About: UNEP

UN Arctic chief: ‘Climate change isn’t linear – it’s accelerating’

Climate change is most evident in the Polar Regions and its impact will serve as a litmus test for what happens to the rest of the planet, the UN’s chief Arctic adviser told EURACTIV in an interview.

Former COP president becomes UN environment rep

Former president of COP21 Laurent Fabius has been named UN high representative for environmental governance, two years after chairing the Paris Agreement negotiations. EURACTIV France reports.

Pollution racks up 9 million deaths a year worldwide

Pollution causes 9 million deaths around the world every year, according to a landmark new study which found that one in six of all deaths are linked to polluted air, water and soil.

World finance must flow towards low carbon infrastructure, G20 ministers told

Focusing development and traditional finance towards low carbon energy efficient infrastructure will fight climate change, help the world meet sustainability targets and boost global economic productivity, the world’s finance ministers have been told.

Food rejected by Europeans provides a feast in Nairobi

The United Nations treated government ministers and officials to a meal of blemished African fruit and vegetables to highlight how perfectly edible food is being rejected by European supermarkets.

Chemical giants push for global green ‘standards’ at Rio

SPECIAL REPORT / Rattled in Europe by the REACH regulation and carbon dioxide emission curbs, international chemical companies are at the Rio Earth Summit determined to push for a global approach to environmental policy – but with a light regulatory touch.

EEB chief: A mixed forecast for the Earth Summit

Jeremy Wates, who heads one of the leading conservation groups in Brussels, says the lack of appetite for binding sustainable development commitments and stronger world environmental governments would contribute to a disappointing Earth Summit.

West African nations pay a price for EU e-waste

Europeans are barred from exporting hazardous electronic waste to other countries, yet research shows there is a flourishing export market of such junk to Africa.

EU leaders eye stronger UN role to police the environment

European leaders on Friday (2 March) could throw their weight behind a plan to convert the relatively powerless UN Environment Programme (UNEP) into a world body with the muscle to oversee treaties and protect the ecology.

UNEP and the green economy: 40 years in development

Following four decades of UNEP initiatives on the environment and the green economy, attention turns to the Rio+20 summit where the idea of a true green economy could gain flesh and bones, writes Achim Steiner, from UN Environment Programme.

UN points to global renewable ‘energy boom’

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme reveals an increase in sustainable-energy investment of 43% between 2005 and 2006, and a similar continued growth trajectory so far in 2007.

World governments agree on new initiatives to meet Johannesburg commitments

During the Global Environment Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, the EU suggested new initiatives on mercury, chemicals management, sustainable production and consumption, engagement of business and international environmental governance.

UNEP sounds alarm over global implications of Asian pollution cloud

A huge brown cloud of pollution over Asia could have global climate and health implications, according to a new study by a scientist team of UNEP.