Resolution Recap Series – Tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from the environmental lens

Resolution Name: Environmental Dimensions of Antimicrobial Resistance Cluster: C Authors: Oumnia, Fithriyyah, Hafeez Hamza

What This Resolution Is About 

At its seventh session, the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) adopted a landmark resolution addressing the environmental dimensions of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) proposed by the host country, Kenya. Traditionally framed as a health and, AMR is now increasingly recognized as an environmental governance challenge under the One Health approach.

The resolution responds to the growing evidence that the environment acts as both a reservoir and transmission pathway for resistant microorganisms and resistance genes. Pharmaceutical waste, agricultural runoff, wastewater discharge, and inadequate pollution control enable antimicrobials and resistant pathogens to persist and spread across ecosystems.

Globally, AMR threatens health security, food systems, and sustainable development, with disproportionate impacts on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) facing weak waste and water management systems. By strengthening UNEP’s mandate, the resolution introduced the critical environmental dimension as an equal priority alongside other dimensions in addressing AMR. The resolution incorporates the environmental surveillance and strengthening the environmental dimensions of AMR National Action Plans as core components of the global AMR response.

What Happened in the Room & How CYMG Contributed

CYMG, through the Environmental Health Working Group, has followed the negotiation process since the major group stakeholders (MGS) consultation period before UNEA-7. We collaborated with the Women and NGO stakeholders to develop joint recommendations on AMR, which were delivered to the resolution focal point. Our key positions which we have delivered through several interventions, are: 1) supporting the environmental dimension, as it gives strong acknowledgment that the environmental contribution to AMR is crucial; 2) requesting the intergenerational equity perspective and inclusion of youth in the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR (IPEA), and 3) requesting the textual acknowledgement of youth as one of the stakeholders in the AMR awareness and action.   

During UNEA-7 and OECPR-7, there was a significant debate over the scope and institutional implications of the resolution. Several Member States questioned whether environmental AMR surveillance would duplicate existing systems led by the WHO and partners, and implying that this does not fall within UNEP’s mandate. Concerns were raised about technical capacity, financial burdens, and the risk of creating parallel mechanisms without clear added value. A particularly contested issue was the proposal to host the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action against AMR (IPEA) within UNEP. Some delegations considered this premature, given the panel’s formative stage, while others questioned its institutional placement. The reference was ultimately removed from the final text. Language was diluted in key operative paragraphs through qualifiers such as “voluntary” and “subject to available resources,” reflecting cautious compromise.

Evaluating the final UNEA-7 outcome

The resolution touched on both political and technical sensitivities. Politically, some Member States viewed AMR primarily as a health-sector issue under WHO leadership, raising sovereignty concerns about expanding UNEP’s role. Financing was another delicate issue, particularly for developing countries wary of unfunded mandates and additional reporting obligations.

Technically, environmental surveillance for AMR remains complex. Unlike clinical surveillance, standardized methodologies for detecting resistant genes in wastewater, soil, and effluents are still evolving. Countries differ widely in laboratory capacity and regulatory frameworks for pharmaceutical discharge and wastewater treatment.

The resolution's call for Member States to strengthen the environmental dimensions of their National Action Plans on AMR represents a timely and necessary step forward, recognizing a critical gap that has persisted across many existing NAPs, which have historically prioritized clinical and agricultural dimensions.

While the resolution's recognition of relevant partners and stakeholders in raising awareness of the environmental dimensions of AMR is a welcome development, reflecting the multi-sectoral nature of the AMR challenge, meaningful progress demands more than broad stakeholder inclusion. Youth, as both disproportionate inheritors of the consequences of AMR and social agents of change, must be explicitly recognized and engaged as partners in the global response of AMR.

Why UNEA and Nairobi Matter Here

By adopting this resolution, UNEA formally anchors AMR within environmental governance frameworks, complementing the 2024 UN General Assembly Political Declaration on AMR. It also aligns with Nairobi-based science-policy efforts, including the Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution Prevention. This positioning strengthens the environmental pillar of the One Health approach and signals that pollution prevention is central to global AMR containment. The resolution paves the way for further provisions on the environmental pillar of AMR under the UNEP mandate, directly expanding the environmental health advocacy to all stakeholders across sectors.

What This Means for Youth

Youth engagement at UNEA-7 demonstrated that participation goes beyond symbolic presence. Through the Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP (CYMG), young delegates actively followed negotiations, delivered formal interventions, and held bilateral meetings with the resolution’s proponent to advocate for meaningful stakeholder inclusion. Although the textual term “youth” did not appear explicitly in the final text after being proposed by a group of member states, engagement was secured under broader references to Stakeholders.

In addition, CYMG also hosted a dedicated AMR session, “Antimicrobial Resistance in the Lens of One Health" during the Youth Environmental Assembly, strengthening awareness and technical understanding of environmental drivers of resistance, and why the AMR resolution is important.

Moving forward, youth engagement can expand into implementation: contributing to national AMR action plans, supporting community awareness on pollution and wastewater management, and strengthening accountability through monitoring and policy tracking at national and regional levels. But especially as young researchers, to produce best practices that would benefit the countries.

Bottom Line

• The resolution formally anchors antimicrobial resistance within the mandate of UNEP, strengthening the environmental pillar of the One Health approach.

• The resolution reinforces global recognition that pollution prevention, wastewater management, and are central to addressing AMR and not secondary considerations.

• The need to ensure capacity-building for developing countries, to integrate stakeholders in follow-up processes, and to link environmental data directly to regulatory action and prevention strategies.