Number of questions: [4]
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Posted on 20/11/2009 19:03:15 |
Dear Sophie,
I´m a master degree student and I´m very concerned about environmental issues, climate change and I would really like to develop a project for my city about green roofs, UN have very important info, that enrich my interest to keep working. Sophie, how can youth develop projects having support of the UN? I mean Youth is very interested in climate change and solutions but we dont´have experience, how can we do sometthing? do you have special programs that support ideas by youth sector?
Thanks Sophie.
Saludo desde México
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Karla Harlet Landa (from Mexico)
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Dear Karla Harlet,
Thank you for your question.
UNEP has indeed a youth programme. You can find information and contact details on our website. http://www.unep.org/tunza/
You can also contact our regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean for more information on initiatives in the region. http://www.pnuma.org/
Best wishes with your project,
Sophie
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Posted on 20/11/2009 18:46:58 |
Dear Sophie
Environment in balance always take care of poors but men's grid has disturbed this balance .We should promote an approach of People, Planet and Profit . Otherwise poor would become more poor and richer would be more richer.
Rakesh
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Rakesh Trivedi (from India)
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Dear Rakesh,
Thank you for your contribution.
A balance has indeed to be found between the environment, social and economic development. This is at the core of UNEP’s work.
Many of initiatives aim at supporting countries achieving such a balance. A few examples with a particular focus on sustainable economic development include:
- The Green Economy Initiative http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/
- The Resource Efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production sub-programme http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/
- The UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative http://www.unpei.org/
Best regards,
Sophie
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Posted on 20/11/2009 11:09:48 |
Dear Sophie,
I would want to know how and the degree to which poor people negatively impact the environment.
I believe poor people have less impact on the environment.
Thank you.
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Isaac Donkor (from Ghana)
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Dear Isaac,
Thank you for your question and interest in the poverty-environment linkages.
Although in certain circumstance, poverty may lead to unsustainable management of the environment or natural resources through for example overgrazing, overfishing, or deforestation, the poorest people tend indeed to have less impact on the environment thanks to their low levels of consumption, in particular.
On the other hand, poor households rely disproportionately on natural resources and the environment for their livelihoods and income. The poor are also more vulnerable to natural disasters such as droughts and floods and to the ongoing impacts of climate change, too which they usually did not contribute.
On a broader scale, natural resource sectors such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries play a larger role in the national income and wealth of less developed economies.
Thus, a healthy and productive environment contributes significantly to human wellbeing and pro-poor economic development. Intact, functioning ecosystems provide services— such as the provision of food, water, fuel and fibre, as well as regulation of climate—on which nations and people rely to earn income from agriculture, fishing, forestry, tourism and other activities.
In this context, sustainable use of these ecosystem services and natural resource assets is increasingly recognized as a key factor in enduring economic development and improvement in human welfare, and as a necessary condition for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Best regards,
Sophie
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Posted on 20/11/2009 00:54:30 |
Dear Ms Sophie,
Thanks for your answer during a session on February 8, 2009, which partly explains that the Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) is active in 8 African countries of ‘Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda’. Clearly, Mali shares its frontier with Mauritania in West Africa and the other 6 countries do the same in the eastern/southern parts of Africa! Which criteria were used in selecting such countries for PEI? Currently, are the poverty-environment concerns better integrated into development planning processes of the 8 countries?
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Francis Bagambilana (from Tanzania (United Republic of))
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Dear Francis,
Thank you for your question and your interest in the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative.
Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda were selected as pilot projects in 2003-2004 in the context of UNEP’s poverty-environment project, which concentrated on the significance of ecosystem services for poor people. As such, I can not provide you with the exact set of criteria which were applied back then.
Generally speaking however, new country programmes are being launched based on a country request and following a number of UNDP-UNEP PEI joint missions to the country. A key aspect of these missions is to carry out targeted discussions with government officials, the UNDP country office, the United Nations Country Team, civil society, and in-country donors, to assess if the conditions for a successful country programme are in place. Such scoping thus focuses on assessing the demand, the context and the needs of a particular candidate country. It also aims at drafting and agreeing on the work plan for the preparatory phase of the country programme.
Key elements that may be looked at include:
- The poverty-environment context (e.g. poverty level, state of the environment, poverty-environment linkages)
- The governmental, institutional and political contexts (e.g. governance, institutional framework, on-going government national and sectoral policy and budgeting processes and entry points, technical and administrative capacity)
- The "commitment" towards a sustained mainstreaming effort (e.g. potential “champions” or advocates of such a mainstreaming initiative across and beyond the government)
- Possible synergies and partnerships (e.g. within the UN, with international funding institutions and bilateral donors’ programming processes and support, and with in country non-governmental actors)
With the support of the PEI, countries have already achieved good results in various areas of mainstreaming (e.g. understanding and support of poverty-environment mainstreaming across the existing PEI countries and new countries like Bhutan, actual mainstreaming in PRSP or equivalent in a number of countries, including Rwanda and Tanzania, increased budget allocations for poverty-environment in some countries, including Tanzania and steps towards establishing mainstreaming as standard government practice). PEI country programmes are also increasingly influencing key sectors.
You can find more information in the Annual Progress Report 2008 ‘Scaling-up the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative’ which provides comprehensive information on the results of the Initative to date, achievement by achievement, and country by country, and is available on our website http://www.unpei.org/PDF/PEI-annualprogress-report2008.pdf
Best regards,
Sophie
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