From 8 to 12 December 2025, Australia joined the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7).
UNEA is the world’s highest decision-making body on the environment. It takes place every 2 years in Nairobi, Kenya.
Several of our staff were part of the Australian delegation. UNEA-7 was a chance for us to:
- help shape collective action on global environmental issues, including artificial intelligence, glaciers, and chemicals and waste
- work with Pacific Island nations on protecting reefs and ocean ecosystems
- advocate for national priorities like a sustainable ocean, circular economy and First Nations leadership.
During the event, Australia joined the High-Level Global Commitment to protect climate-resilient coral reefs. This is the first global pledge on this issue. Climate-resilient reefs are vital for:
- biodiversity
- food production
- coastal protection.
We co-sponsored a resolution led by Fiji urging nations to act fast on coral reef resilience. It calls for reef conservation and restoration to be supported through:
- planning
- data sharing
- cooperation
- funding.
We also co-sponsored a resolution led by Switzerland on the sound management of chemicals and waste. This aims to address challenges with:
- lead
- cadmium
- arsenic
- other types of pollution.
Other successful resolutions covered:
- sustainable artificial intelligence
- wildfires
- sustainable management of minerals and metals
- meaningful youth participation.
Australia’s Reef Builder Program received global recognition at UNEA-7. We accepted an award for the program with our program partner, The Nature Conservancy. The UN named Reef Builder a World Restoration Flagship project. This is part of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Members of the Australian delegation engaged with key stakeholders through side events. These included:
- Youth Environment Assembly (YEA) and YEA High-Level Dialogue
- Global Major Groups and Stakeholders Forum
- Indigenous Peoples Knowledge and Science Dialogue.
Australia welcomes the strong environmental outcomes from UNEA-7.
