Simplified Guides to MEAs

This section contains a series of booklets and brochures describing the goals and activities of the various environmental conventions. Written for a general audience, they seek to make the scientific, legal and other technical issues more easily accessible. Most are published and distributed in partnership with the secretariat of each convention.

Climate Change

Title: Win Win solutions for the Climate and Ozone Layer: A simplified guide to the Special Report on HFCs and PFCs from the IPCC and the Technical and Economic Assessment Panel. Year: 2006 Description: This UNEP booklet summarizes the highly complex and technical report co-published in 2005 by the IPCC and the ozone regime’s Technical and Economic Assessment Panel.   English French Spanish

Title: Can Carbon Dioxide Storage help cut greenhouse emissions?  A simplified guide to the IPCC Special Report Year: 2006 Description: Published by UNEP, this booklet summarizes the highly complex and technical report released in 2005 by the IPPC.   English French Spanish Arabic Russian Chinese

Title: Raising Awareness on Climate Change: A handbook for government focal points Year: 2006 Description: The handbook gathers together a range of practical experiences and common-sense lessons in the field of awareness-raising from Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean.   English

Title: How global warming will affect my world: A simplified Guide to the IPCC’s “Climate Change 2001. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”. Year: 2005 Description: This UNEP publication presents the key findings of the IPCC 2001 report on impacts and adaptation.   English French

Title: A simplified guide to the IPCC’s “Climate Change 2001: Mitigation” Year: 2002 Description: This UNEP publication presents the key findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2001 report on mitigation.   English French

Title: Climate Change Fact sheets Year: 2003 Description: This collection of 30 fact sheets, produced by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Climate Change Convention, describes the latest IPCC findings together with action under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. An updated version will be made available in 2007.   English French

Biodiversity

Title: Biosafety and the environment: An introduction to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. Year: 2003 Description: UNEP and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)produced this guide to explain the workings of the CBD’s protocol on living modified organisms (LMOs).   English French Spanish Arabic Russian Chinese

Chemicals

Title: A guide to Cooperation on the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions Year: 2004 Description: This guide draws on the conclusions from a series of regional workshops on synergies in the field of chemicals and wastes.   English French Spanish

Title: Protecting human health and the environment: A Guide to the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals and pesticides Year: 2004 Description: Published by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention, this guide summarizes the “prior informed consent” and information-sharing procedures of the Convention.   English French Spanish

Title: Ridding the world of POPs: A Guide to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants Year: English 2002, other official languages 2003 Description: Published by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention, this guide explains the science of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the regulations agreed under the treaty.   English French Spanish

Title: Minimizing Hazardous Wastes: A simplified guide to the Basel Convention Year: 2002 Description: Published by UNEP and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, this booklet describes global action to reduce the risks that hazardous wastes pose to human health and the environment.   English French Spanish

Public Participation

Title: Your right to a healthy environment: A simplified guide to the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters Date: 2006 Description: Published by UNEP and the UN Economic Commission for Europe to promote awareness of this important new convention.   English French Russian