By Andrew Wasike
NAIROBI (AA) – As the third session of the UN Environment Assembly came to a close on Wednesday, world leaders committed themselves to a pollution-free planet.
In closing remarks Edgar Gutierrez, president of the 2017 UN Environment Assembly, said if the world commits to a pollution-free future then “we will not only save millions of lives but the planet too”.
“The science we have seen at this assembly shows we have been so bad at looking after our planet that we have very little room to make more mistakes. With the promises made here, we are sending a powerful message that we will listen to the science, change the way we consume and produce, and tackle pollution in all its forms across the globe,” he said.
For the first time at a UN Environment Assembly, environment ministers issued a declaration after passing 13 resolutions.
The declaration said nations would honor efforts to prevent, mitigate and manage the pollution of air, land, soil, freshwater and oceans which harms health, societies, ecosystems, economies and security.
“As addressing pollution is a crucial element for achieving the sustainable development goals, we will advocate for this declaration in all relevant fora, including at the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and we will follow up on its implementation at our next session in 2019,” over 100 ministers in the joint declaration.
Over 4,000 delegates were in Kenya for the three-day summit at the United Nations Environment offices based in Nairobi.
