A first step to mobilise global action to beat pollution collectively was done on 4-6 December 2017 at the third session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA3) in Nairobi, Kenya. Created in 2012, during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development ("Rio+20"), UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, which meets on a biennial basis to set priorities for global environmental policies and develop international environmental law.

the Third session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA3), 4-6 December 2017, Nairobi, Kenya

Under the theme "Towards a pollution-free planet", UNEA3 gathered over 4,300 delegates from more than 170 Member States, 94 inter-governmental organizations, civil society, private sector and the scientific community. It succeeded in identifying and ensuring overarching commitment to implement concrete actions to tackle pollution.

Global leaders adopted a Ministerial Declaration and 11 Resolutions which will guide national policies and international cooperation in the fight against pollution. The former is a political declaration on pollution, alerting on the negative impacts of pollution, and outlining concrete actions that Ministers committed to undertake to prevent, mitigate and manage the pollution of air, land and soil, freshwater and oceans. The latter are decisions which will guide the work of UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and all relevant stakeholders, including the EU, on air pollution, marine litter, soil pollution, water quality, biodiversity, armed conflicts/terrorism, lead toxicity and pollution, and innovative solutions for SDGs implementation, as well as links to the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

The EU actively participated in the negotiations of these documents and led the adoption of the EU’s flagship proposal for a resolution on "environment and health" which addresses the close links between environment and health in a cross cutting manner. On this theme the EU hosted a ministerial breakfast to facilitate discussion between Ministers on addressing the negative impacts of pollution in an innovative way. Together with UNEP, the EU also organised a side event on "The Role of Circular Economy in the transition "Towards a Pollution-Free Planet" which highlighted key lessons learned and recommendations on how a circular economy can address resource constraints and generate economic opportunities for a pollution free world.

To translate words into practice, the EU joined other governments and stakeholders in committing to undertake concrete actions to fight pollution. Ahead of UNEA3, the EU announced 20 bold commitments to tackle pollution in all its forms, which included: policy initiatives on plastics and waste; funding programmes to fight climate change, to tackle marine pollution and chemicals and waste, to promote sustainable energy and green economy; and to link research with innovation activities (http://web.unep.org/environmentassembly/eu-announces-20-beatpollution-commitments-ahead-un-environment-assembly). Nearly 2.5 million voluntary pledges to beat pollution were collected also by citizens from all over the globe. In a press release, UNEP stated that "if all commitments are met, 1.49 billion people will breathe clean air, one-third of the world’s coastlines will be clean, and US$18.6 billion of investment will come online."

The private sector, the civil society and the scientific community also played a key role at UNEA. The private sector displayed solutions and technology to fight pollution at the Innovative Solutions Forum Expo. Youth was seen a true force of change, but in need to be better educated and financially supported.

So, the point is, what can you do to contribute to "beat pollution"?

• Document yourself by reading the outcome documents of the Assembly (see weblink below)
• Explore modalities to align your future programmes/policies with the decisions and actions taken at UNEA and integrate pollution considerations in EU action notably on health, clean energy, water, sustainable mobility and cities, green growth and jobs.
• Raise awareness across your counterparts, including partner governments, implementing partners, key stakeholders (private sector, civil society and the youth) and contribute to behaviour change

More information:

Final un-edited texts of Ministerial Declaration, resolutions and decisions are available at:

https://papersmart.unon.org/resolution/index

Recording of the various sessions, including leadership dialogues and side events, can be found at the UNEP youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/UnepAndYou

3-minute video on UNEA3 – all you need to know

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Medhcmat004&feature=youtu.be