Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks during UNEP's 50th-anniversary celebrations at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 3, 2022. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday marked 50 years since its founding in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi where it is headquartered. (Photo by Fred Mutune/Xinhua)
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday marked 50 years since its founding in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi where it is headquartered, with participants vowing to rally behind the vision for a green and inclusive future.
by Xinhua writers Naftali Mwaura, Li Hualing
NAIROBI, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday marked 50 years since its founding in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi where it is headquartered, with participants vowing to rally behind the vision for a green and inclusive future.
Among dignitaries who graced the UNEP's 50th-anniversary celebrations were Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Nigerian and Botswana counterparts Muhammadu Buhari and Mokgweetsi Masisi, respectively. Also in attendance at the UNEP's 50th-anniversary celebrations that will run from March 2 to 3 was the Prime Minister of Central African Republic Felix Moloua, together with environment ministers, diplomats, industry executives and green campaigners.
Kenyatta said that Kenya will rally behind global efforts to strengthen the UNEP and ensure it delivers its core mandate of promoting the health of the planet and its inhabitants as a prerequisite for achieving sustainable development goals. He added that the UNEP has championed multilateral initiatives to ensure the planet was shielded from heat-trapping gases, chemical waste and desertification, hence the need to strengthen it through adequate funding.
The two-day special session to commemorate the UNEP's 50th birthday under the theme of "Strengthening UNEP for the implementation of the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development" will take stock of milestones and pitfalls facing the global green agenda.
Inger Andersen, the UNEP's executive director, said that reflecting on the past achievements and envisioning a new green and resilient future for the planet will be the key highlight of the UN environmental agency's 50th birthday celebration, noting that courtesy of UNEP's advocacy, governments, businesses and civil society have come to a consensus that realizing equitable growth, prosperity, stability and peace was directly tied to maintaining harmony with nature.
Andersen stressed that societies must radically transform their relationship with the natural world in order to limit carbon emissions, shield rare species from extinction and eradicate plastic pollution.
Leila Benali, the president of the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) who is also the Moroccan minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, said that five decades of the UNEP's existence have reaffirmed that multilateralism is key to solving global ecological challenges.
The UNEP said in its latest statement that the special session provides an opportunity to reinvigorate international cooperation and spur collective action to address the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
"No country or continent can solve these global crises alone. But each nation has a crucial role to play in protecting our people and planet," it said.
Inger Andersen, the executive director of UN Environment Program (UNEP), speaks at the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb. 28, 2022. The resumed fifth session of the UNEA-5 kicked off in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui)
Artist Von Wong poses in front of his art installation depicting the scale of the plastic pollution problem, at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Feb. 28, 2022. The resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) kicked off in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua)
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (3rd R) unveils a commemorative plaque during UNEP's 50th-anniversary celebrations at the United Nations Complex in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, March 3, 2022. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Thursday marked 50 years since its founding in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi where it is headquartered. (Photo by Fred Mutune/Xinhua)
