The seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) will be held from December 8 – 12, 2025, in Nairobi, Kenya. UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on environmental matters, with universal membership of the 193 United Nations Member States. It represents a key global space to shape the future of environmental governance.
In the week preceding UNEA-7, the seventh session of the Open-ended Committee of Permanent Representatives (OECPR) will take place from December 1 – 5. During this meeting, Member State representatives will engage in formal plenary sessions as well as informal working and contact groups to negotiate draft resolutions and decisions that will be submitted to the Assembly for consideration and possible adoption. In parallel, informal consultations are being carried out to build consensus around the draft ministerial declaration of UNEA-7.
FARN will attend the OECPR and participate in multiple meetings with stakeholders in Nairobi, from December 1 through 7, contributing actively to these multilateral discussions.
The central topic of this session of the Assembly will be “Advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet”, with five priority areas of work, including critical minerals for the digital and energy transition. This debate adds to the work of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Panel on Critical Minerals for the Energy Transition and its report “Resourcing the Energy Transition: Principles to Guide Critical Energy Transition Minerals Towards Equity and Justice” (September 2024), as well as the “UN Guidance for Action on Critical Energy Transition Minerals” (June 2025).
Within this context, FARN will bring a Global South perspective and more than fifteen years of experience working on the critical minerals agenda, connecting territorial realities with international debates on the energy transition and mineral supply chains. Discussions on critical minerals are intensifying across multiple multilateral arenas, including COP30 and recent forums such as Raw Materials Week, where we have observed with concern the consolidation of “security” narratives and a global race for minerals driven by geopolitical competition. These trends risk sidelining due diligence obligations, the protection of human rights, and respect for planetary boundaries. Despite these challenges, we remain confident in the potential of spaces such as UNEA to promote an approach grounded in environmental justice, due diligence, and human rights respect.