During the one-week talks, environmental ministers and world leaders adopted less than half of the resolutions presented to “advance sustainable solutions for a resilient planet,” primarily regarding the mining of minerals and metals, a stronger global response to wildfires, and sustainability in sports (which was the only resolution with a brief mention of single-use plastics). At the same time, countries utterly neglected important measures on environmental crime and the protection of deep-sea and karst ecosystems, among others.
Importantly, the approved resolutions failed to include language to protect Indigenous Peoples, women, gender expansive people, Black People, and other impacted communities as mandated by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Convention on Ending All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the International Convention on Ending All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
During the assembly, obstructionist countries deployed the same derailing tactics seen at both the most recent UN Climate Conference (COP30) and the ongoing negotiations for a Plastics Treaty, as well as some new ones that reflected the changing geopolitical mood. Unfortunately, these efforts have been successful (at least so far) in undermining international measures that would otherwise effectively address the planetary crises. And still, the fight to protect those most impacted by these crises continues.
The most constructive parts of UNEA-7 happened on the sidelines of the negotiations, including several events and actions focused on urgently addressing the plastic pollution crisis at a global level.
Now, as UNEA-7 concludes in Nairobi and governments prepare to attend the next round of Plastics Treaty negotiations (INC-5.3) in Geneva on February 7, 2026, to select a new INC Chair, BFFP continues to call for the urgency of multilateral cooperation in order to deliver a global instrument that fulfills the mandate of UNEA Resolution 5/14 and addresses the plastics crisis across the full life cycle, from extraction to production, use, and disposal.
