Nairobi hosts Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly

Over 5,000 delegates from the 193 United Nations Member States, including Heads of State and Government, are expected  to attend this year's 6th United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) at the UN Complex in Gigiri, Nairobi Kenya.

The 5-day UNEA-6 will discuss a wide array of subjects guided by the theme, "effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution", the triple planetary crisis, and conclude with a Ministerial Declaration on the way forward.

One of the main points on the agenda will also be the dramatic increase of wasteful and fuel-intensive plastics, which is feeding the climate crisis. 

Climate scientists argue that over 99% of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels, the substances responsible for 86% of C02 emissions in the last decade. Plastic pollution reinforces the need for a binding Plastics Treaty as well as a Fossil Fuel Treaty that can tackle the root cause of both the plastics pollution crisis and the climate crisis through phasing out oil, gas and coal production.

According to the Kenyan Ministry of the Environment, Kenya is committed to multilateralism and has ratified several Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

This is with a view to strengthening actions and protecting the environment from threats, hazards or danger and for sustainable development.

UNEA-6 comes at the backdrop when the world is grappling with a number of unprecedented environmental challenge, impacting every corner of the planet.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the world’s highest-level decision-making body for environmental matters, is set to address critical issues, focusing on the triple planetary crisis: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.