Outcome of the UN Environment Assembly’s seventh session (Nairobi, 12 december2025)

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the governing body of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and leading global authority on the environment, brought to a close its seventh session at the UN headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 December 2025.

The French delegation, made up of representatives from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, was led by Ambassador for the Environment Barbara Pompili.

The session enabled progress to be made, after tough negotiations. Member States adopted 11 resolutions, which, among other things, entrust UNEP with increased responsibilities regarding pollution linked to the massive influx of sargassum seaweed blooms, and in terms of assessing environmental impacts and taking advantage of opportunities offered by sustainable artificial intelligence.

The political declaration adopted by ministers calls for stronger action and international cooperation to address the triple planetary crisis posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. The role of science was at the heart of the discussions, with the publication of the Global Environment Outlook, Seventh Edition (GEO-7), which aims to inform States’ decision-making. By adopting UNEP’s new strategy for the period up to 2029, the Assembly also confirmed its central role in international environmental governance.

In a difficult international context marked by attacks on multilateralism, these advances are a source of hope, but we cannot be satisfied with them in view of the urgent challenges we face.

France will resolutely continue its efforts to ensure that the international community rises to the challenges. It will make sure that the rule of consensus governing the multilateral environmental system never becomes an excuse for doing nothing.