and its people depends on it.
