envirionment

Kenya’s Nzambi Matee beams brightly, thrusting a brick forth to coincide with the click of the camera. It is no ordinary brick – the entire thing is made from plastic waste – and no ordinary photo, either. Behind her, stands the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed. Ms. Mohammed rests her hands on Nzambi’s shoulder, undoubtedly proud of her. Around her are a dozen other young environmental advocates.

Delegates were looking to advance a global agreement on plastic pollution, among a series of draft resolutions on biodiversity and health, green economy, and circularity, as the resumed fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly kicked off in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Monday.

Higher incomes contribute more to environmental degradation than population growth, a report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) has revealed. 

The challenge of tackling climate change is one that the UN needs to talk about “honestly, without scaremongering” and by focusing on scientific fact, according to Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). 

Around 15 per cent of deaths in the Mediterranean are attributable to preventable environmental factors, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released on Wednesday has revealed.

Four United Nations human rights experts are calling for greater protection for Kenyan activists who have testified against a local lead-smelting plant accused of environmental pollution.

In a bid to curb the unprecedented loss of the world's species due to human activity – at a rate some experts put at 1,000 times the natural progression – the United Nations is marking 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity, with a slew of events highlighting the vital role the phenomenon plays in maintaining the life support system on Planet Earth.