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Spotlight on nature and biodiversity

Nature is humanity’s lifeline. Human health, food, economies and well-being depend on nature. Yet nature is in crisis. One million of the world’s estimated 8 million species of plants and animals are threatened with extinction. Meanwhile, ecosystem degradation is affecting the well-being of 40 per cent of the global population.

The spotlight on nature and biodiversity highlights updates from around the UN System, from partners and others, helping to call attention to the need for a just, prosperous and sustainable future for all.

22 May 2025 19:06

Placing nature at the heart of development

 

On the International Day for Biological Diversity, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen urges everyone, everywhere, to commit to placing nature at the very heart of development.

22 May 2025 16:49

The role of environmental multilateralism in challenging times

Ahead of the International Day for Biological Diversity, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen sat down with Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Astrid Schomaker,  to discuss how - even in challenging times - environmental multilateralism is continuing to deliver.

20 May 2025 18:14

A sweet solution for adapting to climate change

A beekeeper
A member of the new beekeeping cooperative in Ngororero inspects their new hives. Credit: UNEP/Miranda Tasker

 

A UNEP-backed initiative in Rwanda is helping restore forests and wetlands while equipping farmers with livelihoods that are less at the mercy of climate change, like beekeeping. 

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12 May 2025 11:08

Acting for biodiversity can take a diversity of forms

A colony of penguins on an island
Credit: Unsplash/Mathew Stephenson

 

“Harmony with nature and sustainable development” is the theme of the 2025 edition of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB). At its crux lies a seminal idea: a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach is crucial for the implementation of the 23 targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework  (KMGBF) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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08 May 2025 12:17

Countdown to the International Day for Biological Diversity 2025

A blue whale on the ocean
Credit: Unsplash/Todd Cravens

 

The theme of the International Day for Biodiversity 2025 is "Harmony with nature and sustainable development." This year's theme highlights the linkages between the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the goals and targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) as two universal agendas that must be pursued in tandem in the spirit of the recently adopted Pact for the Future.

Here are steps everyone can take to join the global celebration of biodiversity:  

22 Apr 2025 15:03

Explore papers on reimagining the human-environment relationship this Earth Day

People on a crop field
Credit: UNEP

 

This International Mother Earth Day, explore a collection of papers on alternative voices on reimagining the human-environment relationship curated by UNEP and the UN University Centre for Policy Research in the lead-up to Stockholm+50 in 2022.

The curated collection of ideas captures, interrogates, and elevates alternative paradigms of the human-nature relationship—existing and new and from various disciplines and societies—creating a space to recast our relationship with the environment and inform future policymaking.

16 Apr 2025 14:15

New research on Caspian Sea level decline

Caspian sea recession
Credit: Simon Goodman, University of Leeds

 

As the interim Secretariat of the Tehran Convention, UNEP provides a platform to unite science and policy and prioritize sustainable development across the unique Caspian Sea region.

Dr. Simon Goodman, a prominent researcher on the Caspian Sea at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, together with UNEP and littoral countries, has developed an action plan for Caspian Seals.

A recent paper he led, involving researchers from five countries and published in Nature magazine, finds that a decline in Caspian Sea levels of 5-10 metres will threaten ecosystem integrity, reduce the coverage of marine protected areas by up to 94%, and compromise key infrastructure such as ports. Regional capacity for biodiversity monitoring, conservation planning, and sustainable development must be enhanced, coastal communities supported, and protected areas created with flexible borders, the paper argues among its recommendations.

14 Apr 2025 18:06

What is the international agreement to protect the high seas and why is it important?

A turtle bobs near the surface of the ocean
Credit: Andalou/via AFP Ozge Elif Kizil

 

This week, delegates from around the world will gather in New York City to discuss what has been called one of the most important environmental accords in recent history: the Agreement on Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). 

The BBNJ Agreement— adopted in 2023— is designed to head off a brewing biodiversity crisis in the high seas. At the meetings in New York, backers are expected to call for dozens of nations to ratify the agreement, which must happen for it to come into force. 

Here’s a closer look at the agreement, and why it’s considered pivotal to the future of the ocean. 

03 Apr 2025 16:09

Happy Birthday to Jane Goodall!

27 Mar 2025 14:25

A unified call for One Health: Driving implementation, science, policy and investment for global impact

A piece of land with animals
Credit: FAO

 

As global leaders in human, animal, plant and ecosystem health, the Quadripartite collaboration comprising – the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) – reaffirms its unwavering commitment to advancing the One Health approach. This integrated approach is essential to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, plants, and ecosystems and to address health risks at the human-animal-environment interface. Meeting at WOAH headquarters in Paris for the Third Quadripartite Executive Annual Meeting, we call for urgent, strategic, and sustained support and investments to scale up One Health implementation worldwide.

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