News

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.

Fashion is one of the most visible industries on our planet. What we wear marks who we are. The novelty has come with a price.

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.

Talented artists from across Europe put their art to the service of the environment in a competition held for World Environment Day  

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 COVID-19 crisis is a reminder of the intimate relationship between humans, animals and the environment.

“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.

With the world in waves of COVID-19, the issue of health has dominated public attention.

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.

As large parts of the world hunker down and social distance to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, more and more research is being released and studied suggesting that we can build back better to create a healthy, resilient, prosperous, just, and decarbonized world after the current crisis dies down.

If the world has seen a scary future with the emergence of COVID-19, the future of our planet in a 3-4° C scenario takes us to an entirely different level of uncertainty, including in terms of health.

Global renewable power growth outpaced fossil fuel growth by a factor of 2.6 in 2019, says new report

The plight of Iraq’s 1.4 million displaced people just got worse. As the coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, displaced persons are particularly vulnerable.

Fiscal stimulus packages in Europe to “build back better” after the coronavirus pandemic provide an opportunity for initiating a transformational and green recovery with the creation of green jobs. One such investment opportunity is in sector coupling.

Interview with Keith Alverson, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Environmental Technology Centre in Osaka, Japan.

Did you know that around 60 per cent of all infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic, as are 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases, in other words they come to us via animals?

Did you know that 60 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic, in other words they come to us via animals? Zoonoses that emerged or re-emerged recently are Ebola, bird flu, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the Nipah virus, Rift Valley fever, sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), West Nile virus, Zika virus disease, and, now, the coronavirus. They are all linked to human activity.

Interview with Pushpam Kumar, United Nations Environment Programme, Chief Environmental Economist.

Schools and gatherings are being cancelled around the world as a result of the Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Outbreak. It can be difficult to occupy your children with exciting activities for hours on end, especially when you may also be working from home.