The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Environment Agency, participated in the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations Environment Program in Nairobi, Republic of Kenya.
His Excellency Dr. Abdullah bin Ali Al Omari, President of the Environment Agency, headed the Sultanate’s delegation participating in the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which aims to promote actions for nature to achieve sustainable development goals.
His Excellency delivered a speech by the Sultanate of Oman in which he valued the distinguished environmental work carried out by the presidency of the Fifth General Assembly of UNEP and the various committees and work teams of permanent delegates and specialists in the delegations of countries, which yesterday resulted in a number of important historical decisions, which, if implemented, will have a profound positive impact on The sustainability of the environment and natural resources, at the forefront of which comes the decision to reduce plastic and its uses.
His Excellency pointed out that we in the Sultanate of Oman have started decades ago in diligent work to conserve biodiversity through the establishment of terrestrial and marine nature reserves, as well as by launching projects for breeding and genetic conservation projects for species, and our belief in the importance of international partnership in strengthening environmental systems and preserving their natural resources, and in achieving the goals of sustainable development. .
He added that the Sultanate of Oman launched the Sultan Qaboos Prize for Environmental Preservation in 1986, which is the first Arab award to be awarded at the global level; As a contribution to raising global awareness towards the environment and the importance of preserving it. To complement the environmental efforts, we issued a decision two years ago to ban the use of single-use plastic bags as a first stage on the road to limiting the spread of plastic, in addition to establishing legislation and intensifying oversight over the mining sector to ensure development without prejudice to the environmental system around it.
At the conclusion of his speech, His Excellency the Dr. congratulated the brothers in the Kingdom of Morocco for winning the honor of trusting member states to chair the Sixth Assembly of UNEP and to all countries representing the geopolitical groups, wishing them all success in their missions.
He also affirmed the continued commitment of the Sultanate of Oman to support the programme, its general assembly and its executive management in everything that would achieve the ambitious environmental goals of countries and peoples of the world.