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United Nations Environment Programme
News Chemicals & pollution action

Spotlight on chemicals and pollution action

Credit: UNEP/Ahmed Nayim Yussuf

Preventing, controlling and managing pollution is central to improving health, human well-being and prosperity for all.

UNEP drives capacity and leadership in sound management of chemicals and waste while working to improve ways to reduce waste through circularity and pollutants released to the air, water, soil and the ocean.

This feed will keep you up to date on the latest news from the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), which is currently meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea, to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. 

15 Feb 2024 14:57

New body aims to limit pollution’s deadly toll

Smoke rising towards the sky from the chimneys of a paper mill
Photo: Unsplash/Daniel Moqvist

Pollution is widespread – and often fatal.  

Dirty air alone is responsible for 6.7 million deaths globally every year, while conservative estimates suggest that in 2019, 5.5 million people died from heart disease linked to lead exposure.  

To stem the pollution crisis, countries agreed in 2022 to establish a new body that would provide policymakers with robust, independent information on chemicals, waste and pollution.  

Negotiators are finetuning the details of this new science-policy panel. Once operational, it will complete a trifecta of similar scientific bodies designed to counter the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. 

Find out about the new science-policy panel.

Last updated at
09 Feb 2024 16:07

UN Environment Assembly to take on climate change, nature loss, pollution

Delegates will gather for the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6), the world’s top decision-making body on the environment from 26 February to 1 March 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya.

The assembly brings together 193 Member States, intergovernmental organizations, the broader UN system, civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector to shape global environmental policy.

Delegates are expected to discuss how multilateralism can help tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.

Last updated at
06 Feb 2024 12:44

Zero Waste Day: call for entries on best practices and success stories

Empty plastic containers
Photo: UNEP/Duncan Moore

The UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Zero Waste is seeking best practices, projects, and success stories related to zero waste.

More information

Last updated at
23 Jan 2024 10:07

Take action to #BeatWastePollution

 

Last updated at
19 Jan 2024 22:29

Non-toxic alternatives to DDT for malaria control

 

Last updated at
15 Jan 2024 19:13

UNEP Chief at World Economic Forum Annual Meeting

A man working on plastic
Photo: UNEP

UNEP Chief Inger Andersen authored a blog on plastics as part of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland. Read the blog.

Last updated at
04 Jan 2024 10:12

Quiz: How much do you know about lead poisoning?

Ice sheet with water body in background
Photo: AFP/Mint Images

Lead. This heavy metal is used in items like paint, car batteries, spices, ceramics, ammunition and barbells. 

However, lead can damage ecosystems and cause serious health problems in humans, including neurological issues and kidney damage. Lead can also enter the food chain and accumulate in organisms.

Take the quiz to learn more about how to avoid falling victim to lead poisoning.

Last updated at
28 Dec 2023 10:53

The Quadripartite launches a guide to support countries implement One Health approach

Infographic on One Health

The Quadripartite Collaboration on One Health releases - The guide to Implementing the One Health Joint Plan of Action at National Level (the Guide) to support countries to strengthen their One Health actions.

Recognizing the multitude of risks that a changing climate is having and will continue to have on the health of all life on earth, the launch took place at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The launch coincided with the first-ever health day at COP28 as well as a climate and health high-level ministerial meeting.

The Guide is an operational addendum to the 2022 One Health Joint Plan of Action, signaling a strategic objective to country-focused implementation. The guide outlines three pathways – governance, sectoral integration, and evidence and knowledge – and five steps to achieve One Health implementation.

Access the full Guide.

Last updated at
19 Dec 2023 23:36

Switching over: Transjakarta to electrify bus fleet, with support from UNEP

A row of electric buses
Photo: UNEP

Puffing out pollutants and releasing greenhouse gases in the middle of a Jakarta traffic jam – this, for now, is the fate of most public buses in Jakarta. Provincial authorities are looking to change that – and with the support of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners, replace the 10,000-strong fleet of the city’s bus company, Transjakarta, with electric buses by 2030.

So far, 100 new buses have been purchased under a pilot scheme, of which just over 50 are already on the streets of the capital, with the others awaiting their licenses. There is now a commitment, underpinned by a decree from the governor of Jakarta Province, to replace the rest. The plan was developed by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), a non-governmental organization engaged by UNEP. 

Read the full story

Last updated at
04 Dec 2023 11:32

COP28: Plastics are no lifeboat for the fossil fuel industry

Inger Andersen speaking on stage
Photo: UNEP

The following is an excerpt from a speech on the climate impact of plastic production delivered by Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme at COP28 in Dubai.

Fossil fuels are the greatest contributor to climate change. They are the slow-acting poison in the veins of our planet and economies. Yes, they jacked us up. Revved us up. Got us moving. Now they are killing us. And still, the addicts that we are, we produce and consume more fossil fuels than the Earth system can take. UNEP’s Production Gap Report 2023 found that the world is planning 110 per cent more fossil fuels in 2030 than is consistent with 1.5°C.

We must end the addiction, including in the plastics industry, because business-as-usual growth in plastics would burn through up to 20 per cent of the carbon budget for 1.5°C by 2040 – mainly from the production of primary polymers and conversion into products. There are other climate implications of plastics. We need healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems to store carbon and build resilience to climate change. Yet 80 per cent of all plastic currently ends up in the oceans, and plastic production is set to triple by 2060. There can be no adaptation in a sea of plastic. 

Read the full speech.

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Goal 3

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
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Goal 11

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
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Goal 15

Goal 15: Life on Land
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