Finding substantial reserves of oil and natural gas can offer significant opportunities for the social, economic and political development of any country. However, without adequate environmental management, oil and gas operations can have lasting social and environmental impacts such as oil pollution and public health risks.
Different stages of oil and gas exploration and production involve the use of chemicals, generate various types of waste, produce greenhouse gas emissions, and take place in human settlements and wildlife habitats. These can also pose risks that may lead to serious environmental damage.
While the primary goal of the UNEP is to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels to fight climate change, it is also recognized that oil and gas continue to remain part of the global energy transition. Ensuring that greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas are significantly reduced and that oil and gas production do not impact negatively on local communities, public health, biodiversity and ecosystems are therefore an integral part of UNEP’s work in this sector.
From 2016-2024, UNEP established a collaboration with the Government of Norway’s Oil for Development Knowledge Programme which aimed to enhance national institutional capacities for reducing environmental and pollution risks and strengthening environmental management in the upstream oil and gas sector in fragile and developing country contexts. UNEP provided training and capacity development support to OfD partner countries, which included: Angola, Cuba, Ghana, Lebanon, Iraq, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania/Zanzibar, Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and Colombia. UNEP has provided dedicated support to Iraq, Colombia, Ghana and countries in East Africa.
Key Highlights
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Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) Reports
Recently launched in October 2024, the Institutional Capacity Needs Assessment towards Strengthening Sustainable Oceans Governance in Ghana focuses on the institutional capacities and environmental policy and legal frameworks related to ocean governance, with a particular focus on environmental data management, environmental management in coastal and marine areas and addressing marine and coastal pollution, including from Ghana’s offshore oil sector. Read more
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Online Training Resource Library
Explore the UNEP-Norway Partnership Training Resource Library, a comprehensive collection of learning materials delivered by UNEP from 2017-2024, designed to support training efforts for improved environmental and pollution management in the upstream oil and gas sector. Available to the general public, interested users can access presentations, group exercises, knowledge questionnaires, videos, and supplementary guidance documentation to improve own knowledge or integrate into existing training course curricula.
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Annual Webinar Series
Catch up on our Global Webinar Series 2024 where we explored key topics shaping the energy transition, from gender equality, environmental considerations in the context of technological developments, effective governance and strategic policy driving positive environmental change in the energy sector. Discover insights and practical approaches to foster inclusive, sustainable progress in energy across all sectors.
Main services
UNEP has experience working with the oil industry in fragile and vulnerable countries and delivering capacity building support, including from its work in Ogoniland, Nigeria. It can draw from its in-house expertise and global network of partners, which will complement the specialized assistance provided by Norway.
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In-country Capacity Needs Assessments
UNEP undertakes institutional assessments of capacity gaps and priorities of Government institutions for improving environmental management in the oil and gas sector. The standardized assessment template covers all aspects of environmental management in the oil and gas sector, including policy/legal/regulatory frameworks, Environmental Impact Assessment process, waste and water management, biodiversity issues and environmental data management, emissions to air, and emergency preparedness and response.
Key findings and recommendations are presented as the country’s “Road Map” for long-term capacity development on environmental management in the sector. Findings help inform Norway’s OfD Country Programming, as well as provide a reference point for establishing dialogue with international development partners and mobilizing additional resources.
UNEP initiates a systematic checklist and carries out extensive stakeholder consultations and undertakes field visits. Each CNA process is tailored to the country’s specific context and needs and the focus and scope are determined with Government consultation. Since 2017, UNEP has carried out capacity needs assessments and developed “Road Maps” in the following countries:
Title: Institutional Capacity Needs Assessment towards Strengthening Sustainable Ocean Governance in Ghana
Year: 2024
Key Takeaway: Ghana’s commitment to developing a Sustainable Ocean Plan by 2025 necessitates strengthening institutional environmental governance in policy and legal frameworks, environmental data management and planning, environmental impact assessments and compliance monitoring, as well as addressing the challenges of marine pollution, including from Ghana’s offshore oil industry.
Title: Strengthening Environmental Management and Reducing Pollution Risks from the Oil and Gas Sector in Uganda
Year: 2024
Key Takeaway: Uganda’s CNA highlights the urgent need to strengthen environmental governance and institutional capacity to mitigate pollution and biodiversity impacts posed by Uganda’s emerging oil and gas sector, balancing energy goals with climate and sustainability commitments as production advances in the Albertine Graben region.
Title: Institutional Capacity Needs Assessment for Reducing Environmental and Pollution Risks in the Oil and Gas Sector in Colombia English | Spanish
Year: 2022
Key Takeaway: The Colombia Capacity Needs Assessment highlights the importance of inter-ministerial coordination and collaboration and environmental compliance monitoring, given Colombia’s already robust environmental policy and legal frameworks. The report identified emerging needs for enhanced community involvement, environmental trainings especially in the offshore oil sector, environmental data management systems, and addressing legacy waste in the sector.
Title: Environmental Legal and Policy Review to Inform the Emerging Oil and Gas Sector in Somalia
Year: 2022
Key Takeaway: Somalia’s emerging oil and gas sector presents an opportunity to strengthen environmental governance with more coherent policy and legal frameworks, including at the Federal Member State level. Clearer mandates and a dedicated Environmental Authority could improve environmental oversight and federal-state collaboration. Additional laws on pollution, waste and climate impacts would fill critical gaps.
Title: Institutional Capacity Needs Assessment for Strengthening Environmental Management in the Oil and Gas Sector in Mozambique English | Portuguese
Year: 2018
Key Takeaway: The Mozambique CNA serves as a critical roadmap for Mozambique to effectively manage its oil and gas industry, amid significant natural gas reserves and recent discoveries. Recommendations include addressing overlapping institutional mandates, developing regulations to implement legislation including for air emissions, investing in oil spill preparedness and response plans and training, having a centralized environmental database to understand “no-go” areas, and anticipate waste volumes from new oil and gas fields.
Title: Rapid Institutional Capacity Needs Assessment of Iraq’s Ministry of Health and Environment for Environmental Management in the Oil
Year: 2018
Key Takeaway: -
Trainings and Capacity Building
Since 2017, UNEP has developed and delivered a number of training packages at national, regional and global levels. Trainings cover different aspects of reducing pollution risks and strengthening environmental safeguards and environmental management in oil and gas exploration and production. Trainings are delivered on site or through online platforms.
Training is targeted primarily towards Government institutions both at national and sub-national levels, but may also include civil society, national Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) practitioners, and academia to enhance foundational knowledge and skills related to risk mitigation and safeguarding environmental aspects in upstream oil and gas activities. A key objective is to develop national expertise that support environmental regulatory oversight and management in the sector. Trainings are designed to also promote inter-governmental and multi-sectoral coordination, bringing together environmental, climate, petroleum and energy actors, as well as other relevant development sectors (e.g. land-use planners, infrastructure, etc).
Since 2017, UNEP has delivered a total of 45 trainings and trained 1,597 women and men in up to 33 countries, of which included all 14 OfD partner countries. Of the total amount trained, 34% were women. Extended trainings were provided to the following OfD partner countries: Colombia, Ghana, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Mozambique, Myanmar, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia.
Training sessions include practical, hands-on learning, such as field visits, table-top exercises and interactive group exercises. Trained participants are networked with each other through LinkedIn to encourage peer-to-peer learning and exchange of knowledge and experiences.
Our training library now comprise these modules:
- Foundation Course on Oil and Gas Exploration and Production and Promoting Sound Environmental Management
- Hazardous Chemicals and Waste Management in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
- Upstream Oil and Gas in Environmentally Sensitive Areas
- Oil Contaminated Site Assessment
- Remediation of Oil Contaminated Sites
- Produced Water and Wastewater Management
- Air Emissions and Climate Change Issues in the Oil and Gas Sector, with a focus on methane emissions
- Oil Spill Preparedness and Response including IMO Level 1-3 Model Courses, shoreline contaminated and clean up assessments, strengthening local and national level cooperation, Training of Trainers, among others
- Decommissioning
- Associated gas processing and treatment
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In-country Technical Assistance
Under the UNEP-Norway OfD collaboration, partner countries may also request direct technical assistance on specific areas, such as Environmental Impact Assessment reviews and Strategic Environmental Assessments, methane emissions reduction, and oil contaminated site assessments and remediation. Technical assistance is often targeted to support a specific country capacity need.
Technical Assistance delivered in OfD-supported countries include:
- Technical reviews of Environmental Impact Assessment reports of oil and gas projects in Myanmar (2016), which was geared towards strengthening capacities of the Environment Conservation Department, Government of Myanmar. UNEP technical assistance supported development of templates for EIA review and permitting conditions in offshore oil and gas blocks.
- Strengthening institutional capacities of the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Oil, Government of Iraq, to undertake oil contaminated site assessments in ISIL-conflicted areas (2018) – The ISIL conflict resulted in extensive environmental damage and oil contamination in areas which were retaken by the Government of Iraq. UNEP facilitated an inter-governmental collaboration between the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Environment to develop a methodology for undertaking oil contaminated site assessments.
A press release on a 5-days training held in September 2018 to facilitate this process was published by UNEP and the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI). UNEP trained 26 Iraqi Government experts on site assessment and sampling techniques, and provided oil-contamination analysers and protective equipment, to support the site assessment process. A follow-up field survey, guided by UNEP, identified priority sites for remediation, contributing to Iraq’s capacity to protect human health and the environment in conflict-affected areas.
- Strengthening institutional capacities of the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Oil, Government of Iraq for oil contaminated remediation techniques (2019)
UNEP brought together the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Environment to establish a pilot field demonstration of bioremediation techniques for oil contaminated soils. Training videos documenting the bioremediation process in a step-wise manner were developed in English and Arabic. A news story about the training event and the bioremediation trial was also widely disseminated on UNEP and UNAMI websites and social media.
- Technical reviews of Environmental Impact Assessment reports of oil and gas projects in Myanmar (2016), which was geared towards strengthening capacities of the Environment Conservation Department, Government of Myanmar. UNEP technical assistance supported development of templates for EIA review and permitting conditions in offshore oil and gas blocks.
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Global outreach and multi-stakeholder dialogues
Through its global outreach activities, UNEP seeks to increase public awareness and multi-stakeholder dialogue on environmental aspects and risks associated with oil and gas exploration and production, and to promote international best practice and enhance environmental governance and sustainability principles in countries. UNEP also works to scale up and mainstream capacity building and training efforts in countries through its academic networks.
Global Webinar Series
Since 2019, UNEP has been delivering webinars on a range of topics related to environmental, oil and gas and energy transition issues. The webinars seek to enhance public knowledge and encourage dialogue between experts, private sector, civil society, and government stakeholders from around the world. It also allows UNEP to continue providing additional training support to OfD-supported countries.
Our webinars often attract over 1,500 registered participants from 80-100 countries on average, with 250-400 people actively participating in each webinar. Participants who join our webinars mostly come from the private sector and government institutions but also include civil society and academia.
2024 Global Webinar Series on the Key Considerations in the Energy Transition Summary: The 2024 Global Webinar Series entitled Key Considerations in Energy Transition brought together critical perspectives on environment-related energy transition issues related to infrastructure, inclusion, and policy and legal frameworks. The series begins with Building Blocks, where industry and policymakers discuss the importance of resilient and adaptable infrastructure in meeting energy demands while fostering sustainable growth. The second session, Bridging the Gap, underscores the importance of social and gender inclusivity in the energy sector, highlighting equitable energy access. Make or Break explores the legal landscape, analysing how regulations and policy decisions can either accelerate or impede the transition toward cleaner energy.
2023 Global Webinar Series on Sustainable Ocean Governance and Energy Considerations Summary: The 2023 Global Webinar Series focused on Sustainable Ocean Governance and Energy, addressing the challenges of increased ocean activity amid threats such as marine pollution and biodiversity loss. The series explored how the energy sector can support sustainable ocean management. Legal and Policy Developments examined international frameworks for ocean protection; The New Energy Mix discussed shifts from traditional to renewable energy in marine settings, and Environmental Assessment Tools highlighted planning methods to protect ocean ecosystems. Featuring insights from government, industry and organizational leaders, the series emphasized collaborative approaches for sustainable ocean stewardship.
2022 Global Webinar Series on Strengthening National Oil Spill Preparedness and Response in Environmentally Sensitive Areas Summary: The 2022 Global Webinar Series focused on vital aspects of oil spill contingency planning, response strategies, and environmental sensitivity. The series began with Implementing International Conventions, where experts from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other organizations emphasized aligning national oil spill frameworks with international conventions to enhance preparedness. The second session, Environmental Sensitivity Mapping, highlighted the role of sensitivity maps as essential tools in spill response planning, addressing technical requirements and data challenges. The final session, Oil Spill Assessment and Response, examined environmental impacts and strategies for effective response in sensitive areas, underscoring the importance of coordinated action in environmental protection.
2021 Global Webinar Series on Enabling Oil and Gas Producing Countries to Transition Towards a Low Carbon Future Summary: The 2021 Webinar Series explored strategies for oil and gas-producing countries to transition towards a low-carbon future. This three-part series focused on aligning national climate and energy policies available technologies that contribute to climate mitigation in upstream oil and gas production, and decommissioning of oil and gas fields: best environmental practices. Experts from UNEP, industry, and academia discussed the roles of National and International Oil Companies (NOCs and IOCs) in managing emissions and supporting low-carbon technologies, highlighting the varied challenges and opportunities each country faces during this transition.
2020 Global Webinar Series on Chemicals and Hazardous Waste Management in the Oil and Gas Sector Summary: The 2020 Executive Webinar covered key environmental aspects of hazardous chemicals and waste in oil and gas production. Aimed at sector practitioners, including policymakers and civil society, this webinar provided a foundational overview on current international best practices on hazardous chemicals and waste management in the sector.
2019 Global Webinar Series on Undertaking Oil Contaminated Site Assessments
Summary: The 2019 Executive Webinar provided an overview on how to manage and undertake oil contaminated site assessments. By adopting structured methodologies and fostering national and international cooperation, stakeholders can address contamination effectively and reduce environmental and public health impacts.
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