Events

Every year, about 8 million tonnes of plastic waste streams its way into the oceans. The high and rapidly growing quantities of marine plastic litter and microplastics represent a serious environmental and socio-economic issue affecting marine life, ecosystems, health, food security, the tourism sector and livelihoods. The impacts know no boundaries, spanning the national, regional and even international scale.

This webinar will Introduce the UNEP IUCN National Guidance for Plastic Pollution Hotspotting and Shaping Action and the concepts of plastic pollution measurement. Attendees will discover how the Guidance and toolkit have been used to date, with one example from Asia and Africa shared. The sessions will include 30 minutes for audience Q and A. The webinar sessions will be recorded and posted online.

Join the Reef Resilience Network for Wastewater 101, the second webinar in a series on ocean sewage pollution. Christopher Clapp of The Nature Conservancy will provide an introduction to the basics of wastewater, including an overview of terminology, how septic systems work (and fail), and how wastewater is managed, treated, and discharged into our oceans directly and indirectly.

There are many factors that affect the region's access to water and sanitation including affordability, insufficient resources to deal with climate change and shocks to the natural environment and physical infrastructure.  Hear how UNEP is closing the gaps and improving access for all. Speakers:

There is an inextricable link between COVID-19, wastewater, and sanitation. So far, the pandemic has highlighted the challenges related to the water and sanitation sector, including for example the need for investing in wastewater reuse, safe collection, transportation and disposal of wastewater and sludge, and to enhance awareness-raising around these topics.   Date: Wednesday, 30 September 2020 Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Nairobi time (EAT)

The unprecedented recent invasion of Sargassum seaweed, free-floating brown seaweed that blossoms naturally in the warm waters of the Sargasso Sea, on coastal shores in West Africa and Caribbean shores is being attributed to factors that include warming of the ocean due to global climate change, discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from agricultural run-off and wastewater originating from point sources and from major river basins such as the Congo and Amazon Rivers, and the deposition of iron and nutrient-rich Saharan dust on the ocean.

Can the Caribbean successfully implement electric/clean mobility? Hear from the MOVE( Movilidad Electrica en Latinoamerica) team some of the challenges and associated opportunities and how UNEP has been helping with implementation in various islands. 

From 24th – 28th August 2020, the German development cooperation agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) will host a 5-day virtual conference titled Week on Water for Development (WW4D). The event offers a platform for thematic exchange on water-related topics with more than 25 diverse sessions of multi-faceted stakeholders in international cooperation.

Lets talk about challenges and opportunities in the recovery and resilience efforts of Caribbean islands as well as how others can improve their resilience to natural disasters and other emergencies. Agenda Topics Include: Building Resilience to Natural Disasters in the Caribbean: Dan Stothart

Hear about the latest 2020 coral bleaching outlook and regional commitments and policies addressing climate change.  Learn about new technologies, research on heat tolerance, photogrammetry and meterological models applied to coral reefs. Date: July 28, 2020 Time: 11:00 - 12:30 ET Watch Webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLM9sqk095c

The unprecedented recent invasion of Sargassum seaweed, free-floating brown seaweed that blossoms naturally in the warm waters of the Sargasso Sea, on coastal shores in West Africa and Caribbean shores is being attributed to factors that include warming of the ocean due to global climate change, discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from agricultural run-off and wastewater originating from point sources and from major river basins such as the Congo and Amazon Rivers, and the deposition of iron and nutrient-rich Saharan dust on the ocean.

This event is the concluding webinar of a series focusing on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEF). These webinars aimed at providing a throughout understanding of why implementing the WEF is essential for human well-being, poverty alleviation, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The webinar will provide the audience with the opportunity to engage in a final discussion with the experts, some of them who joined the previous webinars, regarding the WEF Nexus. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, 8 July 2020, 3:00-4:30 PM EAT.

1st Day of Steering Committee Meeting Date: July 1, 2020 Time: 8:30am - 1:30pm (Jamaica Time) 2nd Day of Steering Committee Meeting Date: July 2, 2020 Time: 8:30am - 1:30pm (Jamaica Time) Photo Credit:Visual Hunt

This virtual seminar will present monitoring and regulation measures for the conservation of herbivorous fish, essential to maintaining the health and ecological functions of coral reefs. You’ll hear from experts working for reef conservation in the Mesoamerican Reef System, Bonaire Island and other territories of the Wider Caribbean Region. Thursday. June 25th, 2020

This Workshop aims to discuss the development of an AmeriGEO oil spill information system for the Wider Caribbean. In recent years, the Wider Caribbean region has faced challenges from oil spill incidents including a recent event where oil washed up on thousands of kilometers of Brazil’s coastline from an unknown source and multiple spills originating from Trinidad and Tobago. Illegal dumping of oil-contaminated waste by ships operating in the region is also a common occurrence.

In light of the rapidly approaching hurricane season and the current global and regional health and economic climate, this month’s webinar focuses on building resilience in Caribbean Countries through nature-based solutions to climate change and disaster resilience and recovery efforts. Agenda Topics Include: Introduction to UNEP’s Climate Change Portfolio & Caribbean Efforts: Gustavo Manez

According to The Ocean Conservancy, 8m tonnes of plastic is entering the ocean every year. The impact on the ocean is well publicised, and encouraging steps are being taken to eliminate plastic waste and pollution. The future of plastics in the ocean will be determined by the way plastics are managed on land – the problem must be addressed throughout the supply chain, and end to end solutions found.

Antigua and Barbuda, Norway and the Maldives will launch the new Group of Friends to Combat Plastic Pollution on World Ocean Day, 8 June 2020. Plastic production has skyrocketed, going from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to 380 million metric tons in 2015 and is expected to further triple in the next two decades.

Join GPML-Caribe as they present as part of the 2020 Global Partnership on Marine Litter Webinar Series Topics:

The webinar will explore the role of UNEP in the Caribbean regarding the conservation of biodiversity and their habitats and promote concepts and values that encourage the audience to understand the role of each species in maintaining ecosystem balance and the importance of protecting them Agenda Topics Include: