The United Nations Environment Assembly,
Noting with concern that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has slowed progress in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 76/208 of 17 December 2021 on the report of the United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme, which notes with great concern the severe negative impact on human health, safety and well-being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the severe disruption to societies and economies and the devastating impact on lives and livelihoods, and that the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit by the pandemic,
Reiterating that the COVID-19 pandemic has not lessened the urgency of the need to address the environmental dimension of sustainable development, and, on the contrary, has accelerated the need for the world to take urgent action to address the environmental crisis and strengthen the long-term sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery from COVID-19,
Emphasizing the relevance of addressing the environmental dimension of a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery from the pandemic in the context of the United Nations Environment Assembly,
Recalling the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development; the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, entitled “The future we want”; 1 the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development; General Assembly resolution 70/1 of 25 September 2015, entitled “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”; General Assembly resolution 74/306 of 15 September 2020, entitled “Comprehensive and coordinated response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic”; and General Assembly resolution 75/1 of 21 September 2020, entitled “Declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations”,
Appreciating the various efforts at the national, regional and global levels for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including those that serve as platforms for sharing knowledge and experience, and where nurtured partnerships are ready to tackle the multiple challenges of recovery and enhance sustainable development,
1. Encourages Member States to strengthen measures to achieve a sustainable, resilient and inclusive global recovery, including, but not limited to, continuing to enhance actions to combat climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, taking into account national circumstances;
2. Calls upon Member States to share knowledge and build capacity, especially in developing countries, in the areas of research and development; technological innovation to help improve information and knowledge sharing; and technical support for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery;
3. Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, and invites other United Nations entities and partners, to support and engage countries in research and development, innovative technology, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery;
4. Also requests the Executive Director, through the reinvigorated resident coordinator system and the reconfigured United Nations country teams, to support countries on information, knowledge, capacity development and technical support, for a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery;
5. Further requests the Executive Director to share best practices and provide peer-to-peer learning and technical assistance to countries, especially developing countries, to support efforts for resource mobilization, and for strengthening and scaling up country-level efforts on sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery measures;
6. Encourages the private sector and multilateral financial institutions to continue to support countries whose economies have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve a sustainable, resilient and inclusive recovery.