World leaders come together at UN Environment Assembly

NAIROBI: More than 4700 head of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron, ministers from different countries,
business leaders, senior UN officials and representatives from civil society gather at the fourth UN Environment Assembly
(UNEA), held in Nairobi from March 11 to March 15.
The assembly, this year, will consider new policies, technologies and innovative solutions for achieving sustainable
consumption and production. Outcomes from the meeting will set the global environmental agenda and boost chances of
success in the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda.
Ahead of the assembly, UN Environment’s Acting Executive Director, Joyce Msuya, appealed to nations to step up and start
delivering real change.
“Time is running short. We are past pledging and politicking. We are past commitments with little accountability. What’s at stake
is life, and society, as the majority of us know it and enjoy it today,” she wrote in a policy letter.
Raising concerns over the growing throwaway culture, Msuya said, “It’s clear that we need to transform the way our economies
work, and the way we value the things that we consume. The goal is to break the link between growth and increased resource
use, and end our throwaway culture.