From promoting innovative eco-design to banning the use of single-use plastic straws, efforts to curb plastic pollution are as ubiquitous as plastic itself. However, the problem is not going away. It is time to adopt a new strategy.
There was a time when industrial agriculture seemed to be a panacea for a fast-growing world. Synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides and high-yield cereal hybrids promised to reduce hunger, accommodate growing populations and stimulate economic prosperity. Between 1960 and 2015, agricultural production more than tripled, resulting in an abundance of low-cost fare and averting global food shortages.
9 July 2020 – Niigata, Japan: The Task Force on Soil and Vegetation Monitoring of EANET has published a review on air pollution and tree and forest decline in East Asia.
While working for the decades-old family fashion business, Sissi Chao had an experience that literally took her breath away.
“Not long after I started, I started visiting our fabric suppliers,” said Chao. “I could hardly breathe, even before I got in the building. It was awful. Every supplier was the same. And I knew that all of this pollution was going into the environment.”
On the 30th June 2020, 1,900 young people joined together at the Virtual Youth Summit in India to celebrate their completion of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge in India. The challenge is a global initiative to educate young people about plastic pollution.
In their efforts to stave off a second wave of COVID-19, scientists from around the world have turned to a new ally: sewage.
In the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Spain, researchers are poring over samples of wastewater for signs of the coronavirus, which is believed to be shed in human feces.
On 26 June, individuals, governments, companies and other organizations celebrate World Refrigeration Day, which raises awareness about the significant role that refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumps play in modern life.
Bush fires in Australia, typhoons in the Pacific, droughts in Africa, melting glaciers in the Arctic. Climate change continues to make headlines across the globe yet many people still find it hard to understand it as many of these events are remote from their daily lives.
Bangkok, 23 June 2020 – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Food Industry Asia (FIA) today released a regional survey of consumers and food and beverage businesses across South-East Asia that shows a significant disconnect between expectation and action on reducing plastic waste.
To mark Micro-, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises Day, which falls on 27 June, we are profiling entrepreneurs who are helping to tackle some of the planet’s most pressing environmental issues.
World Oceans Day 2020 encourages ‘Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean’. With eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean ever year, innovation is critical to find new approaches to waste management, especially as the world looks to build back better after COVID-19.
COVID-19 lockdowns have confined people to their homes across the world. For some, this causes stress and mental anguish. People need greenery: research shows that green spaces in and around cities have mental health benefits.
From the smallest parasitic bacterium living in the bladder of a primate to the blue whale - biodiversity refers to the vast variety of life on this planet.
Despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working with partners on the next round of global data collection for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation.
“The global coronavirus pandemic, which has already caused unimaginable devastation and hardship, has brought our way of life to an almost complete halt.
Bangkok, 25 May 2020 – Japan and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today announced a new cooperative effort to tackle plastic pollution across Asia and support post-conflict environmental recovery in Iraq and South Sudan. Japan will contribute US$6.9 million to four UNEP-led projects.
In the lead up to World Environment Day, UNEP welcomes bold commitments for a sustainable future. Here’s what some leaders said at the recent virtual Petersberg Climate Dialogue.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stands with those suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. UNEP is responding in a number of ways, including by supporting global efforts to protect biodiversity, to put an end to the illegal trade in wildlife, to safeguard the handling of chemicals and waste and to promote economic recovery plans that take nature and the climate emergency into account.
The need for providing safe infrastructure for walking and cycling cannot be over-stated. Walking and cycling are efficient modes of transport both for health and climate benefits.