Environment Minister Ana Paula Chantre Luna de Carvalho Pereira led the Angolan delegation that attended the Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi from 26 February to 01 March 2024.
Engineer Sianga Abílio, Angola's Ambassador to Kenya and Permanent Representative of Angola to the UN Offices in Nairobi, was part of the Angolan delegation.
The delegation also included the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the National Waste Agency Nelma Caetano, senior officials from the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic, the Ministries of the Environment and Foreign Affairs and the Angolan Embassy in Kenya.
The Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly was convened to debate current environmental issues based on the triple planetary crisis reflected in the event's motto "Effective, Inclusive and Sustainable Multilateral Actions to Tackle Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Pollution", hence the multiplicity of topics to be addressed by the Heads of State and Government expected on 29 February 2024 and 75 Ministers and other delegates from the 193 UN Member States and partner organisations, already present at this working session.
Over five days, delegates to the Sixth UN Environment Assembly were expected to analyse for possible adoption a set of 19 draft resolutions on topics such as Highly Hazardous Pesticides; Combating Sand and Dust Storms; Efforts to Improve the Transition of the Local, Regional and Global Circular Economy, among others.
Delegates will also consider the likely adoption of two proposals for draft decisions on the organisation and internal functioning of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with emphasis on budgetary, administrative and work programme issues, and a draft Ministerial Declaration containing the position of Member States on the main environmental issues of the world.
The opening plenary session of the Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly was chaired by Mrs Leila Benali, Chair of the Six United Nations Environment Assembly and Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Morocco and was attended by the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Forestry of the Republic of Kenya, Soipan Tuya, and the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP Inger Andersen.
The African Group through the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment - AMCEN, said that the theme of this Assembly represents the need to work together to tackle not only the challenges mentioned but also all global environmental challenges, including desertification, land and soil degradation, drought and deforestation.
In the view of the African Environment Ministers, the time calls for true multilateralism for the implementation of different multilateral environmental agreements and the operationalisation of global environmental commitments. They therefore called on UNEP and the International Community to show solidarity with Africa and support efforts to tackle environmental challenges, as well as considering that this is the right time to fulfill global financial pledges in order to provide adequate means of implementation to enable African countries to fulfill their commitments under various multilateral environmental agreements.
The programme of the Sixth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) included the setting up of a working group to improve the draft documents submitted for adoption; the holding of three Leadership Dialogue panels, a High-Level segment in which the Minister of the Environment of the Republic of Angola addressed the plenary, on the theme of UNEA-6; and a dialogue on Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
On the sidelines of the UNEA-6 working sessions, the Angolan delegation was scheduled to take part in a meeting of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment - AMCEN, contacts with various delegations and fact-finding visits to environmental projects in the Republic of Kenya, as part of the strengthening of bilateral cooperation.
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