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Life on Land
Keeping faith with nature
Three childhood experiences set me on the course to working to restore degraded land through helping to connect people to nature. My mother’s strong and unwavering faith helped me to appreciate that life was about more than what we could accumulate in the present and that we could trust a loving heavenly father for all our needs. The abuse of beautiful forests and mountain streams seemed to be an expression of greed and disregard for future generations. Watching news programs showing children just like me going hungry seemed mad in a world of plenty.
Making gold greener?
Poorly regulated gold mining is spreading around the world. Every day millions of artisanal and small-scale gold miners work extremely hard in often poor conditions and without the protective framework of formal labour market standards. By evening the vast majority have harvested only miniscule amounts of gold if anything at all. But the economic incentives are still attractive. Since ancient times gold has continuously been used as a source of long-term investment and it has now found its way into modern technologies and industry including computers cell phones and medical equipment. Global financial turmoil has helped more than double the price of an ounce of gold from $500 to well over $1000 over the past decade. Many poor people in rural areas have shifted their attention from agriculture to mining as a source of livelihood.
Matters of judgement
An independent judiciary in a political and legal system that values integrity and transparency is vital in addressing environmental degradation and in upholding the environmental rule of law worldwide. In an urban planning case at the National High Court of Brazil the court stated a view that I believe to be true in all areas of environmental law.
Ethical business works best
Forty-four years ago my parents joined the Government of Malaysia's settler programme administered by the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) a decision that has had a big influence on my life right up to today.
Blood gold
Day or night? It makes no difference in the Amazon gold rush. The clatter of the hundreds of engines that pump water in search of the precious metal never stops. By day enormous trucks move the earth where forests once stood; by night the soil is washed with hundreds of cubic metres of water to extract the gold. Informal mining camps extend into Peru Colombia Bolivia and Brazil destroying the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world and poisoning the land inhabited by hundreds of indigenous peoples with mercury. Huge tracts of tropical rainforest have become graveyards for trees drenched in the toxic metal.
Delivering on the mission
“No matter how minuscule or how vast only protection will make them last. We need to help the ones that can't help themselves because they become extinct so fast.”
Good connections
In 2012 I was invited to join a safari at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Lion prides cheetah coalitions and herds of buffalo and giraffes walk freely there. Majestic African elephants also roam the conservancy’s terrain but in far smaller numbers than they once did.
Green and fair
The richest 1 per cent of the world’s population now controls 50 per cent of global assets while the poorest half owns just 1 per cent – and that gap is set to widen. At the same time 60 per cent of the world’s ecosystems are degraded. If ever there was a need to rewrite the economic rulebook it’s now.
Innovation 01. Tracking progress
Open access to data and knowledge is fundamental to the transition to a vibrant and inclusive green economy. Such access enables all stakeholders to better understand and participate in the collection use and analysis of data. That’s why UNEP has developed UNEP Live (uneplive.unep.org) a web-based knowledge management platform that gives users access to substantiated contextualized data about sustainable consumption and production patterns and economic performance. Such information which looks beyond growth in income and GDP to include human well-being can be a powerful tool for policy-makers.
Prosecute climate crimes
Criminal justice can help achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change as part of an integrated approach from governments private businesses finance science civil society and others.
Greener finance
The Paris Agreement has sent clear signals to markets and to the financial sector that more than 190 countries are going to vigorously pursue the transition to a low-carbon economy that’s resilient to mounting climate change. It is no longer a question of if this transition will happen but of how fast. Some of the key changes required lie outside the financial sector such as changing relative prices of harmful goods and services vis-à-vis those that benefit the environment and the development of new technologies to facilitate changes in consumption patterns. Finance however has an important role to play.
Clearing the air
Ninety-eight per cent of cities with more than 100000 inhabitants in low and middle income countries do not meet World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines concludes the WHO Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database 2016 update. In high-income countries however that percentage decreases to 56 per cent. In South Asia air pollution is especially acute in such countries as China Indonesia and India requiring State authorities to take immediate action to safeguard the health of their citizens. Long-term health effects include respiratory diseases like lung cancer and even damage to the brain and an increased risk of heart disease. A WHO study estimated that about 12.6 million deaths in the year 2012 could be linked to an unhealthy environment. India's Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 defines air pollution as “the presence in the atmosphere of any air pollutant” and an air pollutant as “any solid liquid or gaseous substance including noise present in the atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living creatures or plants or property or environment.”
Leading the way
People across the globe celebrated the signing of the United Nations climate accord in Paris in December. It was truly a landmark event and I was proud to be a part of the Local Climate Leaders Circle of Mayors representing my city and others across the United States.
Catching crime
Indonesia the world’s largest archipelago – consisting of approximately 17000 islands spread across nearly 2 million square kilometres – also holds at over 80000 km its second longest coastline. Sixty per cent of its population lives in the coastal area. So it is no surprise that fishing is one of our biggest economic activities. And soon after Joko Widodo was elected as the President of the Republic of Indonesia he made a political commitment to reclaim the nation's status as a global maritime axis.
Protecting people through nature
For too long we have been told that conserving the environment comes at the expense of economic opportunities for people. But the world’s new commitment to sustainable development clearly shows that humanity is waking up to the fact that social economic and environmental agendas are intrinsically linked.
Environmental champion
We have reached an essential turning point in our journey to save the planet as we know it. More than 175 global leaders have now signed onto the historic climate agreement reached in Paris last December. Having been at the UN for the signing event on April 22nd I am filled with hope – but I’m also fighting a growing sense of dread.
UNEP at work. The big picture
Everyone in the environmental community recognizes the urgent challenges facing the planet – but how do you spread the word to a truly global audience?
Green innovation
The need to strike a balance between increasing demand for natural resources and environmental sustainability has opened new opportunities for Malaysia to grow economically. Under its eleventh economic plan 2016-2020 a green economy – one that aims to reduce ecological risks and address resource scarcities – has been identified as one of the main drivers for development. In line with this new approach emphasis is given to innovation for creating more environmentally friendly industries to enable the growth to take place. Thus eco-innovation is to be nurtured in the spirit of this green economy to support attaining the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) especially those related to responsible consumption and production and action on climate change.
UNEP at work. Women, water and peace
The Darfur region of Sudan is no stranger to violence. More than a decade of conflict has driven millions of people from their homes and many have settled in North Darfur’s Wadi El Ku one of the region’s largest seasonal riverbeds.
Beating pollution by redesign
Over 8 million tons of plastic pollute the oceans each year. The problem is so severe that if nothing changes there could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. We must urgently rethink how we make and use this ubiquitous material now a staple of our modern economy. The appetite to take action is real: public and private sector financial commitments to combat ocean pollution made at the European Union's Our Ocean conference this year for instance totalled 7.2 billion euros. Yet if cleaning up is a short-term necessity only a whole system reset will provide a long-term solution to plastics pollution and the economic losses associated with it.
A clean environment for all
The world’s governments have pledged to build a better future where no one is left behind yet the most basic conditions for people to survive and thrive are out of reach for many. Over 90 per cent of us breathe dirty air and over 90 per cent of those who die as a result are in low- and middle- income countries with women and young children disproportionally affected.
Regaining ground
Over hundreds of years industrial activities including mining chemical production manufacturing of consumer goods and agriculture introduced pollutants into the soil contaminating it along with groundwater often over large areas. Past practices were different from today's: waste was dumped in an uncontrolled way or used in applications that are no longer acceptable while unabated emissions to air and water had widespread impacts on surrounding populations and the environment.
Waste not …
The consumer goods industry has entered an era of responsibility where companies consumers governments and non-governmental organizations are collaborating more and more frequently to address some of the biggest challenges facing the world. We now have a better understanding of the wide-ranging impacts of the manufacture and use of consumer goods. Companies like Procter & Gamble are continually refining their approach to developing manufacturing and marketing products more responsibly and encouraging mindful consumption of the everyday products that many of us often take for granted.
Transforming work
B The last twelve months have seen the beginning of a profoundly significant evolution in the way economic and social policies are made.
The weight of cities
How do we prepare for the doubling of the global urban population by 2050? By dramatically rethinking urbanism and its governance. That means designing cities for people not cars; allowing everyone access to urban opportunities; investing in resource-efficient buildings transport energy water and waste systems; and enabling cities to experiment and to learn from each other.
Clearing the air
Humankind's future will largely be decided in cities. Half the world's population already lives in them and by 2050 this will have risen to 70 per cent. Cities are where global challenges and problems are concentrated: they consume three quarters of the world's resources and generate three quarters of all emissions.
Keeping water fresh
Guaranteeing safely managed clean water and sanitation for everyone remains one of the biggest global challenges that are solvable in our lifetimes. But we must prioritize collaboration and monitoring.
Free of plastic bags
Kenya faces major challenges in waste management. Most urban centres lack basic waste management structures and open dumping is the most popular option. A close look at problematic waste at roadsides rivers dumpsites and most public spaces revealed that polythene bags were most widespread. Scientists claim that polythene bags take over 1000 years to decompose: hence the earliest ones are still with us somewhere in the environment.
Reflections
If pollution was simply about having to put up with a bad odour or some unsightly smog it could be considered tolerable. The sad fact however is that it’s also sending millions to an early grave.
Reflections
Just after World Wildlife Day this year armed poachers broke into a French zoo undetected by staff and security shot a white rhinoceros and stole the murdered animal’s precious horn.
Our planet, final reflections
This is the final time I will contribute to Our Planet as Executive Director of UNEP. It’s a bittersweet moment. I am sad to leave behind such a tremendous team of colleagues and friends who work so passionately to protect our planet and improve the well-being of its peoples. But I am also very fortunate to have been able to lead work with and learn from that team over the last ten years. It’s a decade that has seen environmental tragedy turnaround and triumph. UNEP as the global authority on the environment has been integral to those stories and successes. So for my last contribution to Our Planet I would like to reflect on why three stories give me hope for the future. They stand for countless others I have encountered during these years.
Scoring a goal
Last autumn in Dubai the Parties to the Montreal Protocol representing every country in the world agreed to work to amend the treaty in 2016 to phase down the highly potent greenhouse gases called HFCs. With negotiations having started in Geneva in April and expected to be completed later this year the nations of the world are now on the verge of scoring a major goal for the climate system and for sustainable development worldwide.
A new era
People are used to celebrating the start of a new year with resolutions for change; with goals for improvement welfare and progress; with optimism and a constructive and proactive spirit. We do so from our past experiences – evaluating achievements learning from failures and overcoming frustrations. We assume the present from the achievements and lessons learned and aim for a better future.
The opportunity of the commons
We know about the “tragedy of the commons”. But how about the opportunity they present? The crisis facing the ultimate global commons – the very conditions that make human civilization and economic prosperity possible – confronts us with the necessity of making our societies and economies more sustainable and less inequitable
Superheroes of our own
The white-coated scientist explained calmly to the trigger-happy superheroes that the deadly menace they had come to Earth to fight was already under control.
A race against the clock
Air pollution causes millions of premature deaths worldwide every year as confirmed in each of the recent Global Burden of Disease surveys by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation the world's most comprehensive epidemiological database. The economic cost as calculated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and in other authoritative studies runs into trillions of dollars.
Bringing a sea change
Few will forget the day in April 2010 a BP oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil gushed for 87 days and the world reacted with horror. Birds fish and marine mammals lay lifeless along the coastline consumed by the deadly waste. It was one of the worst environmental disasters in the history of the United States.
Young champions of the Earth
Young Champions of the Earth is a forward-looking initiative designed to breathe life into the ambitions of brilliant young environmentalists. In this inaugural year six young people – one from each global region – have been selected to receive mentorship specialized training and $15000 in seed funding to bring their big ideas to life. UN Environment has partnered with Covestro a world-leading supplier of high-tech polymer materials to develop and run the initiative. In addition to seed funding for each Young Champion the winners are put through an incubator training programme and are offered mentorship by Covestro staff.
The environment's parliament
The United Nations Environment Assembly has been called the“Parliament of the Environment.” The highest level of authority on the environment in the United Nations system it is a unique and inclusive body that brings together high-level decision makers civil society experts business representatives and others from all countries of the world to find solutions to the most pressing environmental problems. It is so much more than just another United Nations body. It has the potential to be a global coalition of institutions and organizations supported by individuals united in combating environmental deterioration and pollution for the sake of future generations.
Tackling short-lived climate pollutants
Since 2014 Chile’s Ministry of Environment has focused on three objectives: identifying and addressing the climate effects of air pollution; taking a leading role on addressing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs); and working to integrate these two concepts at both the local and global level.
The Singapore story
Singapore has come a long way in its journey towards sustainability. In the 1960s Singapore was like any other developing country of that time – dirty and polluted lacking proper sanitation and facing high unemployment. These challenges were more acute for Singapore given our constraints as a small island city-state with no natural resources.
Dramatic turnaround
One November afternoon the Portland City Council chambers were filled with men and women in suits serious and practical. Standing out in the crowd were two middle school girls poised but nervous. One of them 12-yearold Isabel walked to the testimony table and spoke: “If we don’t take action now we will never grasp the opportunity to stop climate change. This is our future.”
Healthy cities
Health needs to be an integral part of Habitat III the Third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and of its outcome.
UN environment at work. District energy: A tried-and-tested answer to modern urban energy problems
In homes and workplaces schools and hospitals technologies such as boilers and air-conditioners consume vast amounts of energy. Indeed half the energy buildings use is for heating and cooling and most of this comes from fossil fuels burned in buildings’ individual boilers and in power plants on the outskirts of our cities. Citizens cities and countries are starting to take real action to move away from this status quo to more sustainable solutions and this monumental shift is cutting greenhouse gas emissions cleaning our air saving money and reducing energy imports.
Empowering the vulnerable
Many cities in the developing world lack the capacity to adapt in the face of emerging climate variability caught in a perfect storm of population growth escalating adaptation needs and substantial development deficits. In South Africa these challenges have been exacerbated by a legacy of formalised racial division that has created widespread social economic and environmental injustice.
Pollution's toll
In 2015 according to the Global Burden of Disease study over 9 million deaths — 16 per cent of the total — were attributable to pollution specifically to lack of access to clean water and sanitation household burning of solid fuels for cooking outdoor air pollution or exposure to lead. Virtually all deaths due to lack of safe water and sanitation and three-quarters of those due to indoor air pollution occurred in either low or low-middle income countries as did half the deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution. Upper-middle income countries accounted for just one-quarter of deaths due to indoor and 40 per cent of deaths associated with outdoor air pollution.
Shaping tomorrow’s cities
I recently visited one of China's eco-cities and was impressed by its highly efficient buildings and use of renewable energy for street lighting. However this newly built city is struggling to attract people largely due to lack of accessibility to public transport and its distance from jobs. The city’s urban planner told me that the isolation of this “eco-enclave” could have been avoided if a more holistic approach had been taken early in the planning stage including considering various aspects of land management urban services connectivity and jobs.
Bouncing back
In these rapidly changing times as the effects of climate change and population growth challenge urban areas we need a new paradigm for cities. They must be resilient to adapt and thrive.
Going for 100%
Oxford County is a sleepy little farming county in the agricultural heart of southwestern Ontario Canada. Some 4000 km away San Diego is a Californian metropolis of 1.4 million dubbed the “City of Villages” for its many distinct communities. Across the Atlantic Osnabrück Germany is home to a Volkswagen car plant and known as the “City of Peace” for its role in ending the 17th century Thirty Years' War.
UN environment at work. Share the road: Putting pedestrians and cyclists first
Every 30 seconds someone dies in a road crash. That’s over 1.2 million people every year dying on the world’s roads. The World Health Organization’s Global Road Safety Report of 2015 shows that worst still half of these deaths are vulnerable road users – pedestrians cyclists and motorcyclists. Tragically 500 children die every day in road crashes.
Reacting to chemicals
Toxic chemicals threaten current and future generations. To protect them we must change course by shifting our chemical practices to a more sustainable model.
Innovation. Redesigning cities
Cities are innovation hubs. They provide the setting the stimulus and the substance for people to come together and exchange and develop new ideas. Cultural diversity universities informal meeting places and key pressure points spur the investigation into new approaches. Access to capital and shorter decision-making processes help the best of them become a reality. In this way cities have spawned so many new trends.
Cities are ecosystems
Cities are often perceived as monuments of human disregard for the natural world the very antithesis of nature. But urban biodiversity has become a sustainability indicator and the importance of urban green governance is increasingly apparent.
UN environment creative. Dreaming up the city we want to live in
Maskbook is an artistic initiative which invites people to take an ordinary dust or pollution mask and transform it from a symbol of fear into a symbol of hope. Chinese artist and photographer Wen Fang gave the initiative its name: “In China since we all wear masks to protect us against the pollution we say that Facebook for us should be renamed Maskbook.”
Reflections
In 1996 when the United Nations held its last conference on the urban environment Habitat II the city of Nairobi had some 800000 inhabitants. At that time the ride from the airport to UN Environment headquarters on the other side of the city was something of a mini-safari.
It starts here
In recent decades there has been an unprecedented increase in the proportion and number of people living in urban environments. In 2014 54 per cent of the world's people were urban dwellers compared to 34 per cent in 1960. This trend is expected to continue while the global population is predicted to grow from 6.1 billion in 2000 to 9.7 billion in 2050 and the size of the urban area expected to triple within the next two decades. It is clear that cities are where our future is going to be decided. This places a large burden of responsibility on us as administrators and decision-makers looking at how we shape our cities now and in the future.
Environmental champion
It is the largest peacetime clean-up operation in history. On 6 August nearly 500 people descended on Mumbai's Versova Beach and removed vast amounts of rubbish.
Secretary-General's Message to the third UN Environment Assembly
We have the right to live in a clean environment. We expect to be able to eat drink and breathe without risking our health. Yet we continue to pollute our air land waterways and oceans. We trigger sand and dust storms due to climate change and environmental degradation. We use dangerous chemicals and substances in everyday objects. We inflict global suffering that is inexcusable preventable and reversible.
Seizing the opportunity
Habitat III the Third International Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development offers the world an exceptional opportunity to rethink the sustainability of our urban model. It is largely recognized that cities have become the main driver of economic development. Yet an analysis of the urbanization of the last two decades reveals that current urban practices are unsustainable: our cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy produce more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions and consume much more land than is needed with consequent environmental impacts.
UN environment at work. Ecosystems for urban resilience
Cities depend on their surrounding bio-physical landscape utilising goods and services provided to urban populations from ecosystems. These include provisioning services such as food and water; regulating services such as climate and flood control; supporting services such as nutrient cycling and crop pollination; and cultural services such as connecting urban inhabitants to natural values. The health of the ecological system within and surrounding the city influences the health of the city itself. UN Environment recognises that building the resilience of urban populations depends on how climate and non-climate drivers are tackled together. The management of urban and surrounding peri-urban ecosystems has the potential to contribute significantly to the overall resilience of the city to climate change and other pressures.
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.
Conserving the world’s roof
It was a chilly February day. Dangwen and his wildlife monitoring team from the village of Yunta patrolled along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The river was frozen solid easy for poachers to walk over. That day they encountered 220 blue sheep five white-lipped deer and a line of otter footprints. On the infrared camera traps that they had set up throughout the valley three snow leopards appeared a mother and two cubs – and the cubs had grown much bigger than three months before.
UN environment at work. Making environmental law work for planet and people
Violations of environmental law including environmental crimes can undermine sustainable development and the achievement of agreed goals and objectives at all levels. Though hundreds of treaties national laws and regulations exist to address environmental problems there are major challenges when it comes to implementing and complying with them. The fifth Global Environment Outlook reported for example that significant progress has only been made on four of the 90 most important global environmental goals and objectives. The consequences of this shortfall can be seen in the increasing environmental pressures from climate change biodiversity loss water scarcity air and water pollution and soil degradation among others. These environmental impacts all have far reaching economic and socialconsequences and contribute to poverty and growing social inequalities.
Strengthening environmental justice
Being rich in natural resources is a tremendous blessing for Indonesia that brings prosperity and hope to the people. In addition to being the world's largest archipelagic country Indonesia hosts a tropical forest area of more than 120 million hectares the most extensive in Asia and the world's third largest. Indonesia is also abundantly rich in maritime resources potential: ocean comprises no less than twothirds of the country’s territory. Together these ecosystems comprise immense mega biodiversity across the country’s extensive rain forests and rich coastal and marine areas.
Alive to solutions
In 2015 engineering student Jorge Zapote and his team from the University of Calgary decided to take on a problem that affects millions of poor rural families around the world – and one whose solution could be key to remedying climate change. They wanted to find a low-cost way of keeping fruit and vegetables cool and fresh in low-resource settings without using electricity.
UNEP at work. Costing the gender gap
Women form a large proportion of the agricultural labour force in sub-Saharan Africa and play a vital role in ensuring family nutrition and food security. But gender-based inequalities in access to and control of productive and financial resources are inhibiting agricultural productivity and reducing food security. At the same time a changing climate means that there is a shrinking window to close the gender gap in agriculture and seize the prospects for promoting women’s empowerment economic development and resilience to shocks.
Creating green growth
I’d first like to pay tribute to Maurice Strong an accomplished industrious Canadian who passed away last November. He was the guiding force behind the 1972 Stockholm Conference where the foundations of UNEP were created and he was also UNEP’s first Executive Director. Canada is proud of Maurice Strong’s legacy and of the contribution he made to the founding of this great institution.
Undermining progress
In 1990 at the end of the bush war in Angola and Namibia we fought criminals and militants involved in trafficking natural resources who were hiding from the government and police. Of course both these authorities harboured some corrupt individuals: we vividly recall handing over armed suspects to a local police chief in an African border town only for them to be let out again – with their assault rifles – the day after we left. But now things have changed for the worse.
Take the lead on lead
Environmental injustices are mostly experienced by low income groups who are at the receiving end of poor technologies and banned chemicals and whose main preoccupation is survival. They handle unknown chemicals using their bare hands and lack sufficient knowledge of their toxicity. In most cases the chemicals pose significant health risks to them their families and nearby communities. The resulting chemical wastes are disposed of directly into the immediate environment. There is little regulation and access to state social protection training and social services is limited.
Beyond GDP
In September last year the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be met by the year 2030. These range from poverty eradication and improvements in education and health to the protection of global assets including the oceans and a stable climate. However neither the SDGs nor their background documents explain how governments should judge the sustainability of the development programmes they undertake to meet the goals. It is currently taken as a given that the only way the SDGs can be met is for the world economy to enjoy healthy rates of economic growth. Unfortunately it is universal practice to interpret economic growth as growth in gross domestic product (GDP).
Taking practical action
Wildlife is a crucial part of natural ecosystems and is directly related to global ecological security cultural inheritance and sustainable development. Indeed wildlife conservation is an important symbol of the development of human civilization. Yet the global illegal wildlife trade is still rampant and the international community must work together to cope with it. For years the Chinese government has given high attention to wildlife conservation and made consistent efforts to address the illegal trade. In the first place it has been constantly improving the laws and regulations and setting severe punishments for illegal hunting trading smuggling and using wildlife and its products. A new amendment of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Wildlife Protection has increased punishment for illegal consumption and online wildlife trade. Secondly we have well established enforcement and coordination mechanisms. Our Inter-agency Joint Mechanism for Addressing Illegal Wildlife Trade consisting of over 20 departments has been set up to carry out comprehensive regulation.
Go circular
The circular economy is a tangible set of solutions – and our best chance of reaching sustainable patterns of production and consumption. The implications are enormous not just for the way we do business but also for the jobs of the future and for the natural world that surrounds us.
Innovation 01. The air we breathe
Every year nearly 4 million people die from outdoor air pollution – that’s more than are killed by AIDS malaria and tuberculosis combined. Nearly 90 per cent of those deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries which typically lack the capacity to monitor the quality of their air.
Lighting the way
The Dominican Republic emits less than 0.1% of global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) but as part of an island the country is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change through increased temperatures sea level rise and rainfall variability. Studies have shown that the country is already experiencing the effects of climate change through the increased intensity and frequency of tropical storms. The Dominican Republic has been classified as the eighth country in the world that was most affected by extreme weather events between 1993 and 2012. In view of the above the country has come up with a set of policies aimed at preserving existing resources achieving the objectives of sustainable development and increasing the resilience of ecosystems and human communities to the adverse effects of climate change. In all of these policies consensus and the participation of all sectors of society has been critical.
Time to deliver
Two years ago I was honoured to participate in the inaugural United Nations Environment Assembly the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment comprising all 193 United Nations Member States and involving major stakeholders from business and civil society. The establishment of the UNEA by the 2012 Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development marked a coming of age for both UNEP and global environmental governance. It was testimony to the growing recognition that without careful management of the environment we will not succeed in our efforts to reduce poverty improve global health and secure enduring peace and stability.
The Africa we want
“Go softly in the world: if it is harmed it cannot return.” This traditional African proverb reflects an awakening understanding in the continent that the environment is key to unlocking its great potential. So far despite being filled with vast natural resources Africa has been unable to harness them to bring about long-lasting peace prosperity and good governance. But this is beginning to change.
The environmental dimension of peace
It is not by coincidence that Colombia is placing the protection and sustainable use of our biodiversity at the centre of our long-term development plans. Our natural endowment is among the most diverse in the world: with only 1 per cent of the planet’s surface our territory harbours 10 per cent of all known species and a forest area comparable to the size of Kenya.
Refashioning the future
2015 marked a remarkable moment in governance for sustainable development. The world gained a set of universally agreed goals an agreement on how they would be paid for and another agreement again universal that we would manage the global economy so as to limit warming to well below 2°C.
Natural cure
This amazing spinning ball of rock and water hurtling through space at more than 100000 kilometres an hour provides us with everything we need to live and be healthy. It’s a delicate balance with various interconnected natural systems — hydrologic and carbon cycles ocean and atmospheric currents among them — creating ideal conditions for human life.
If you eat, you’re in!
What wouldn't we do for our kids? We play in the park cut down on sugar walk them home from school talk around that all-important dinner table - the stuff of everyday life that shows we care.
Connecting in nature
Canada has 46 national parks and reserves 171 national historic sites and four national marine conservation areas adding up to 300000 square kilometres of protected areas. They represent the country's massive yet varied landscapes from the towering mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta to the sparkling sands of Sable Island National Park Reserve off Nova Scotia to the lush rain forest of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve on the coast of British Columbia. All these places tell Canada's ecological and cultural story. As its population becomes increasingly urban – and with the average park over two hours from a city – the need is to make more visiting opportunities available.