The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) joins family and friends in mourning the loss of former UNEP Executive Director, Dr. Klaus Töpfer. Dr. Töpfer led UNEP from 1998 to 2005 after spearheading environmental policy in Germany as Environment …
More than a billion people in Africa walk or cycle for almost an hour daily, yet 74% of assessed roads lack footpaths, and 92% have no crossings The Pan African Action Plan for Active Mobility (PAAPAM), developed with direct engagement with over 1,300 …
“The needs of city dwellers who walk or cycle are often overlooked in car-oriented planning processes,” says Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director of the Industry and Economy Division at UNEP. “It’s crucial that we change this paradigm by promoting inclusive, …
Rising temperatures have caused glaciers in the Caucasus to retreat an average of 600m over the past century, contributing to a loss of more than 11 billion tons of freshwater. Heatwaves and natural disasters are on the rise, but potential exists for …
Bonn, 10 June 2024 - Despite global commitments to halt deforestation by 2030, only eight of the top 20 countries with highest rate of tropical deforestation have quantified targets on forests in their national climate action plans, also known as …
Investment is urgently needed for #CleanAirNow. Ahead of the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, held annually on 7 September, learn more about air pollution’s impact and how strategic investment can make a difference. UNEP’s Miranda Grant dives …
Date: 4 Jun 2024 Time: 4:30 - 6:30 PM EAT Register for the event This online youth-led discussion in celebration of World Environment Day (WED) is organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Children and Youth Major Group to UNEP. Humanity …
Despite their tough exterior, warm water corals are sensitive creatures. When water temperatures rise, they become stressed and expel their zooxanthellae, leaving them prone to disease and starvation. That is why researchers are so worried about a heat …
Choosing the iconic Family Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History in New York to deliver his impassioned plea to grasp the solutions at hand, António Guterres warned that we stand at “a moment of truth”. “In the case of climate, we …
So far, it has been a successful year in the courts for climate change activists. In April, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Switzerland has a responsibility under European law to combat climate change. And last month, the International …
On behalf of United Nations Environment Programme, I would like to express my condolences to the government and people of Papua New Guinea on the tragedy and the loss of lives from the recent landslide. My thanks to Antigua and Barbuda for hosting this …
In June 2020, Tropical Storm Amanda descended on El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. Gale-force winds and torrential rains triggered more than 150 landslides and 20 major floods, tearing apart roads, electrical lines and almost 30,000 homes. Coffee farmer …
The initiative has supported 22 projects in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and has plans to expand to Colombia and Venezuela. It has engaged about 25,000 people to restore nearly 5,000 hectares of forest and protect more than 11,250 hectares …
The world’s biodiversity is in steep decline. Thousands of species are facing existential threats. Forests are dwindling. Coral reefs are dying. This puts humanity in real jeopardy. Some 1.2 billion people depend on nature to meet their basic needs, while …
It’s 9am and the rural district of Mount Airy in central Jamaica is already sweltering. As cars trundle along the region’s unpaved roads, chocolate-brown dust clouds burst from behind their back wheels. It is here, 50km west of Kingston and 500m above sea …
As a small island developing state, the country is also exposed to several other climate-change-related hazards, such as spiking temperatures, hurricanes and sea-level rise. Much of Jamaica’s adaptation work has turned to making agriculture more …
It was a late evening in April 2018 when Philbert Ntaciyica, exhausted from the non-stop heavy rain battering his roof, wondered if his farm would survive this latest storm. When the 12-hour downpour finally eased in Nzove, a village perched on a hillside …
Abdullah Ibrahim Alissa is standing on a rocky outcrop in Thadiq National Park, a sprawling expanse of arid land north of Riyadh, capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Beneath Alissa, the park’s manager, are steep terraces lined with carefully …
First line of defence On 5 June, Saudi Arabia will host World Environment Day 2024, an annual celebration of the planet which this year focuses on land degradation, desertification and drought resilience. More than 2 billion hectares of the world’s …
Land sustains life on Earth. Natural spaces such as forests, farmlands, savannahs, peatlands and mountains, provide humanity with the food, water and raw materials it needs to survive. Yet, more than 2 billion hectares of the world’s land is degraded, …
