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Minister Jan Szyszko at the Unea Session
Professor Jan Szyszko, the Minister for the Environment of the Republic of Poland, participated in
the second session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-2). The meeting took place
on 23-27 May 2016, in Nairobi.
This year's session of the United Nations Environment Assembly is the second meeting of the
Ministers of Environment from the UN Member States.
The slogan for this year’s Session was: Delivering on the Environmental Dimension of the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development.
During the Assembly in Nairobi, Minister Jan Szyszko participated, among others, in a ministerial
debate focus on two themes: Delivering on the Environmental Dimension of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030) and people’s health in the context of healthy environment Healthy Environment - Healthy People. The Agenda 2030 is a global development programme,
including all UN Member States, adopted in September 2015, providing for concrete actions aimed
at economic, social and environmental progress, expressed as objectives. The second theme of the
ministerial debate - Healthy Environment - Healthy People – concerned the sustainable
management of the environment and its protection. This objective is to be accomplished i.a. by
limiting CO2 emissions, effective use of energy and minimisation of food waste.
In his speech during the ministerial debate on the Agenda 2030, Minister Jan Szyszko emphasized
that: Poland is a leader in sustainable development. The process shall be continued through the
Plan Towards the Responsible Development, recently adopted by the Polish Government. The Plan
indicates new directions for the State’s actions, i.a. the development of innovative companies and
sustainable social and regional development. The Minister also recalled the Pope Francis’s
encyclical Laudato Si’. He underlined that it is a great guide for the implementation of the Agenda
2030.
In the Healthy Environment - Healthy People ministerial panel, Minister Jan Szyszko also addressed
the challenge of climate change and its impact on people’s health and health care system. The
Minister stressed out that the global warming has an undeniable influence on the spread of diseases
which, until recently, did not occur in moderate latitudes, as well as the number and frequency of
insect-borne infectious diseases.
During his stay in Nairobi, Minister Jan Szyszko also participated in a number of bilateral meetings
with Ministers of Environment, i.a. from Romania, Moldova, Norway, Iraq, Chad and South Africa, as
well as the EU Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella.
Discussions concerned, among others, the cooperation in the field of the environment and climate
change as well as the support for Polish candidacy for a non-permanent member of the UN Security
Council.
The second UNEA session was held on 23-27 May and the high-level segment, i.e. the meeting of
Ministers of Environment, took place on 26-27 May 2016.