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https://scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2189567/un-environment-talks-open-under-shadow-ethiopian-plane-crash
World/ Africa

UN environment talks open under shadow of Ethiopian plane crash

  • Grim start to the annual meeting, with the flag at half-mast and a moment of silence for United Nations staff who died in the disaster

A world forum on environmental issues opened in Nairobi on Monday, the mood darkened by the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people a day earlier, including at least 22 UN staff – many of whom were heading to the event.

Delegates arrived at the sprawling compound to see the UN flag flying at half-mast and the usually colourful display of national flags removed.

As they wondered aloud who among their colleagues may have been on board the ill-fated Boeing, some hugged and comforted one another.

Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 11, 2019. Photo: AFP
Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 11, 2019. Photo: AFP

According to Maimunah Sharif, head of UN-Habitat, at least 22 UN employees were among those who died when the Nairobi-bound Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed early Sunday just six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa.

“I stand before you on the first day of the UN Environment Assembly, which has officially commenced today in the wake of this tragedy,” she told delegates. “We will not forget this tragedy, nor those who perished.”

At the start of the opening plenary, UN Environment Assembly President and Minister of Environment of Estonia Siim Kiisler asked delegates, many dressed in black and some in tears, to observe a minute’s silence.

“I would like to express my condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the crash,” he said.

A member of the secretariat said it was “still trying to consolidate” the number of staff who died.

Among the UN employees on the Ethiopian Airlines flight were some who worked for the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

From left: Siim Kiisler, Estonia’s environment minister and president of the UN Environment Assembly; Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s minister of environment and forestry, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Joyce Msuya, acting executive director of UN Environment Programme. Photo: AFP
From left: Siim Kiisler, Estonia’s environment minister and president of the UN Environment Assembly; Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s minister of environment and forestry, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Joyce Msuya, acting executive director of UN Environment Programme. Photo: AFP

It is the second time in less than five years that delegates have died in a plane disaster on their way to a major conference.

In July 2014, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 passenger jet, flight MH17, was shot down over eastern Ukraine on the way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 on board – most of them Dutch.

Among the victims were six delegates to the 20th International Aids conference in Melbourne, including top Dutch expert Joep Lange.

The annual UNEP assembly gathers heads of state, ministers, business leaders and civil society representatives to work on ways to slash pollution and build a greener global economy.

Delegates in Nairobi have been briefed by a string of UN reports outlining the damage mankind is said to be doing to its home.

The meeting comes at a “critical time for action to protect and reverse the degradation of our planet”, Kiisler insisted.

Estonia’s environment minister and president of the UN Environment Assembly Siim Kiisler addresses delegates at the meeting in Nairobi on March 11, 2019. Photo: Reuters
Estonia’s environment minister and president of the UN Environment Assembly Siim Kiisler addresses delegates at the meeting in Nairobi on March 11, 2019. Photo: Reuters

One briefing on the eve of the summit claimed the cost of ecosystem loss through agriculture, deforestation and pollution was a much as US$20 trillion since 1995.

A major topic in Nairobi is plastic waste. More than 300 million tonnes of plastics are being produced each year and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in the oceans.

Delegates are expected to work towards a deal on the lines of the 2015 Paris Agreement that would see each country vow to slash plastic waste by 2030.