The sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) took place from 26 February to 1 March 2024 at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. It was preceded by the Open-ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR-6), held from 19–23 February 2024, which helped lay the groundwork for the Assembly. As the world’s top decision-making body on the environment, UNEA provides a unique opportunity for governments, civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector to shape collective environmental policy and action.
UNEA-6 adopted 15 resolutions on various issues, including abating pollution and promoting the sound management of chemicals and waste; halting and reversing the loss of nature while restoring ecosystems; promoting better international environmental governance; and addressing the root causes of the triple planetary crisis.
Alexandra M. Goossens-Ishii of SGI attended OECPR-6 and UNEA-6, where she advocated for various resolutions focusing on nature-based solutions, land degradation, synergies to tackle the triple planetary crisis, climate change and solar radiation management. Some of the draft resolutions were not adopted because of a lack of consensus. One of the draft resolutions proposed research and governance of solar radiation management, or solar geoengineering, a technique that involves injecting chemicals into the stratosphere to partially block sunlight to mask the heating effect of greenhouse gasses. Discussions on this resolution raised fundamental ethical issues, and its withdrawal was a major step in reaffirming the need for a precautionary approach to geoengineering.
In the margin of UNEA-6, Goossens-Ishii also attended an expert workshop organized by PAX for Peace on nature-based solutions for peace. During that workshop, together with Ashanapuri Hertz from SwedBio, she co-facilitated a session to identify what elements from a human rights based approach to climate and biodiversity action could be relevant for the nature-based solutions for peace catalog.
Additionally, on 29 February, Goossens-Ishii spoke in an online side event titled “The Right to a Healthy Environment: Interfaith and Ethical Perspectives,” hosted by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and SGI, among other organizations. She also supported efforts from civil society to raise awareness of the upcoming Summit of the Future eve
