EU Statement – UN General Assembly 2nd Committee: UN Environment Assembly Report
Chair,
I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.
The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia, align themselves with this statement.
The EU and its Member States are glad to be joining consensus today on the resolution on the “Report of the UNEA”. We would like to thank the facilitator, Mr. Jason Tan of Singapore, and UNEP for all their work, as well as all delegations involved in the negotiation process for their engagement.
We believe that this resolution sends an important message on the need to mainstream the environment in the UN system. It should mobilise Member States, the UN system and other stakeholders in view of the important milestones ahead of us. These include: the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution; the seventh edition of the Global Environment Outlook; the establishment of a science-policy panel on chemicals, waste and pollution prevention; and next year’s seventh session of UNEA.
The EU and its Member States also believe that there is a strong link between the work done at the UNEA and the discussions at the UN Climate Change Conferences. The “Dubai Consensus”, for instance, was a decisive step, eight years after COP21 and the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement, and at a time when the urgency of climate change requires us to accelerate our collective ambition during this critical decade. Since then, the EU and its Member states have been working with determination to implement it.
We regret that no consensus was reached in this resolution on the reference in the United Nations Treaty Series to the Paris Agreement, the first universal, timeless and legally binding agreement to combat climate change. The Paris Agreement remains a legal agreement in its own right and should not be ranked alongside others. This international treaty, which has been ratified by 195 member states and is listed in the United Nations Treaty Series, must be fully implemented, particularly with a view to COP30. We hope that in the future we will be able to reach a consensus, because if we are to achieve our climate and environment objectives, we must remain united.
Chair,
The European Union remains committed to support the essential work of the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Environment Assembly.
I thank you.
* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.