This briefing note was published in September 2020 to coincide with the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
COVID-19 shows that the health of people and the planet are one and the same. Human activity has altered virtually every corner of Earth, bringing humans into contact with new vectors. It is estimated that seventy-five percent of all emerging infectious diseases in humans cross from animals.
The idea that a thriving natural world is essential to human health, societies and economies has always been central to the work of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). But now UNEP must provide even more support to countries as they reduce the risks of future pandemics by restoring lost ecosystems and biodiversity, fighting climate change and reducing pollution.
What is the UN Environment Programme doing to help the world recover from COVID-19?
During the medical & humanitarian emergency phase, UNEP is educating frontline decision makers on how to deal with COVID-19 medical waste with a focus on resource efficiency and circularity. It is helping nations incorporate pandemic waste strategies into crisis preparedness and response.
The organisation is also promoting expanded opportunities for valuing and investing in nature as part of countries’ response to the COVID-19 crisis, while raising awareness of the links between nature, health and sustainable living.
Going forward, UNEP is encouraging economic actors to invest in building back better, by linking recovery efforts with the clean energy transition, nature-based solutions and the Paris Agreement.
The pandemic has led to the postponement of key high-level meetings, so UNEP is reviewing the implications of moving environmental governance and multilateralism towards virtual, and thus lower environmental footprint, meeting platforms.
To read more about UNEP’s COVID-19 response, see here.
Related information:
Further resources:
