Art for the Environment
UNEP's popular Art for the Environment initiative aims to generate a deeper understanding and connection to our natural world through the universal language of art.

Biodiversity
UNEP works collaboratively to address the progressive loss of species of plants and animals caused by human activity around the world.

Biosafety
The Global Environment Facility's Biosafety programme is assisting countries to address safety for the environment and human health in relation to biotechnology.

Business & Industry
UNEP's strong relationships with business and industry are helping to incorporate environmentally responsible development throughout these sectors.

Children (Tunza Programme)
UNEP's global "Tunza" programme also engages children through painting competitions, events and stories, in order to raise awareness about environmental issues and to promote children's active participation in environmental issues.

Education & Training
Education, awareness raising and training are essential to UNEP fulfilling its mandate of inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to achieve sustainable development.

Energy
UNEP works to address the environmental consequences of energy production and use and assists decision-makers in government and the private sector to make informed energy choices which fully integrate environmental and social costs.

Environmental Assessment
UNEP is committed to undertaking and supporting timely, participatory and scientifically authoritative environmental assessments to underpin decision-making.

Freshwater
Since its establishment, UNEP has worked to promote sustainable water resource management through collaborative approaches at the national, regional and global levels.

Gender
UNEP is working to highlight the important role gender plays in sustainable development through playing a pioneering role in linking gender to the environment.

Governments
UNEP's responsibilities to governments include: promoting international cooperation in the field of the environment and recommending appropriate policies; catalyzing action to address major environmental threats; and monitoring the status of the global environment and gathering and disseminating environmental information.

Health and Environment
UNEP is working to highlight the complex interlinkages between climate change and health through playing a role in linking health to the environment.

Indigenous Knowledge (IK)
IK has greatly assisted indigenous communities in the areas of conservation, disaster management and awareness raising.

Indigenous Peoples
In caring for the environment, UNEP has long considered indigenous peoples as important stakeholders and actively seeks to cooperate closely with them in the pursuit of its mission of 'environment for development'.

Land
UNEP addresses environmental consequences of land use and assists decision-makers in governments, private sector, NGOs and the MEA Secretariats to make better, more informed choices in relation to sustainable land management.

Major Groups and Stakeholders
UNEP aims to be a catalyst for environmental protection through enhanced engagement and collaboration with the multitude of major groups around the world.

Ozone
UNEP is working to address challenges related to the ozone layer. Major activities include: Ozone Secretariat, OzonAction Branch, Global Environment Facility/Ozone, and the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

Poverty & Environment
The UNDP-UNEP Poverty - Environment Initiative (PEI) provides financial and technical support to countries to build capacity for mainstreaming poverty-environment linkages into national development planning processes.

Regional Seas
The Regional Seas programme aims to address the accelerating degradation of the world's oceans and coastal areas through the sustainable management and use of the marine and coastal environment, by engaging neighboring countries in comprehensive and specific actions to protect their shared marine environment.

Scientists
UNEP collaborates with a wide range of partners throughout the UN system and beyond to provide information on the state of the planet’s natural resources and their contribution to sustainable development. Human-induced environmental change has accelerated over the last three decades, as is illustrated in UNEP's flag-ship Global Environment Outlook reports.

South South Cooperation
South South Cooperation is an initiative to facilitate and foster greater collaboration in capacity development and technology support in the field of environment amongst countries and regions of the South. It is a cross-cutting mechanism designed to enhance UNEP's capability to deliver capacity-building and technology support functions in the regions.

Sports & Environment
UNEP works to promote the integration of environmental considerations in sports and use the popularity of sports to promote environmental awareness and respect for the environment.

Urban Issues
UNEP supports governments to address key urban environmental issues such as air pollution, coastal areas, waste, biodiversity, and climate change.

Youth (Tunza Programme)
UNEP works with youth from all over the world under a unified global programme entitled "Tunza". Through this programme, UNEP engages young people and recognizes the critical role they can and must play in addressing environmental issues directly and through their influence on their communities, socieites and governments.