First-Ever United Nations Environment Assembly to Convene in Nairobi 23-27 June 2014 (w/ video)

The first-ever meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) will convene at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya from 23-27 June. The UNEA will be a historic moment, as it is the first assembly with universal membership to bring environmental issues to the forefront, thereby contributing to a strengthened environmental governance in line with Rio+20outcomes. The Assembly will be providing political guidance and leadership to the environmental dimension of sustainable development.

UNEA "symbolizes a fundamental change of scope as the new body plays its newly defined role of serving as the world’s authoritative voice on environmental matters across the UN System."
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner

Replacing UNEP’s previous Governing Council, the assembly will convene every two years to give all of the 193 United Nations Member States, Observer States and other stakeholders the ability to participate in discussions and decision-making on issues that affect the state of the environment and global sustainability. 

The 1st UNEA deliberations will conclude with a High-Level Segment led by UN Secretary-General   Ban Ki-moon and President of the General Assembly John Ashe. It will comprise: a strategic briefing on the state of the environment by UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner; ministerial plenaries on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), and the illegal trade in wildlife.

UNEA will convene two Symposia that address two key aspects of environmental sustainability, the environmental rule of law and on the role of Finance in the Green Economy.
 

In addition, during the UNEA week, more than 40 special and side events, fora and high level dialogues will take place at UNEP's headquarters, covering a range of issues, such as: climate change, gender and the environment, green jobs, air quality, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the sound management of chemicals, among other topics.