On 22 and 23 October 2025, as part of the preparatory process leading up to UNEA-7, an international consultation was organized to enable stakeholders to engage in more in-depth discussions on the draft resolutions and the Ministerial Declaration, and to ensure that participants were adequately prepared for UNEA-7. The consultation brought together 573 participants, reflecting strong stakeholder engagement in the lead-up to the Assembly.
The opening of this consultation was led by the two co-chairs of the MGFC: Dalia Fernanda Márquez Añez from the Women MG and Frankie Orona from the Indigenous MG. Dalia expressed that this consultation was not only a technical meeting but rather a space for collective vision, inclusive dialogue, and strategic engagement where voices from very diverse Civil society matter. The contributions of this consultation aimed to help shaping the decisions that guide UNEP work and global environmental governance.
Frankie expressed three important aspects of this consultation: inclusion, access to information, and engagement.
For this international consultation, we had more than 550 registered participants from all world regions and all Major Groups and almost 400 of them joined any of sessions. The objective of the consultation was to advance the MGS planning on how to best prepare for UNEA 7 and how to best collaborate around the UNEA resolutions and activities, and to provide an overview of draft resolutions and their themes. The consultation also gathered first input into the draft Joint Global Statement which was later adopted during the GMGSF.
Prior to the consultation, the key preparatory documents such as the Revised Draft of the Ministerial Declaration and the Draft Resolutions Tracker for MGS were circulated among the registered people to ensure a proper preparation.
Regional facilitators from all the regions were able to share the outcomes of their regional consultations. Additionally, shorts sessions were organised presenting the Ministerial Declaration and the upcoming 4th Intergovernmental Consultation, the opportunities for engagement at the UNEP Medium-Term Strategy and the work of GEO-7. UNEP representatives also made an introduction to the role of Draft Resolution Contact Points (DRCPs) and during the breakout sessions the following themes were discussed:
- Coral reefs, seaweed, deep-sea (Cluster A.1) Facilitator: N.N. ▪
- Glaciers, karst, wildfires, Mother Earth-centric actions (Cluster A.2) Facilitator: Mahathi Aguvaveedi, Farmers MG
- Environmental crimes, AI (Cluster B.1) Facilitator: Patrizia Heidegger, Regional Facilitator Europe
- Synergies, sport, youth (Cluster B.2) Facilitator: Tess Gitau, Co-Facilitator Women Major Group
- Metals and minerals, tailings, CE (Cluster C.1)
- Chemicals and waste, antimicrobial resistance (Cluster C.2) Facilitator: Anna Odur, NGO MG
- UNEP Medium Term Strategy (Cluster D)
Input from all the sessions was collected and shared as recommendations coming from this consultation.
