‘UNEA-7’ AND THE OBLIGATIONS TO LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND IN ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A RESILIENT PLANET [current concerns 2-020]

 

21 October 2025 / current concerns 2-020

 

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‘UNEA-7’ AND THE OBLIGATIONS TO LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND IN ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A RESILIENT PLANET

 

by Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje, FAHOA

 

 +2348034725905 (WhatsApp) / EMAIL: druzoadirieje2015@gmail.com

 CEO/Programmes Director, Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) – CSOs Network and Think-tank

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INTRODUCTION

 

The 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) is scheduled for December 8–12, 2025, in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting will be preceded by the Open-ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR-7) from December 1–5, 2025. Convening in Nairobi under the theme “Advancing Sustainable Solutions for a Resilient Planet,” UNEA-7 arrives at a moment of both urgency and moral responsibility. UNEA—the world’s highest-level decision-making body on environmental issues—serves as the “Parliament of the Environment,” bringing together member states, civil society, and the private sector to chart global priorities for environmental governance. For governments and societies, the question before UNEA-7 is not merely what sustainable solutions to pursue, but for whom those solutions are designed. The Assembly must thus reaffirm the fundamental principle underpinning the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Leave No One Behind (LNOB).

 

THE MEANING OF LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

 

“Leave No One Behind” is more than a slogan; it is an ethical, human rights-based commitment that compels governments and institutions to ensure inclusivity, equity, and participation in all sustainable development efforts. It mandates that we identify and prioritize those who are most disadvantaged—rural and poor populations, women and girls, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and others marginalized by social, economic, or geographic factors—and integrate their needs and capacities into policy design. In this way, the LNOB approach guarantees that environmental resilience is not a privilege of the few but a right for all.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL INEQUALITY AND HUMAN VULNERABILITY

 

Environmental degradation and climate change deepen existing inequalities, often punishing the poorest and most vulnerable first. Climate shocks, flooding, droughts, biodiversity loss, and pollution disproportionately affect marginalized groups. Women and girls, for instance, bear increased caregiving burdens and face heightened risks of gender-based violence during displacement. Indigenous and local communities, who depend directly on natural ecosystems, frequently suffer from pollution, deforestation, and land grabs, yet remain excluded from decision-making processes that shape their environments.

 

To achieve true planetary resilience, policy responses must therefore be intersectional—linking environmental action with social justice, human rights, gender equality, and poverty eradication. Addressing these intersections ensures that environmental sustainability becomes a driver of inclusive development rather than a source of exclusion.

 

‘UNEA-7’ AS A PLATFORM FOR LNOB IMPLEMENTATION

 

UNEA-7 provides an opportunity to embed LNOB principles in global environmental governance. Several pathways are crucial:

a. Data and Monitoring: Governments must strengthen environmental data systems to identify who is being left behind. Indicators should be disaggregated by gender, age, income, disability, and location to target interventions effectively. Without disaggregated data, inequality remains invisible and unaddressed.

b. Financing and Technology Transfer: UNEA-7 should prioritize equitable access to environmental finance and technologies. Concessional and blended financing mechanisms must favor community driven initiatives—such as decentralized renewable energy projects, local water management systems, and nature-based solutions (NbS) in vulnerable communities. Technology transfer should likewise be inclusive, enabling developing countries and local communities to build adaptive capacities.

c. Inclusive Environmental Governance: LNOB requires inclusive governance structures that enable meaningful participation of marginalized groups in environmental decision-making. This includes community consultations, gender-responsive budgeting, and the institutionalization of civil society engagement in national environmental action plans.

 

A RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE

 

The UN General Assembly’s 2022 recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment has strengthened the legal and moral obligations of states and institutions to protect vulnerable groups from environmental harm. Integrating human rights into UNEA-7 outcomes ensures that environmental actions are guided not only by efficiency but by justice.

 

This rights-based approach requires mechanisms for accountability and redress—such as access to environmental information, participatory decision-making, and judicial recourse for affected communities. When communities can claim their right to a healthy environment, environmental policies become more durable, legitimate, and effective.

 

OPERATIONALIZING ‘LNOB’: AFRICAN AND GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

 

From the African perspective—and drawing from field experiences with community-based organizations through Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA)—three operational recommendations can help UNEA-7 translate LNOB into tangible outcomes:

 

a. Adopt an LNOB Operational Annex to UNEA Resolutions: Each UNEA resolution should include a mandatory annex detailing the ‘LNOB’ implementation requirements, including data disaggregation, equity indicators, financing targets for marginalized communities, and mechanisms for civil society monitoring.

 

b. Scale up Community-led Nature-based Solutions (NbS): Nature-based solutions provide cost-effective pathways for resilience, biodiversity conservation, and poverty alleviation. UNEA-7 should champion global financing facilities that directly fund community cooperatives and civil society organizations to implement NbS for climate adaptation and ecosystem restoration.

 

c. Establish an Environmental Equity Rapid Response Mechanism: Environmental disasters—floods, droughts, or toxic spills—often devastate marginalized populations first. UNEA-7 should call for a global rapid response platform linking UNEP, regional banks, and civil society to provide emergency social protection, environmental health services, and legal assistance to affected communities.

 

THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND NETWORKS

 

Civil society networks like Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA) are indispensable in advancing the LNOB agenda. By mobilizing community voices, facilitating knowledge exchange, and implementing grassroots resilience projects, organizations like AHOA bridge the gap between policy and practice. They also play critical roles in advocacy, monitoring, and accountability—ensuring that UNEA commitments translate into measurable benefits for those most in need.

 

Through platforms such as the Global Civil Society Consortium on Climate Change (GCSCCC), African civil society continues to call for environmental justice, inclusive financing, and gender-sensitive climate action across all UNEA processes.

 

ACCOUNTABILITY AND MEASURING PROGRESS

 

UNEA-7’s effectiveness should be judged by outcomes that improve lives. Hence, its resolutions must be linked to time-bound commitments, national implementation frameworks, and monitoring systems aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, UNEA should create spaces for citizen feedback, enabling communities to assess whether policies truly uphold the LNOB principle.

 

Transparent accountability mechanisms—such as public scorecards, participatory reviews, and independent evaluation reports—will ensure that global environmental governance remains both inclusive and effective.

 

CONCLUSION: EQUITY AS THE CORE OF RESILIENCE

 

A resilient planet cannot exist where inequality persists. As UNEA-7 seeks to advance sustainable solutions, the global community must remember that sustainability divorced from equity is unsustainable. Leaving no one behind is not an optional aspiration—it is the moral compass and structural foundation of genuine resilience. To achieve this, governments, development partners, civil society, and communities must collaborate to transform environmental governance into a tool of justice and inclusion. Let UNEA-7 stand as the turning point where environmental action and social equity are recognized as inseparable—where the planet’s resilience is measured not by the strength of its economies, but by the dignity and wellbeing of its people.

 

About this Writer: 

Dr. Uzodinma Adirieje is an environmental health researcher with Afrihealth Optonet Association (AHOA), focused on linking ecosystem health and human well-being in Nigeria. He is a global health practitioner, development expert, and civil society leader whose work sits at the critical nexus of biodiversity, health, and climate change. He serves as the CEO of AHOA, a pan-African and global South civil society network advancing sustainable development through advocacy, policy dialogue, and grassroots interventions. With over two decades of experience, Dr. Adirieje has championed the understanding that biodiversity is essential for human health - supporting food security, disease regulation, clean water, and resilient livelihoods. His leadership promotes integrated approaches that address environmental degradation, climate change, and poverty simultaneously. Through AHOA, he leads multi-country initiatives on climate change, ecosystem restoration, renewable energy, universal health coverage, and climate-smart agriculture, while advocating for stronger governance and inclusive community participation. At national, regional, and global levels, Dr. Adirieje engages with governments, international organizations, and civil society to drive policies linking health and environment. His work underscores that safeguarding biodiversity is not only an ecological necessity but also a cornerstone of global health and sustainable development in Africa and the Global South.