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Joshua Wowo discovered and secured 1,400 boxes of DDT in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain Province. Now he waits for the day when his township’s toxic timebomb will finally be defused.
Story Air
19 February 2019, New Delhi:  United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WHO Country Office for India organized a stakeholder consultation to deliberate on way forward for ‘The Environment and Health Initiative.’ The initiative proposed by UNEP and WHO aims to build capacity, facilitate knowledge exchange and evidence generation on environment and health issues.

Categorized Under: Air Asia and the Pacific

Paper cones, called “cucuruchos”, have been traditionally used by shoppers in Mexico City for carrying spices and grains. Now these plastic-free alternatives are making a comeback, along with straw baskets and reusable cloth bags, after a ban on plastic bags entered into effect in the megalopolis on 1 January 2020.
If cities like Delhi, Lagos, Sao Paolo and Tokyo seem populated today, think what they’ll be like by 2050. The United Nations predicts that by then, 2.5 billion more people will be living in urban centres, making two out of every three people city dwellers.

Categorized Under: Cities and lifestyles

From whale sharks to Monarch butterflies, many animals are hardwired to migrate along set routes in search of food or a breeding area—and in some cases they’ve been doing this for tens of millions of years. The Arctic tern migrates the longest distances of any animal, flying over 25,000 km each year.

Categorized Under: Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Story Air
Globally, over 4,2 million premature deaths per year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, with the majority occurring in lower- and middle-income countries.

Categorized Under: Air

Press Release Air
Abu Dhabi, 10 February 2020 - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with UN-Habitat and IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, today launched the world’s largest air quality data platform, bringing together real-time air pollution data from over 4,000 contributors, including citizens, communities, governments and the private sector to work towards healthier, more sustainable cities.

Categorized Under: Air Global

Story Energy
In the two years since Mariama Mamane won the Young Champions of the Earth prize back in 2017, she has taken great strides in her mission to provide people in Burkina Faso with energy.

Categorized Under: Energy Africa

In mid-February, government representatives from across the African continent will come together in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo to work towards a safe chemicals and waste future. Read on for more about the process and what it means. What is the Bamako Convention?

Categorized Under: Chemicals and waste Africa

“The smell alone when you cross the bridge tells you something’s wrong,” says Renison Ruwa, deputy director of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute. The bridge in question is Mtwapa bridge, which straddles Mtwapa Creek in Mombasa, Kenya. And the smell to which Ruwa is referring stems from this very creek, into which waste from the nearby Shimo la Tewa prison—and indeed many other places—is directly dumped.

Categorized Under: Ecosystems and Biodiversity Africa

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is considered to be among the worst in the world. In 2019, 80 per cent of Yemen’s people were in need—an estimated 24 million people.

Categorized Under: Disasters and conflicts West Asia

A new global study sheds light on how interactions between specific characteristics of catchments, such as carbon and pollution, affect aquatic plant diversity and function in freshwater environments. Photosynthesis in many aquatic plants relies on bicarbonate (HCO3−) in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2). The study investigates the link between the two and their impact on  plant distribution.

Categorized Under: Ecosystems and Biodiversity

World Wetlands Day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The 2020 theme for World Wetlands Day is an opportunity to highlight wetland biodiversity, its status, why it matters and to promote actions to reverse its loss.

Categorized Under: Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Every year, billions of people go on holiday to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Eight out of ten tourists travel to coastal areas, hoping to relax under blue skies, clear waters and white sandy beaches.

Categorized Under: Resource efficiency

Story Oceans and seas
At the beginning of this decade, millions of people around the world made new year’s resolutions, with the hope of bettering themselves.  Whether you pledged to exercise more, to save money, or to take up a hobby, the reality is that many pledges are likely to have been broken.

Categorized Under: Oceans and seas

Story Climate change
What does it take to get the world’s attention on climate change? Lewis Pugh thinks swimming across a supra-glacial lake in East Antarctica might. The pioneer swimmer—and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Patron of the Oceans—embarked on a gutsy 1-kilometre swim across a river, which has formed as a result of melting ice caused by climate change.

Categorized Under: Climate change Europe

INVEST in nature. CHANGE our habits. LISTEN to young people. What are three things that can save the world? UN Environment Programme’s Inger Andersen shares her thoughts as the United Nations kicks off its #UN75 celebrations.

Categorized Under: Environment under review Global

Living atop a hill in Malindza, a tiny county in eSwatini’s lush east, 56-year-old Ntombi Ndzimandze is the matriarch of her household of 11 women and children.

Categorized Under: Chemicals and waste Africa

Story Air
When Arpit Dhupar won the Young Champions of the Earth prize, he was in a bar with friends and didn’t believe the news. “Are you sure I have won?” He repeated. Finally convinced, he celebrated with his friends, who echoed, “Are you sure you’ve won?”

Categorized Under: Air Asia and the Pacific

Story Climate change
Extensive wildfire disasters, such as recently reported in Australia, Indonesia and the United States, adversely affect communities, economies and ecosystems. More generally, they contribute to air pollution and global warming, and indicate that existing mechanisms to deal with wildfire, centered around disaster risk management, are insufficient.

Categorized Under: Climate change

Since 2011, the World Customs Organization has been an active partner to the Green Customs Initiative, which is coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The word “Mottainai” in Japanese literally translates to “it is a shame to waste.” It stems from Buddhist philosophy on living minimally and appreciating nature’s gifts. The practice has been in place for generations.

Categorized Under: Cities and lifestyles

Story Climate change
The pace of development of offshore wind technologies and markets is faster than most people would have expected a few years ago. Larger wind turbines are enabling more efficient energy production and lower electricity costs, paving the way to achieve more than 1,000 gigawatts of cumulative offshore wind capacity by 2050 to meet the Paris Agreement.

Categorized Under: Climate change

Story Air
What a year it has been. For the environment, not a good one. But for youth around the world, an outstanding show of courage, determination and fearlessness.

Categorized Under: Air

From powerful cyclones to extreme droughts, human-induced extreme weather events have become a daily fixture of life today.

Categorized Under: Cities and lifestyles

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