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The coastal waters of Southeast Asia are home to one of the world’s most productive fisheries, which supports nearly 4 million people. But a growing human population and overfishing are threatening the region’s marine species, including the blue crab.  

Ecuador, India, Kenya, Laos, Philippines, Uruguay, and Vietnam have joined forces to reduce the environmental impact of the agricultural sector Highly hazardous pesticides and plastic waste from agriculture release toxic persistent organic pollutants into the environment, also harming human health $379 million initiative will realign financial incentives to prevent the use of harmful inputs in food production

The year 2023 was a landmark one for the global governance of chemicals and waste, with negotiations on a science-policy panel for sound chemical management and talks on an instrument to end plastic pollution both making headway.

It is October 2013, and Rimiko Yoshinaga is standing behind a podium in Minamata, Japan, gazing at an auditorium packed with world leaders.

Silence descends upon the room as she begins recounting how a mysterious illness had killed her father decades earlier.  

For two decades, paint maker Universal Colors has churned out an assortment of paints and industrial coatings from a small factory in Callao, Peru. Over time, the company has worked to weed out lead, a toxic chemical, from its products. But two varieties of paint proved to be especially problematic to reformulate, including one yellow epoxy paint.

During the GEF Assembly, Canada and the United Kingdom announced contributions to the new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, created to ramp up investment in nature restoration and renewal.

VANCOUVER – In good news for nature in a challenging moment, representatives of 185 countries agreed at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly in Canada to launch an innovative new fund for biodiversity that will attract funding from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a landmark global agreement to protect people and the environment from the toxic effects of mercury. To mark the occasion, UNEP is looking back at a story originally published in February about the campaign to end the use of mercury in small-scale gold mining.

It was an ecological time bomb.

In mid-2022, a toxic algal bloom began to quickly spread through the Oder River, which in part straddles the border between Germany and Poland.

Beneath the picturesque turquoise waters of Trinidad and Tobago, plastic pollution is wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems.

Senegal, Thailand and Uruguay have joined forces to reduce the environmental and health impacts of the dental industry Mercury is a key component of dental amalgam, posing significant risks to human and environmental health when improperly handled and disposed of $13-million initiative will support a holistic approach to accelerate the phase down of dental amalgam use and improve the disposal of mercury-containing waste

Gabon, Jamaica and Sri Lanka have joined forces to reduce the environmental and health toll of the skin lightening industry $14-million initiative will support a holistic approach to eliminate mercury from skin lightening products and promote the beauty of all skin tones Many skin lightening products include mercury, posing significant risks to human health and the environment

Geneva, 14 February 2023

Montreal, 10 December 2022 - As the largest biodiversity conference in a decade kicked off in Montreal, mayors from 15 cities around the world called for increased direct financing to allow cities to implement ambitious greening and ecosystem restoration projects.

Politicians, scientists and environmental campaigners are gathering in Montreal, Canada, this week for negotiations on a global deal to safeguard the planet’s dwindling biodiversity.

Some of those talks are expected to focus on how to protect the plants, animals and microbes whose genetic material is the foundation for life-saving medicines and a host of other products.

Biotechnology has huge potential to help overcome some of our leading global problems, from disease-resistant crops to innovative medical treatments.

But, like many new technologies, it is not without potential risks.

Living Modified Organisms (LMOs – also known as genetically modified organisms, or GMOs) can potentially negatively impact human health and the environment.

UNEP joins the Global Environment Facility in mourning the loss of renowned tropical scientist Gustavo Fonseca, its long-standing Director of Programs, who passed away on August 31, 2022. 

Gustavo spent his career staring down the planet’s biggest environmental challenges with his optimism and pragmatism intact, an approach that won him friends and accolades the world over. 

Nairobi/Washington DC, 26 July 2022 - In a boost to climate change governance, the Global Environment Facility will provide $32 million in pooled, streamlined funding to help developing countries prepare national transparency reports required under the Paris Agreement.

Thirty-three Small Island Developing States join $515 million USD Global Environment Facility initiative to manage hazardous chemicals and waste Joint efforts will prevent the release of over 23,000 metric tons of toxic chemicals and more than 185,000 metric tons of marine litter in island states within five years Tourism, shipping, and recycling companies to facilitate the improved transportation and treatment of islands

Isolated and timeless, the tiny Yemeni archipelago of Socotra remains one of the world’s most unique destinations.

Set amidst turquoise seas at the entrance of the Gulf of Aden, Socotra has been called the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”. The archipelago is home to remarkable terrestrial and marine biodiversity – with over 30 percent of its plant species and much of its fauna being found nowhere else in the world.

Global Environment Facility to provide $43 million in financing for developing countries to fast-track halting of species loss 139 countries get funds to take quick action on nature ahead of global agreement on biodiversity Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework expected to be adopted later in 2022 will aim to halt and reverse biodiversity loss within a decade

Montreal/New York/Nairobi/Washington D.C

Miguel Van Der Velden explores how tourism operators can spark sustainable innovation - including in sound chemicals and waste management - worldwide.

If there is one scene that exemplifies the last half century in human societal development better than any other, it might well be holiday-goers on a white sandy beach. In the background, a sprawling resort rises like a palace. Palm trees sway in the wind, while children play in the azure waters.

Yacouba Sawadogo, 76, has been a farmer for much of his life, tending a plot of land in a semi-arid stretch of central Burkina Faso. But in the 1980s, that way of life almost came to an end.

Severe droughts triggered soil erosion and land degradation, crippling farms across Burkina Faso and much of Western Africa.

When you think of a forest, chances are you picture trees rising high above you, leaves crunching underfoot. But there are some very different types of forest - in and under the water -  that are just as beautiful and just as precious. While they don’t all contain trees, these so-called blue forests are essential to life on this planet, say experts.

As the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) came to a close, news agencies and bloggers ploughed through the Glasgow Climate Pact to make sense of the commitments made to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For generations, people have combed the sponge-like cloud forests around the city of Xalapa, Mexico for edible mushrooms. But a combination of deforestation and climate-change-related drought have devastated mushroom crops, an important source of income in a region beset by poverty.

Bees and other pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities. To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN marks May 20 as World Bee Day.