The state of the planet is a key agenda item for the United Nations General Assembly. This page features related updates from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners, including key moments of the year such as July’s High-level Political Forum and September’s High-Level Week.
See: full list of 2025 events organized by UNEP or at which UNEP senior officials are participating
22 Sep
2023
18:00
UNEP Goodwill Ambassadors highlight importance of protecting Earth
UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Rocky Dawuni made an appearance in the media zone at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, calling for humanity to protect the planet. Two other UNEP ambassadors, actor Dia Mirza and swimmer Lewis Pugh, also made calls to action during the week.
22 Sep
2023
14:40
Coming up today: Friday highlights
Here are a few events to keep an eye on today at the General Assembly
How to communicate climate for solutions and actions (11–11:20 a.m.)
Amid a wave of climate denial, UN head of communications Melissa Fleming will discuss how science-based communication can spur meaningful action on the climate crisis. In an impassioned speech Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for an end to “bankrolling climate denial”.
CNN: Climate crisis and gender inequality (11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.)
CNN’s Photo Desk will showcase images illustrating the link between the climate crisis and gender inequality during this session. Research has shown that women are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis, an inequality that threatens to deepen.
21 Sep
2023
22:00
Collaboration needed to end biodiversity crisis, says UNEP expert
Governments, businesses and everyday people must band together if humanity is to head off a nature crisis that has pushed 1 million species towards extinction, UNEP head of biodiversity Doreen Robinson said Thursday during a session at the UN General Assembly.
Robinson said agencies like UNEP have prepared a bevy of solutions to protect and restore the natural world, but implementing those plans is crucial.
“Nature has been sounding alarm calls for a very long time,” Robinson said. “Humanity’s relationship with nature is broken right now and … it is time to fix it.”
21 Sep
2023
21:23
“We have the solutions”: Actor Matt Damon calls for action on water scarcity
Actor and philanthropist Matt Damon called on Thursday for governments and financial institutions to scale up their efforts to counter water scarcity, saying that was crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).
“[Water scarcity] is solvable. We have the solutions,” said Damon during a session of the UN General Assembly. “[Water] undergirds all of these other SDGs. It’s getting politicians to understand that.”
Damon is the co-founder of Water.org, a non-profit group working to supply clean water and sanitation services to communities around the world. By 2050, an estimated 6 billion people will face water scarcity due to the climate crisis, pollution, and increasingly unsustainable production and consumption.
21 Sep
2023
19:42
Multilateral development banks support UN’s early warning initiative
Ten multilateral development banks voiced their support on Wednesday for a UN effort to cover everyone on Earth by early warning systems for disasters.
Backers say that network is crucial to reducing the death and damage from climate change, especially in a group of highly vulnerable small-island states.
“We recognize that with climate change rapidly leading to more frequent extreme weather events, this initiative will protect lives, livelihoods, and the environment, helping countries and people adapt,” the banks said.
The UN’s early-warning initiative requires US$3.1 billion in funding over the next four years and observers say multilateral development banks have a crucial role to play in raising that capital.
21 Sep
2023
18:30
New partnership seeks to accelerate biodiversity action plans
In a major stride towards safeguarding the planet’s dwindling biodiversity, UNEP and partners on Wednesday launched a new initiative to bolster the implementation of the landmark Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Accelerator Partnership seeks to empower countries to combat biodiversity loss, recognizing that technical support and global outreach are pivotal.
“This is not a project, this is a partnership – all hands on deck. We have one planet, and we don’t have enough time to save it,” said Doreen Robinson, UNEP’s head of biodiversity. “We have to work more collaboratively, more efficiently together.”
21 Sep
2023
17:30
Happening today: Accelerating climate action in fragile and vulnerable contexts
This high-level event will focus on ways to scale up climate action in highly vulnerable and conflict-affected areas. It will preview a suite of “solutions” expected to be announced at the UN Climate Change Conference later this year. Co-hosted by the UN Climate Security Mechanism, the event runs from 1:15–2:45 p.m. EDT.
21 Sep
2023
16:10
Communication key to fixing fashion sector, experts say
Fashion’s marketing machine has a pivotal role to play in making the clothing industry more sustainable, UNEP programme officer Isabella Marras stressed yesterday during a session at the UN General Assembly.
Marras said marketers, influencers and the traditional media must work to discourage the conspicuous consumption that defines much of the fashion industry. The sector is a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gasses and a prolific user of chemicals.
“[Fashion communicators influence] people to quite an important extent in what their aspirations are in terms of living sustainably or not living sustainably,” Marras said.
21 Sep
2023
06:12
Coming up today: Thursday highlights
Today is another busy day in New York at the UN General Assembly.
The SDG Action Zone will feature a parade of leaders, thinkers, innovators and creators working to further the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Actor and Water.org founder Matt Damon will discuss what needs to happen for the world to achieve SDG 6, which calls for everyone on Earth to have access to clean water and sanitation. The session runs from 12:05 to 12:30 p.m.
Biodiversity experts Doreen Robinson from UNEP and Midori Paxton from UNDP will chat about how the world can safeguard nature while forging a better future for the least fortunate in a session from 2 to 2:40 p.m.
20 Sep
2023
23:00
Happening now: Breaking free of fossil fuels
In a series of fireside chats, a dozen experts will discuss how countries can slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C, the most ambitious target of the Paris Agreement. UNEP Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is scheduled to participate, as are UNEP ambassadors Lewis Pugh, an endurance swimmer, and Dia Mirza, an actor.
