A strong political push for action on AMR

My thanks to Minister Forssmed for hosting this 9^th Meeting of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, or AMR.

The active and regular engagement of this group demonstrates a keen understanding of the urgent need to limit the emergence and spread of AMR. As a way to safeguard our ability to treat human, animal and plant diseases. To ensure food safety and security. To foster economic development and equity. To protect the environment. And to advance the Sustainable Development Goals.

This group has driven political momentum to translate awareness of AMR into coordinated action, including on the crucial environmental dimension. But we are now at a critical moment. Negotiations on the political declaration for the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR are about to start, with a multistakeholder hearing next week.

My thanks to Your Excellency Mr. Francois Jackman, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations, and Your Excellency Ms. Vanessa Frazier, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malta to the United Nations, for co-facilitating the High-level Meeting.

The High-level Meeting and its declaration will be a moment to prompt serious action on preventing and addressing the sources and drivers of AMR. And environmental action must be prominent in this declaration.

A coordinated strengthening of environmental action in the One Health response is non-negotiable if we are to reduce the burden of AMR on societies and tackle the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and biodiversity loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste. As I have told this group before, such strengthening is a priority for UNEP, and something we pushed through our leadership of the Quadripartite on One Health.

There are many environmental sector-specific actions to consider as the declaration is being shaped.

Scaling up preventative action on municipal waste and wastewater, on effluents from the production of pharmaceuticals, on hospital effluents and waste, and on the runoff of antimicrobials, including pesticides, from farms and intensive crop production.

Providing more and better data and information, including through the establishment of national systems of monitoring and surveillance of AMR in the environment to support policy making.

And, crucially, mobilizing adequate, predictable and sustainable financing. There are many options on the table that can help in this space. Allocating domestic and external resources. Leveraging existing bilateral and multilateral funding streams, including the Multi-partner Trust Fund on AMR. Developing national and global investment cases for addressing AMR across all sectors. Exploring options to redirect investments and repurpose incentives.

The bold political declaration we must aim for will require inclusive multilateralism, with strong engagement of relevant industries and other stakeholders. Only by joining forces across all sectors can we deal with AMR in a strong, rapid and effective manner.

We at UNEP look forward to an outcome document with bold, specific and tangible commitments that back stronger, more united action, prioritize the needs of the Global South and make the environment prominent as key part of the solution.

It is such a declaration that we must land at the 4th Ministerial Conference, hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in November, to mark a shift to implementation.

I look forward to a fruitful meeting that agrees of the future of the work of the GLG in support of this declaration, and future work to implement action on AMR.