- Accueil
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Life on Land
Life on Land
Going green on a dry continent
Melbourne has just been named the World’s Most Liveable City for the sixth consecutive year. Naturally I am tremendously proud of that but such an accolade cannot be achieved without a strong focus on sustainability. For liveability and sustainability are intrinsically linked. In particular we do much to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Take our international award-winning Urban Landscapes Adaptation Program concentrating on trees water and green open space.
Investing in clean water
There are women we work with who wait for hours to answer the call of nature. They can "go" on the edge of their village on the river or on the train tracks. Open defecation leads to all kinds of problems. Think of the health impacts of not defecating all day when you need to and the safety issues of going out at night. Think of the potential for contamination.
Towards zero-pollution cities
Air pollution is a global killer and predominantly an urban one. Worldwide about 7 million premature deaths are associated with indoor and outdoor air pollution by fine particulate matter. Most occur in urban areas where a majority of people now live breathing air that can cause asthma respiratory infections high blood pressure heart and lung disease and cancer. Diverse cities – rich poor small large developed and developing – are reporting airborne levels of these particles that exceed the World Health Organization’s clean air guidelines: some of the most polluted air and the heaviest toll on human lives occur in Asia.
Environmental champion
Blanca Li has put her environmental convictions into practice in her new dance work and by making changes in her own life.
Creating cities for people
Latin American cities are going through accelerated urbanisation and reflect high levels of inequality. The continent is the world's most urbanised developing region with eight out of ten people living in cities. Conditions are often unfavourable for rapid expansion because of problems including poor public services socio-economic inequality and environmental degradation. Yet these cities present opportunities for a paradigm shift in how to plan develop and manage urban development.
Empowering cities
Europe Africa and Latin America now each have roughly half a billion people living in cities. In Asia there are two billion city-dwellers. Very soon two-thirds of the global population will be urban.
Triumph by treaty
Ozone depletion was the first human threat to the global atmosphere to be recognized. It was also the first to be addressed by the international community. The results have been truly remarkable. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year can claim to be one of the most successful international treaties ever struck.
Transported to the future
Remarkably Medellin is now a global reference point for urban planning efficient governance and social inclusion; moreover the city has undergone a major transformation to get there. We owe this success to our people and to working with different sectors of society: public private and academic.
The cornerstone of life
We are at a crossroads in human history. Our actions are changing the planet in unprecedented ways and if we carry on as at present the consequences could be disastrous. But right now we still have an opportunity to change course. If we come together to take the decisive steps needed we could chart the way toward a sustainable future where people live in harmony with nature.
Reflections
The Norwegian countryside is a magnificent playground for a kid. Swing-sets and slides are fun. But for a child nothing beats striking out into rolling hills and mysterious towering forests. There is adventure everywhere. I have always lived in a city but I was lucky growing up to have ample opportunity to explore these treasures of Norway.
Stepping up action
Canada is proud to host this year’s World Environment Day. The United Nations General Assembly first designated June 5 as World Environment Day 45 years ago. Today it remains a chance to connect with our environment and each other and to continue to build a more sustainable world for our kids and grandkids.
Telling a powerful tale
To change a society as the philosopher Ivan Illich wrote “you must tell a more powerful tale one so persuasive that it sweeps away the old myths and becomes the preferred story one so inclusive that it gathers all the bits of our past and present into a coherent whole one that even shines some light into our future so that we can take the next step…”
UN environment at work. Strengthening law on endangered species
Law is one of the most effective means of addressing environmental crime. UN Environment is working with countries around the world to strengthen laws and institutions so that criminal acts in violation of environmental laws can be addressed at national and international levels. For environmental law to be effective environmental crime needs to be clearly defined and institutions empowered to apply the law and to deal with violations through compliance and enforcement.
Creating hope
In a seemingly dark and tumultuous world I find the greatest beacon of hope here in the Virunga National Park eastern Congo. Hope that through the efforts of those working to protect the park we can maintain an example of a working green economy providing both stability and conservation.
Breaking new ground
Back in March 2007 during his annual presentation of the government’s economic proposals in Parliament the then Prime Minister of Barbados the Rt. Hon Owen Arthur used these words to launch a comprehensive National Green Economy Policy for Barbados. The policy was designed “to integrate green principles into national economic planning marrying economic growth with environmental management and preservation.”
Small actions = big changes
Climate change and air pollution are not problems for just one country one city or one town. The melting of the Arctic threatens the survival of polar bears and the city of Seoul shares responsibility for this. This is a challenge and pending problem for every single person to resolve; it will become a theme for everyone.
UNEP at work. Valuing the invisible
Agricultural systems deliver many benefits to society. An industrial cornfield in the United States might yield several hundred bushels of corn per year for processing into foodstuffs animal grain or ethanol which could be exported and consumed halfway across the planet. Meanwhile a cooperative of small-scale cocoa farms in the Congo Basin could feed up to 80 per cent of the local population employ dozens of producers and sustain the livelihoods of countless local families.
Green means grassroots
It’s good that the discourse on the green economy is starting to put more of an emphasis on inclusion viewing the benefits of transition not just from an environmental perspective but also for its social and economic outcomes. But if we are going to achieve an inclusive green economy we must first be inclusive in shaping its agenda.
UNEP at work
Although industrial economies remain at the heart of the world’s sustainability challenges emerging economies are playing an increasingly prominent role in influencing global sustainable development.
Towards low-emission development
Historically Costa Rica has been proactive in climate change negotiations. It announced in 2007 its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2021. And in September last year in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) the country proposed ambitious emissions reductions and climate action through the year 2050 setting the country on a path towards an effective de-carbonization of its economy.