Environmental Education and Training (EET) promotes attitudes and value systems that influence environmentally ethical behaviour by developing understanding, skills and values that will enable people participate as active and informed citizens in the development of an ecologically sustainable and socially just society.

Environmental Education is fundamental to the achievement of the goal of sustainable development. Likewise, awareness raising and training are essential to UNEP fulfilling its mandate of Inspiring, Informing and Enabling nations and peoples to achieve this goal and successfully implementing the six priority thematic areas.

The Environmental Education and Training (EET) activities of the United Nations Environment Programme are founded on its mission of inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations. This is achieved by promoting innovative, action oriented, and value-based environmental education for sustainable development by ensuring that environmental considerations are taken into account. Environmental education and training work at UNEP is organized around three pillars namely: Education, Training and Networking.

The Environmental Education and Training Unit (EETU) is responsible for the implementation of Environmental Education and Training activities in UNEP. This is done in close collaboration with other relevant Divisions, Branches, and Units in UNEP, as well as with other partners – mainly institutions of higher learning. Other partners include other UN agencies, governments, national and regional environmental education and training centres, local and international non-governmental organizations and the private sector.

The Environmental Education and Training Unit (EETU) is located in the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI). Administratively, EETU falls under the Directors Office.

EETU is housed in the New Office Facility (NOF), North Wing, Block 2, Middle Level at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. However, there are other EET regional focal points located in Mexico City (for Latin America and the Caribbean region), Bangkok, Thailand (for Asia and the pacific region), Geneva (for Europe) and Bahrain (for West Asia region).