'India will play major role in 5th UNEA Session,' says Environment Min Bhupendra Yadav

Kenya is all set to host the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) from February 28 to March 2. A special session will be held to mark the 50th anniversary of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which will take place in Nairobi. The meeting between the global leaders is touted as a 'critical moment' in progress towards the first-ever global treaty to tackle plastic waste. 

While speaking to news agency ANI, Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav said that India will play a major role in the fifth session of the UNEA. He said, "India will play a major role in the Fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya. We've issued a notification to ban single-use plastic and a resolution for the same will be passed."

The UNEA will also discuss climate change, biodiversity, nature loss, waste and pollution management among other issues. Earlier, Inger Andersen, director of the United Nations Environment Programme, told The Guardian that public opinion and impatience of people keep mounting over the rise in plastic wastes which will result in an unprecedented 'degree of focus' and insisted that world leaders might agree to measures for a binding treaty to control plastic waste from 'source to sea'. 

Furthermore, this year's theme is 'Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals'. Since its inception, UNEP has offered steady and critical stewardship on matters of the environment as the leading global environmental authority. It carries out its functions of setting the global environmental agenda, promoting the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system. 

Image: ANI/AP