Kazakhstan participates in the 6th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly

Nairobi, February 28, 2024 – Delegation of Kazakhstan headed by the Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Special Representative of the President on International Environmental Cooperation Zulfiya Suleimenova takes part in the 6th session of the UN Environment Assembly.

The event is attended by about five thousand delegates from 193 UN member states, of which 60 delegations are represented at the level of Ministers of Ecology and environmental protection. The forum is also attended by heads of international and regional organizations, NGOs, business circles, research centers, international experts, etc.

The Environment Assembly is the main international forum for making global decisions on environmental issues. The sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly is held under the general theme: «effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution».

Within the framework of the SCO «Year of Ecology» announced by the Head of State, on the initiative of Kazakhstan, together with the SCO and UNEP secretariats, a special SCO-UNEP event on the theme «One planet, one Future: joining forces for environmental sustainability» was organized on the sidelines of the Assembly. The side event was organized to discuss the prospects for expanding cooperation with UNEP in the field of environmental protection, which was attended by delegations from all SCO member states, SCO and UNEP secretariats.

As a representative of the SCO chair country, Ms. Z.Suleimenova, in her welcoming remarks drew the attention of the participants to the need to pay particular notice to the environmental challenges of the SCO member states. In her opinion, «climate change is one of the main challenges to humanity, and the fight against its consequences is the responsibility of the entire world community».

SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming stressed that the SCO attaches priority to cooperation with UNEP in the field of environmental protection, environmental safety and climate change. He highly appreciated the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to declare the Year 2024 as the «Year of Ecology in the SCO» within the framework of our country's chairmanship in this organization and the establishment of SCO partnerships with UNEP.

In order to establish cooperation, SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme Inger Andersen signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the SCO and UNEP secretariats. The document provides for the development of cooperation between the two organizations in matters of conservation of biological diversity, disaster management, adaptation to climate change, scientific and technical cooperation, reduction of environmental pollution, promotion of sustainable development and promotion of eco-tourism.

In addition, a number of bilateral meetings were held by Ms. Z. Suleimenova, with the leadership of UNEP, UN-Habitat, the UN Global Compact, the delegation of France, China on the sidelines of the UN Assembly in Nairobi. During the meetings, the parties agreed to develop cooperation on various issues of the regional and global environmental agenda, including in the context of international initiatives put forward by Kazakhstan.

In particular, H.E. Ms. I.Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, supported the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev to hold a Regional climate Summit in 2026 and expressed her readiness to provide all possible assistance to its substantive content. The head of UNEP noted the great potential in the implementation of joint projects with Kazakhstan, and also called for strengthening the representation of the United Nations Environment Programme in our region.

UN Assistant Secretary-General and Acting Executive Director of UN-Habitat Michal Mlynar advocated the intensification of cooperation with Kazakhstan and highlighted a number of projects related to urban development. In particular, he invited the Kazakh side to consider the possibility of participating in the ministerial meeting, as well as in the work of the local summit on combating climate change (LCAS) during the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP-29) in Baku this year.

At a meeting with Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, Assistant Secretary General and CEO of the UN Global Compact, the parties discussed the importance of involving business in the formation and promotion of the concept of sustainable development at the national level, taking into account the UN Sustainable Development Goals until 2030.

The delegation of Kazakhstan continues to participate in the work of the Assembly in Nairobi and the Head of the Delegation is scheduled to make a National Statement at the High-level segment of the forum.