UNEA 7 Newsletter

 

Welcome to Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future's UNEA 7 Newsletter   Dear Sustainable Development Friends and Colleagues, This Seventh Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) Special Edition of Network 2030 is made possible as a result of SF's newest initiative to 'Enhance Civil Society and Other Stakeholder Engagement at UNEA7 and in the 2027 Review of the 2030 Agenda,' in partnership with the Civil Society Unit of UNEP and the support of the European Union. This issue highlights a range of activities that we hope will enhance your participation at UNEA 7, 8 Dec 2025 - 12 Dec 2025 at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Kenya, and the related events that immediately precede it - both in person and for those of you attending virtually. You can also find UNEA 7 events on the UN Environment YouTube channel. Stakeholder Forum In-person Events at UNEA 7: Tuesday, December 2nd, (17:00-18:30): In the Green Room (Conference Room 14 - CR14): As part of the Enhance Civil Society and Other Stakeholder Engagement at UNEA7 and in the 2027 Review of the 2030 Agenda initiative, Stakeholder Forum has produced a draft discussion paper for engaging stakeholders in the upcoming 2027 review of the 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals, focusing on the environmental SDGs. SF Fellow Felix Dodds will present the discussion document and seek your suggestions on how to improve it. We have launched a web portal for stakeholders to submit comments and ideas, which can be found here. Please contribute to help us make it better. Thursday, December 4th, (09:30-11:00): In the Green Room (Conference Room 14 - CR14), a Capacity Building Workshop for new stakeholder delegates - and those wishing for a refresher - on understanding UNEA and its processes, how to engage with government representatives, and how to influence policy making. It will be conducted by Felix Dodds, Stakeholder Forum Fellow. Wednesday, December 3rd to 5th & 8th to 10th (10:00 to 10:45): After the morning Major Groups and Other Stakeholder briefing, Felix Dodds will be available to help new stakeholder delegates with guidance you might need to engage effectively at UNEA 7. Sunday, December 7th (09:30 to 09:45): UNON Nairobi - Conference Room 1 (CR1) and online on the UN Environment YouTube channel, an introduction to 'A Pocket Guide to Environment and Sustainable Development Governance.' In partnership with the Civil Society Unit of UNEP, Stakeholder Forum has produced the Third Edition of the guide. Stakeholder Forum Chair Louis Meuleman and Fellow Felix Dodds will introduce delegates to the guide and explain how stakeholders can comment on it. We need your input, and you can now read it and comment on the first draft here. Additional Content for you Clustering Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the Triple Planetary Crisis of Pollution, Biodiversity, and Climate Change In addition to the in-person events and stakeholder consultation opportunities offered to you above, Stakeholder Forum recently published a report, and a series of papers, around the idea of Clustering Multilateral Environmental Agreements, focusing on the Triple Planetary Crisis of Pollution, Biodiversity, and Climate Change, that you might find useful for your time at UNEA 7 and your work in general. It is a contribution to the UN80 Initiative, established to rebuild multilateralism for this time and to ensure that the United Nations is fit for purpose, 'UN80: Reform of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements – Around the Triple Planetary Crisis of Pollution, Biodiversity, and Climate Change,' highlights the idea of clustering the environmental conventions. Edited by SF Fellow Felix Dodds and journalist Chris Spence, the report includes reflections by Liz Dowdeswell, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme from 1992 to 1998. Circulated to member states in Nairobi, New York, and Capitals, it recognizes that the world is in one of its most difficult periods and that multilateralism is under threat - not just the ones the UN refers to as the Triple Planetary Crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, but also migration and displacement, conflict, and the emergence of many new technologies that will impact our societies in ways we can only imagine. The report focuses on the opportunity to complete the work of former UNEP Executive Directors Klaus Töpfer and Achim Steiner on ‘clustering’ the UN treaties on pollution (chemicals and waste), biodiversity, and climate change. It also examines how the relevant science bodies for these three clusters can cooperate more effectively, and proposes that the Global Environment Ministers Forum be re-established to meet in the year the UN Environment Assembly does not convene. In addition, the report was discussed at a workshop of the Friends of Governance for Sustainable Development. You will find a summary of the outcomes from that workshop in the report, and a video explaining MEA clustering is available here. Read more about the report here, where you can download it in full, and download each of the contributions as individual papers from the Stakeholder Forum website, or via the links below. §   Paper 1 – Clustering the Environmental Conventions (C. Spence and F. Dodds) §   Paper 2 – The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, etc. (M. Stanley-Jones) §   Paper 3 – Toward Enhanced Synergies Among Biodiversity‑Related MEAs (H-M. Schally) §   Paper 4 – Clustering Climate Conventions (S. Azores) §   Paper 5 – Better use of Expertise in Navigating the Polycrisis (P. Bridgewater and R. Kim) §   Paper 6 – UN80 – Is it Time for the Re-Emergence of the Global Ministerial Environment Forum (J-G. Strandenaes) §   Paper 7 – Breaking the Deadlock – Ideas for Advancing a Global Treaty on Plastics Pollution (C. Boljkovac) §   Paper 8 – Financing the Triple Planetary Crisis of Chemicals and Waste, Biodiversity and Climate Change (Craig Boljkovac, Hugo-Maria Schally, et.al.)   The Global Plastics Negotiations Stakeholder Forum’s Newest Governance Paper, ‘Breaking the Deadlock – Ideas for Advancing a Global Treaty on Plastics Pollution,’ by Craig Boljkovac, is Now Available.   That’s all for this edition! We hope you find our UNEA 7 Special Edition to be a valuable contribution to UNEA 7, and do please let us know what you think by writing to us at info@stakeholderforum.org The Stakeholder Forum Team   You received the Network 2030 newsletter because you subscribed to our mailing list, registered for one of Stakeholder Forum's webinars, a UN side event, or a stakeholder training workshop. 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