Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme

A/RES/77/168View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 18gReport of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme, published in 2022.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2015–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/209

2024A/RES/79/209Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeLatestCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/168Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/208Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeCompare with previous version
2020A/RES/74/222Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeCompare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/260Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment ProgrammeCompare with previous version

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What subjects does this mandate have?

3 topics

Capacity Building Environment Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

25 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the holding of the resumed fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi from 28 February to 2 March 2022, and the first special session of the United Nations Environment Assembly for the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme, held in Nairobi on 3 and 4 March 2022, also welcomes the report on the resumed session and the resolutions and decisions contained therein, and calls for their full implementation;

Looks forward to the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, to be held in Nairobi from 26 February to 1 March 2024 and to be chaired by Morocco, and recommends the participation of the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Economic and Social Council at the sixth session, in line with the spirit of integration and universality of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Welcomes the decision by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its resumed fifth session, in its resolution 5/14 of 2 March 2022, to convene an intergovernmental negotiating committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, which could include both binding and voluntary approaches, based on a comprehensive approach that addresses the full life cycle of plastic, taking into account, among other things, the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, as well as national circumstances and capabilities, underscores the importance of securing an ambitious international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, while acknowledging that some legal obligations arising out of a new instrument will require capacity-building and technical and financial assistance in order to be effectively implemented by developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and welcomes the commitment made by ministers during the 2022 high-level political forum on sustainable development to actively follow up on the decision by engaging in the intergovernmental negotiating committee with the ambition of completing its work by the end of 2024;

Also welcomes the decision by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its resumed fifth session, in its resolution 5/8 of 2 March 2022, to establish a science-policy panel to contribute further to the sound management of chemicals and waste and to prevent pollution, and further welcomes resolution 5/11 of 2 March 2022 of the United Nations Environment Assembly, entitled “Enhancing circular economy as a contribution to achieving sustainable consumption and production”;

Further welcomes the adoption of resolution 5/5 of 2 March 2022, entitled “Nature-based solutions for supporting sustainable development”, which provides a multilaterally agreed definition of nature-based solutions as actions to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use and manage natural or modified terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems which address social, economic and environmental challenges effectively and adaptively, while simultaneously providing human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience and biodiversity benefits, and recalls that this concept is cognizant of and in harmony with the concept of ecosystem-based approaches identified under the Convention on Biological Diversity and other management and conservation approaches carried out under existing national policy and legislative frameworks and established under relevant multilateral environmental agreements;

Welcomes the adoption of resolution 5/12 of 2 March 2022, entitled “Environmental aspects of minerals and metals management”;

Also welcomes the adoption of resolution 5/13 of 2 March 2022, entitled “Due regard to the principle of equitable geographical distribution, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 101 of the Charter of the United Nations”;

Reiterates the ministerial declaration entitled “Strengthening actions for nature to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”, adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its resumed fifth session, in which it reaffirms that a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is important for the enjoyment of human rights and for sustainable development in all its dimensions, in an integrated and balanced manner, and that the well-being of humanity depends on nature and hence on our ability to sustainably use, restore and protect the ecosystem functions and services that it provides for poverty eradication, resilience, our health, our economies and ultimately our existence;

Welcomes the political declaration adopted by the United Nations Environment Assembly at its first special session for the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme and pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/333 of 30 August 2019, and acknowledges the 50-year contribution of the Programme in supporting a worldwide effort to overcome the planet’s biggest environmental challenges;

Reaffirms the importance of enhanced coordination within the United Nations system to promote a balanced integration of the environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainable development;

Reiterates the importance for the United Nations Environment Programme, in accordance with its mandate, working with the wider United Nations development system, to adopt and mainstream a more climate- and environment-responsive approach into its programmes and strategic plans, where appropriate, as well as in cooperation frameworks, or equivalent planning frameworks, and its policy advice to programme countries, in accordance with national development policies, plans, priorities and needs, including supporting programme countries that are parties to the Paris Agreement in its implementation;

Calls upon Member States to mainstream the environmental dimension of sustainable development into national policies, strategies and planning, including but not limited to supporting the capacity-building of relevant authorities, taking into account national circumstances, in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda;

Encourages Member States and other stakeholders to advance transformative and systemic changes and policies that address several environmental, economic and social challenges simultaneously, rechannelling financial flows to serve the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals through innovative, holistic approaches that truly value nature;

Calls upon Member States to continue to pursue the ambition to support environmental protection and the means of its implementation, including through global partnerships and by enabling a sustainable future for our planet and addressing urgent social, economic and environmental challenges;

Welcomes the continued commitment of the United Nations Environment Assembly to contributing to the effective implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda in an integrated manner, as reflected in its resolutions 2/5 of 27 May 2016 and 3/3 of 6 December 2017 on the contributions of the United Nations Environment Assembly to the high-level political forum on sustainable development;

Commends the President and the Bureau of the Economic and Social Council for supporting and facilitating the effective integration of the contributions of the United Nations Environment Assembly into the preparation, work and proceedings of, and the participation of the President of the Environment Assembly in, the high-level political forum on sustainable development under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council;

Encourages the President of the United Nations Environment Assembly to continue to convey the main messages agreed upon by the Environment Assembly at its sessions during the high-level political forum on sustainable development under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, as appropriate, taking into account the integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda, as well as General Assembly resolutions 67/290 of 9 July 2013 and 70/299 of 29 July 2016;

Welcomes the contributions of the United Nations Environment Assembly to the lead-up and inputs to, and meetings of, the high-level political forum on sustainable development under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council in 2022, and looks forward to further contributions to the high-level political forum under the auspices of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council in 2023;

Reiterates that capacity-building and technology support for developing countries in environment-related fields are important components of the work of the United Nations Environment Programme, and in this regard calls for the continued and focused implementation of the Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity-building adopted by the Programme;

Welcomes the adoption of resolution 5/3 of 2 March 2022, in which the United Nations Environment Assembly reaffirmed that the objective of the Global Environment Outlook process was to keep the world environmental situation under review in order to periodically inform and support collective and individual action by Member States and by stakeholders, while strengthening the science-policy interface of the United Nations Environment Programme, and requested the Executive Director to undertake the preparation of the seventh edition of the Global Environment Outlook as an intergovernmental expert-led assessment;

Recognizes the devastating global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created new and serious health, socioeconomic and environmental challenges, compounded existing ones, especially in developing countries, and undermined our common efforts to eradicate poverty and achieve the 2030 Agenda, and urges support for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery that protects the planet, stimulates sustainable consumption and production patterns, including through sustainable economic models and the promotion of life cycle approaches, promotes the One Health approach, among other holistic approaches, revitalizes our economies and creates decent and sustainable jobs and makes real progress in eradicating poverty, while enhancing our future resilience to similar challenges;

Underlines the importance of universal membership in the governing body of the United Nations Environment Programme, and invites all Member States and members of specialized agencies that have not yet done so to become accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme;

Reaffirms the need to ensure the sustainability, predictability and stability of the funding of the United Nations Environment Programme governing body, and reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to make proposals, as appropriate, and takes note of the invitation to consider the level of regular-budget funding required to help the United Nations Environment Programme to fulfil its mandate, taking into account the Programme’s approved work programme and General Assembly resolution 2997 (XXVII);

Recalls the request by the United Nations Environment Assembly to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme to provide options to secure the participation of developing countries in the Environment Assembly;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its seventy-ninth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme”.

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