The Special Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on 3-4 March 2022, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The session was organized within the United Nations Environment Assembly by the Government of Kenya, where the United Nations Environment Programme is based. At the Special Session, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, was represented by the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Kostas Kadis.
The meeting reviewed the achievements of the 50 years of operation of the Programme, as well as its vision for the future, through interventions by Heads of State and government representatives, as well as through high-level dialogues.
In his intervention, Mr. Kadis expressed Cyprus' appreciation to UNEP and the United Nations Environment Assembly for their work in promoting sustainable development at the global level. The Minister stressed the important role played by the organization in developing global initiatives and mobilizing resources to design, develop and implement effective and innovative solutions that address the triple planetary crisis - climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution - while aligning with international law and promoting global security and peace. In particular, Heads of State and representatives of governments around the world expressed their commitment to strengthening the Programme and recognized the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a basic human right.
At the preceding United Nations Environment Assembly, 14 resolutions were adopted to strengthen actions to conserve nature and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Assembly resulted in the unanimous adoption of a Ministerial Declaration to launch processes to conclude the first international legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution. The importance of this commitment, with a 2024 implementation horizon, is evident from the statements of the Executive Director of the Programme, who described it as "the most important multilateral agreement on the environment since the Paris Agreement on climate change".
In the margins of the Convention, Mr. Kadis also held private meetings with the Honorary Consul of Cyprus in Kenya Mr. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka (former Vice President and Foreign Minister of Kenya) and Metropolitan Makarios of Nairobi. During his visit to the Kenya Metropolis site, Mr. Kadis visited the Patriarchal School, the Technical School and the Teachers College, and together with the Metropolitan, distributed food to children of the primary school, which operates on the same site. Mr. Kadis praised the humanitarian and educational work carried out by the Metropolis of Kenya, and assured Metropolitan Makarios that the Government of Cyprus will continue to support this work.
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