This year’s United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi made a number of important decisions on a wide range of international environmental topics. These included, in particular, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals, climate action, sustainable chemicals management, the fight against poaching, marine conservation, and sustainable consumption and production patterns.
State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry, Jochen Flasbarth, who led the German delegation, explained: "UNEA made many significant decisions. I have never before experienced a level of optimism in Nairobi like the one over the course of the last week. UNEA has established itself as a key environmental policy platform for the international community. It thus stands alongside a series of successful summits held over the last few years including one on sustainable development in New York and the climate change conference in Paris."
More than 120 environment ministers and a large number of representatives from environmental organisations, industry and the scientific community came together in Nairobi for the second session of UNEA from 23 to 27 May to discuss their most urgent environmental problems and agree on paths toward a common approach towards resolving them. The role of environmental policy in protecting human health was among the issues that took centre stage at the event. The consensus was reached that precautionary environmental conservation measures can prevent a great number of premature deaths globally. Other important issues of the negotiations included the financing of environmental protection and climate action measures and activities to combat marine litter.
Towards the end of the event, discussions were overshadowed by an intense and lengthy debate between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries about sending a UN Environment Programme assessment commission to the Gaza Strip. The commission is to assess the environmental situation of the area following the armed conflicts of the past years. No decision was taken on this point. Germany, however, was involved in the successful passing of a resolution on environmental protection in armed conflicts such as that in Ukraine.
The next UNEA will be held in Nairobi in 2017.