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STORY: UNEP / UNEA OPENING DAY
TRT: 02:32
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 FEBRUARY 2022, NAIROBI, KENYA
28 FEBRUARY 2022, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Various shots, UNEA logo, plastic tap expo, flags
2. SOUNDBITES (English) Espen Barth Eide, President, United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), and Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway:
“We’re getting very close now to an agreement on an internationally, legally binding treaty or instrument to end plastic waste, which is really to take the leakage of plastic into nature, a way to start designing plastics for recycling, actually collect them and recycle it and create a circular economy on plastics. And the idea here is to get the strong mandate from here so we can sit down and negotiate such a treaty.”
3. Wide shot, conference room
4. SOUNDBITES (English) Espen Barth Eide, President, United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), and Minister of Climate and Environment, Norway:
“So, there’s hard work ahead then, and we’re far from done. But I have to say that so far, it has been looking quite good.”
5. Andersen at the podium
6. SOUNDBITES (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
“Species shifts, impacts on rainfalls, disturbance, as we are emitting ever more CO2 into the atmosphere, of coral reefs, etc. And there is an understanding that nature can keep taking these punches and still remain doing the service that we need it to do.”
7. Andersen at the podium
8. SOUNDBITES (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
“Between 1950, when plastic went mainstream into the markets and around 2017, we pumped 9 billion tons of plastic into our environment and 7 billion tons of that is waste.”
9. Wide shot, conference room
10. SOUNDBITES (English) Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
“Because let’s face it, nano-plastic is in the ocean and in our groundwater. Let’s face it; fish eat plastic. And let’s face it, we eat fish. So, we need to understand this.”
11. Mid shot, participants, clapping
Ministers of environment and other representatives from over 170 nations convened today (28 Feb) in Nairobi to launch the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5).
The Assembly kicked off with high hopes to advance a global agreement on plastic pollution, among a series of draft resolutions on biodiversity and health, green economy, and circularity.
UNEA-5’s President and Norway’s Minister for Climate and the Environment, Espen Barth Eide said that we’re getting close to an agreement on an “internationally, legally binding treaty or instrument to end plastic waste,” to take the leakage of plastic into nature, “a way to start designing plastics for recycling, actually collect them and recycle it and create a circular economy on plastics.”
Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), stated that between 1950, when plastic went mainstream into the markets and around 2017, “we pumped 9 billion tons of plastic into our environment and 7 billion tons of that is waste.”
She also said, “let’s face it, nano-plastic is in the ocean and in our groundwater. Let’s face it; fish eats plastic. And let’s face it, we eat fish. So, we need to understand this.”
The UN Environment Assembly meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies and develop international environmental law; decisions and resolutions then taken by Member States at the Assembly also define the work of UNEP.
Attended by over 3,400 in-person and 1,500 online participants from 175 UN Member States, 79 ministers, and 17 high-level officials, the theme for UNEA-5 is “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” This highlights the pivotal role nature plays in our lives and social, economic, and environmentally sustainable development.
The Assembly will be followed by “UNEP@50,” a two-day Special Session of the Assembly marking UNEP’s 50th anniversary where Member States are expected to address how to build a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world.
