Remarks by the President of the General Assembly 

H.E. Ms. Annalena Baerbock

at the UN Environment Assembly

11 December 2025

Nairobi, Kenya

[Recorded/As delivered]

 

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

Like so many of you, I have just returned from COP30 in Belém.

 

I left Belém with two emotions: optimism and urgency.

 

Optimism, because, despite all the global headwinds, we have reached a positive tipping point; science and technology have finally given us the tools we need — from rapidly scaling renewables to precision mapping of our planet’s biodiversity.

 

Urgency, because the world is still doing far too little with the advances before us.

 

We admire the solutions, but we do not yet invest in them adequately.

We window-shop when we should be investing.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

 

The numbers speak for themselves — and they are unforgiving.

 

2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.

 

Climate disasters cost 200 billion dollars every single year.

 

One million species are at risk of extinction.

 

And the world produces over 2 billion tonnes of municipal waste annually.

 

This is not a warning light. It is a full alarm.

 

It is time for actions that match our convictions.

 

Time to confront the triple planetary crisis — climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution — with seriousness equal to the scale of the threat.

 

That means resources. It means skills. It means cooperation.

 

On each of these fronts, I commend the UN Environment Programme and this Assembly for pushing forward despite geopolitical headwinds and global gridlock.

 

Because of tireless advocates, we have the frameworks to deliver:

 

On climate: the Paris Agreement and the imperative of 1.5 degrees.

 

On biodiversity: the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its bold 30×30 pledge.

 

On pollution: a Global Framework on Chemicals and ongoing negotiations toward a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.

 

These are not just agreements. They are commitments. And they are roadmaps.

 

As I said in Belém, progress is rarely linear. It comes in ebbs and flows.

 

Our task — the task of every champion in this room — is to push hardest when progress slows.

 

To hold the line when momentum fades.

 

To remember that the next breakthrough, the next surge in renewables, the next turning point, may be just beyond the horizon.

 

With that spirit, I wish you positive, constructive, and above all hopeful deliberations. And I look forward to the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.

 

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