By Abbas Nazil
The Seventh UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) has opened with a strong call for unity and urgent action as global leaders, ministers, youth delegates and stakeholders gather in Nairobi to negotiate solutions aimed at strengthening planetary resilience.
Addressing participants, the Assembly’s President emphasized that the world is at a “decisive moment,” with communities everywhere facing the combined pressures of climate change, biodiversity and nature loss, land degradation, pollution and growing waste.
He stressed that the success of UNEA-7 will depend not only on the adoption of strong outcomes but also on the principles guiding negotiations, including transparency, trust, compromise and inclusiveness.
This year’s Assembly is deliberating 15 draft resolutions covering emerging and escalating environmental concerns such as protecting rapidly disappearing glaciers, managing massive seaweed blooms, and reducing the environmental footprint of artificial intelligence.
Although UNEA resolutions are not legally binding, they have historically helped build consensus and laid foundations for landmark global environmental agreements.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen warned that environmental pressures are accelerating faster than before and urged delegates to push for deeper and more ambitious solutions.
She noted that global temperatures are on track to exceed the 1.5°C threshold within the next decade, with worsening consequences for every incremental rise, while ecosystems continue to vanish, land degradation expands, dust storms intensify, and pollutants contaminate air, water and soils.
Andersen also highlighted the added complexity posed by geopolitical tensions but reaffirmed the common human desire for a stable climate, clean environment and pollution-free world, calling these aspirations universal.
UNEA-7 follows preparatory forums, including the Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum, the Cities and Regions Summit and the Youth Environment Assembly, which brought together more than 1,000 youth delegates to adopt the Global Youth Declaration outlining young people’s priorities for the Assembly.
Throughout the week, UNEA-7 will feature three high-level thematic discussions examining the links between environmental sustainability, global finance, human health and industrial transformation.
Heads of state and government, including Kenya’s President William Ruto, will address the Assembly during the high-level segment later in the week, reinforcing the political weight behind global environmental negotiations.
UNEP is also set to launch the seventh edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7) on December 9, providing a comprehensive assessment of planetary health, and will announce five environmental champions recognized as the 2025 Champions of the Earth.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Dr. Deborah Mlongo Barasa, said that building a resilient planet requires more than protecting ecosystems, calling for efficient resource use, inclusive societies, and economic systems that respect planetary boundaries.
She added that Kenya stands ready to collaborate with governments, civil society, academia, local communities and the private sector, emphasizing that partnership is now “absolutely essential” in addressing global environmental challenges.
UNEA-7 hosts more than 6,000 registered participants from over 180 countries, including 79 ministers and 35 vice ministers, under the theme “Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet,” reflecting the Assembly’s ambition to chart a transformative path forward.
