The seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) concluded in Nairobi, Kenya on December 12, 2025 with the adoption of out of 15 draft proposals, drawing criticism from some civil society groups that the outcomes fell short of what is needed to address escalating environmental crises.
While several organisations welcomed new multilateral commitments, they said the assembly failed to secure agreement on key issues such as deep-sea protection and stronger action against environmental crime, citing political compromises.
“The UNEA-7 fell short of consensus on several critical issues,” said conservation organisation World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “After almost a fortnight of negotiations, member states were unable to reach agreement on measures to address crimes that impact the environment or on stronger provisions for deep-sea protection.”
“These gaps highlight the need for more responsive and resilient decision-making processes that match the urgency of the environmental crisis,” the group added.
WWF also said ongoing “UN at 80” reform discussions must be used to strengthen the environmental pillar of the multilateral system, warning that failure to do so would be a missed opportunity at a time of worsening global environmental conditions.
“It would be a missed opportunity if [the reform process] does not meaningfully strengthen the environmental pillar of multilateralism to a level commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis,” WWF said, calling for greater inclusivity and agility in global decision-making and closer coordination among UN bodies and multilateral environmental agreements.
Earlier in the week, UNEA-7 dropped a on strengthening the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from its draft agenda — a move some observers described as political and aimed at limiting UNEP’s role in guiding global environmental policy.
Among the resolutions adopted, one of the most significant was “”, proposed by Colombia and Oman. The resolution commits countries to a series of dialogues to enhance international cooperation on managing the environmental impacts of minerals and metals across their value chains.
It also calls for discussions with stakeholders on strengthening technical, financial, scientific and technological capacities related to mineral governance, particularly in developing countries. The resolution addresses issues such as mining waste, tailings and resource recovery, building on decisions taken at previous UN Environment Assemblies.
“As mineral demand surges due to the energy transition and digitalisation, the resolution represents a step forward in acknowledging the need for global tools to better protect ecosystems and communities,” said Suneeta Kaimal, president and chief executive of the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). However, she said many countries and observers had called for stronger language to move beyond dialogue towards policymaking.
She noted that the resolution stops short of committing to explore binding international standards, leaving “a gap between the scale of impacts on the ground and the ambition of the global response”.
“As minerals rise on the geopolitical agenda, the UN task force is a timely and necessary step towards making the panel’s ambitions real,” Kaimal added. “It must work boldly and inclusively with communities and civil society, and it will need political commitment and financial resources — not only technical efforts — to drive a just and equitable new paradigm that safeguards people, ecosystems and economies in producer countries.”
By advancing the resolution, Colombia and Oman helped place mineral governance firmly on the global agenda at a time of accelerating demand and growing impacts on communities and ecosystems, said Erica Westenberg, NRGI’s governance programmes director.
“Today’s agreement must be the start, not the ceiling,” she said. “The dialogues leading to UNEA-8 need to consider the full range of policy tools — including binding international rules — to deliver the accountability that producer countries have long called for. Real progress will depend on matching technical work with genuine political commitment to environmental justice.”
Other resolutions seen as significant included Resolution 1 on accelerating global action to promote the ; Resolution 5 on promoting synergies and cooperation for national implementation of ; and Resolution 8 on the sound management of .
The adoption of 11 resolutions demonstrated that the assembly could advance global environmental ambitions, said Abdullah bin Ali Al-Amri, President of Oman’s Environment Authority and President of UNEA-7.
“The conclusion of this session does not mean the end of our mission,” he said. “The measure of our success will not be limited to what we have adopted on paper, but by what we see on the ground — cleaner air and water, restored ecosystems, green job opportunities and more resilient societies.”
UNEP’s Executive Director, Inger Andersen, urged member states to make their full financial contributions so the organisation could deliver tangible results.
“You will now return to the world outside the negotiation halls,” she said. “A world in which people are dying, homes and livelihoods are being destroyed, economies are being damaged, and inequity is growing because action on environmental challenges has not been fast or strong enough.”
“You have brightened the beacon and better lit the path forward,” she added, “but we must now hurry down this path to deliver real solutions for a resilient planet and resilient people.”
On the final day of the assembly, Jamaica’s Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda, was elected President of UNEA-8, which will take place in December 2026, succeeding Al-Amri.
“Our voices carry the weight of communities on the frontlines of climate impacts — communities that cannot afford delay and do not have the luxury of indifference,” Samuda said in his acceptance address, pledging to lead an assembly marked by inclusivity, transparency and practical action.
He called on countries and UNEP member states to strengthen the science–policy interface, scale up financing for adaptation and resilience, and accelerate the transition to sustainable production and consumption systems.
“We must do so while ensuring that no state — large or small — feels excluded from the solutions we craft,” he said.
