News

Women make up 30% of the global artisanal and small-scale gold mining workforce, and they have critical roles to play in the movement to #MakeMercuryHistory & to safeguard communities from unsafe mining practices. Projects in the planetGOLD programme promote the participation and advancement of women who choose to work in this mining sector in order to provide for themselves and their families.

Cambodia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago have united to drive the transformation and eliminate the environmental impact of fashion and construction. Fashion and construction are among the top three sectors contributing to pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, land degradation, water pollution and biodiversity loss.  $340 million initiative will transform resource-intensi

Findings from the new Global Nitrous Oxide Assessment (N₂O) warns that without urgent action on rising N₂O emissions, there is no viable pathway to limiting global warming to 1.5°C, and provides tangible tools to reduce emissions by more than 40% from current levels. The assessment shows that N₂O is currently the most significant oz

New contributions from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Québec announced at COP16.

The support from Québec is the GBFF’s first pledge from a sub-national government.

The GBFF now has 12 contributors including Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, and Spain.

In memory of tropical scientist Gustavo Fonseca and his contributions to biodiversity conservation, the Global Environment Facility has established the Fonseca Leadership Program. Named in honor of the GEF’s long-serving Director of Programs who passed away in 2022, the program builds on partnerships with several existing institutional programs dedicated to producing and supporting the next generation of conservationists.

A couple of years ago, in the turquoise waters off the coastal village of Mahébourg in Mauritius, a Japanese oil tanker ran aground.  

In the small coastal town of Guapi, Colombia, Mary Luz Ante Orobio is meeting with a group she calls “the unstoppable women.”  

They are gathered around a wooden chest filled with loose cash, a ledger and a calculator. Orobio flips through the ledger, eyes poring over tidy notes outlining a series of financial investments. She jots down some numbers before distributing cash among the group. 

Global agricultural production more than tripled between 1960 and 2015, an expansion that has helped to feed a hungry planet.

 

Albania, Burkina Faso, India, Montenegro and Uganda have joined forces to halt mercury pollution from the healthcare sector Mercury harms human health and the environment $134-million initiative will support a holistic approach to improve the management of mercury waste and the adoption of alternatives

Geneva, 14 May 2024 – The Governments of Albania, Burkina Faso, India, Montenegro and Ugand

The coastal waters of Southeast Asia are home to one of the world’s most productive fisheries, which supports nearly 4 million people. But a growing human population and overfishing are threatening the region’s marine species, including the blue crab.  

Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have joined forces to reduce the environmental impact of the agricultural sector Highly hazardous pesticides and plastic waste from agriculture release toxic persistent organic pollutants into the environment, also harming human health $379 million initiative will realign financial incentives to prevent the use of harmful inputs in food production

The year 2023 was a landmark one for the global governance of chemicals and waste, with negotiations on a science-policy panel for sound chemical management and talks on an instrument to end plastic pollution both making headway.

It is October 2013, and Rimiko Yoshinaga is standing behind a podium in Minamata, Japan, gazing at an auditorium packed with world leaders.

Silence descends upon the room as she begins recounting how a mysterious illness had killed her father decades earlier.  

For two decades, paint maker Universal Colors has churned out an assortment of paints and industrial coatings from a small factory in Callao, Peru. Over time, the company has worked to weed out lead, a toxic chemical, from its products. But two varieties of paint proved to be especially problematic to reformulate, including one yellow epoxy paint.

During the GEF Assembly, Canada and the United Kingdom announced contributions to the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, created to ramp up investment in nature restoration and renewal.

VANCOUVER – In good news for nature in a challenging moment, representatives of 185 countries agreed at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly in Canada to launch an innovative new fund for biodiversity that will attract funding from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a landmark global agreement to protect people and the environment from the toxic effects of mercury. To mark the occasion, UNEP is looking back at a story originally published in February about the campaign to end the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining.

It was an ecological time bomb.

In mid-2022, a toxic algal bloom began to quickly spread through the Oder River, which in part straddles the border between Germany and Poland.

Beneath the picturesque turquoise waters of Trinidad and Tobago, plastic pollution is wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems.

Senegal, Thailand and Uruguay have joined forces to reduce the environmental and health impacts of the dental industry Mercury is a key component of dental amalgam, posing significant risks to human and environmental health when improperly handled and disposed of $13-million initiative will support a holistic approach to accelerate the phase down of dental amalgam use and improve the disposal of mercury-containing waste

Gabon, Jamaica and Sri Lanka have joined forces to reduce the environmental and health toll of the skin lightening industry $14-million initiative will support a holistic approach to eliminate mercury from skin lightening products and promote the beauty of all skin tones Many skin lightening products include mercury, posing significant risks to human health and the environment

Geneva, 14 February 2023

Montreal, 10 December 2022 - As the largest biodiversity conference in a decade kicked off in Montreal, mayors from 15 cities around the world called for increased direct financing to allow cities to implement ambitious greening and ecosystem restoration projects.

Politicians, scientists and environmental campaigners are gathering in Montreal, Canada, this week for negotiations on a global deal to safeguard the planet’s dwindling biodiversity.

Some of those talks are expected to focus on how to protect the plants, animals and microbes whose genetic material is the foundation for life-saving medicines and a host of other products.

Biotechnology has huge potential to help overcome some of our leading global problems, from disease-resistant crops to innovative medical treatments.

But, like many new technologies, it is not without potential risks.

Living Modified Organisms (LMOs – also known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs) can potentially negatively impact human health and the environment.

UNEP joins the Global Environment Facility in mourning the loss of renowned tropical scientist Gustavo Fonseca, its long-standing Director of Programs, who passed away on August 31, 2022. 

Gustavo spent his career staring down the planet’s biggest environmental challenges with his optimism and pragmatism intact, an approach that won him friends and accolades the world over.