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.
Join this webinar to learn about the creation of a new science-policy panel on chemical and waste management.
Experts to discuss key developments and the next steps leading up to the open-ended working group 3 session scheduled for June in Geneva.
Plastic pollution blocks rivers, chokes oceans and makes its way into the food chain as microplastics. It’s a global environmental crisis, and small island developing States are especially vulnerable, having to cope with detritus washing up on their beaches, as well as the waste they generate themselves.
The Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4) in Ottawa has wrapped, setting a clear path to an ambitious plastics treaty.
“We came to Ottawa to advance the text and with the hope that Members would agree on the intersessional work required to make even greater progress ahead of INC-5. We leave Ottawa having achieved both goals and a clear path to landing an ambitious deal in Busan ahead of us,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme. “The work, however, is far from over. The plastic pollution crisis continues to engulf the world and we have just a few months left before the end of year deadline agreed upon in 2022. I urge members to show continued commitment and flexibility to achieve maximum ambition.”
To commemorate International Mother Earth Day, David R. Boyd, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, has issued a User Guide on the right to a healthy and sustainable environment. Find out more.
Since the 1950s, 9.2 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced, of which 7 billion tonnes have become waste, filling up landfills and polluting lakes, rivers, the soil and the ocean.
From April 23 to 29, delegates are expected to gather in the Canadian capital of Ottawa for the Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-4).
It is the penultimate meeting before negotiations are expected to conclude later this year.
“Both people and planet are suffering profoundly from the effects of plastic pollution,” said Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary of the INC. “This negotiating session is pivotal. It is an opportunity to make significant progress for a robust agreement that would allow future generations to live in a world free of plastic pollution.”
The World Circular Economy Forum 2024, the world's premier gathering for circular economy thinkers, doers, and leaders, will take place in Brussels this week, 15–18 April, 2024. It will highlight the most effective circular solutions from throughout the world. The International Resource Panel will present the most recent findings of the Global Resources Outlook 2024, as well as policy-relevant messages, in a series of events.
In this video, we explain why plastic has become so ubiquitous, used in everything from children’s toys and medical equipment to beauty products and airplanes. And while plastic was once hailed as a miracle product, we now know the damage plastic pollution does to ecosystems, the climate, human health and the economy.
Central to ending plastic pollution is the elimination of unnecessary plastic, the redesign of products – including packaging – so they can be more easily reused, repaired and recycled, and switching to non-plastic substitutes that help protect the environment, human health, and our economy.
Illegal trade in waste (or waste trafficking) is a type crime that affects the environment and is a growing problem across the world. Once it reaches destination countries, illegal waste often ends up in illegal landfills and illegal storage sites or is burnt in the open, causing harm to the environment and human health, undermining the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the transition toward a circular economy.
A first-ever mapping of waste trafficking trends from Europe to Southeast Asia has been published today. Produced by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UNEP, the new research sheds light on how criminal actors exploit legal trade and regulatory and enforcement loopholes for financial gain. It also explores the negative impact this crime has on the global circular economy.
只有12％的城市，其空气质量符合世卫组织的标准。
