The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to strengthen the capacity of national institutions of countries to coherently integrate, implement, and monitor the environmental dimension of the Agenda 2030. In collaboration with several other inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations such as the United Nations Development Account and the Economic Commission for Africa, UNEP helps countries to develop national strategies and policies that include multisectoral priorities aimed at delivering on the 2030 Agenda, in a coordinated and integrated manner.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh recognizes the importance of preserving the environment and its natural resources. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has envisioned transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, and a developed country by 2041, with a committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.
To help meet Bangladesh’s environmental goals, UNEP and the United Nations Development Programme developed a roadmap in 2018—the institutional transformation for Sustainable Development Goals achievement—to enhance the capacity of its government officials, make economic growth more environmentally sustainable and create new partnerships which “leave no one behind”. The roadmap will further help the Bangladesh government to develop and share cutting-edge policy thinking and innovative models for delivery across government and in partnership with other non-governmental actors, and particularly the private sector.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso has ratified and implemented several multilateral environmental agreements, established new institutions and developed national policies, plans and programmes. However, it lacks appropriate planning, implementing capacities and tools that can enable the transformational changes envisaged in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
UNEP and the United Nations Development Account are helping Burkina Faso to more effectively implement national policies to promote sustainable development, mainstream environmental sustainability in local integrated development plans and to support the implementation of the country’s social development plans, including the National Council for Sustainable Development, the National Economic and Social Development Plan and the National Rural Sector Programme.
A three-day data-user-producer workshop was organized in Burkina Faso in October 2019 to enhance the capacity of the national statistical system and improve environmental data generation and utilization in the country.
Colombia
In February 2015, Colombia established the High-Level National Commission for the preparation and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (Sustainable Development Goals Commission). Its national development plan is also aligned with the 2030 Agenda, with 92 Sustainable Development Goals targets integrated into the national development plan and are currently monitored through the National Management and Results Evaluation System.
As part of the United Nations Development Account-UNEP initiative, which is to help countries to coherently implement the environmental dimension of the Sustainable Development Goals, UNEP held a meeting in Bogota with the Stockholm Environment Institute to provide both legal and technical assistance to the country’s government officers to implement the national development plan and the Action Plan of the National Sustainable Development Goals Commission.
Guyana
The Co-operative Republic of Guyana recognizes the importance of the environment and has been taking legislative measures to avoid that its economic growth harms its natural capital. The recently finalized Green State Development Strategy: Vision 2040, prepared with the technical assistance of UNEP in coordination with the UN Country Team, is a comprehensive development policy which includes a holistic view of Guyana’s social, economic and environmental well-being in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Although numerous agencies exist in Guyana for monitoring and reporting on the environment, a study conducted by UNEP and the United Nations Development Account to assess Guyana's institutional framework and governance structure related to environmental policy highlighted that an overarching national institutional framework for inter-agency coordination is absent.
