The UN Environment Assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, have gathered in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4-6 December 2017 under the overarching theme of pollution. The third session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-3) opened on Monday at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON). Dr. Shahriar Hossain, Secretary General and Siddika Sultana, Executive Director of ESDO participated in UNEA3.

After adopting the agenda and organization of work, delegates heard opening statements before convening the Committee of the Whole (COW) to review the status of decisions and resolutions to be forwarded to the Assembly for adoption. At a parallel plenary session, country representatives presented national statements. In the afternoon, delegates convened informal consultations to move forward on outstanding decisions and resolutions, but did not manage to reach agreement on all draft texts. The COW plenary convened late into the night.

The UN Environment Assembly has the universal membership of all 193 UN Member States and the full involvement of UN organizations, specialized agencies, inter-governmental organizations, civil society and the private sector. In bringing together these varied communities, the Assembly provides a groundbreaking platform for leadership on global environmental policy.
This year’s Assembly is sustainable and climate-neutral, and it has featured side events that confront pollution in its various forms. The Assembly aims to deliver a number of tangible commitments to end the pollution of our air, land, waterways, and oceans, and to safely manage our chemicals and waste. These include the following:

• A political declaration on pollution, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, to signal that humanity can work together to eliminate the threat of pollution and the destruction of our planet
• Resolutions and decisions adopted by Member States to address specific dimensions of pollution
• Voluntary commitments by Governments, private sector entities and civil society organizations to clean up the planet
• The #BeatPollution Pledge, a collection of individual commitments to clean up the planet

The Assembly is led by its President and a Bureau. They are elected by all Member States and represent Ministers of Environment from around the world. The Assembly is prepared throughout the year by a Committee of Permanent Representatives which is based in Nairobi.
Learn More: http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/assembly