environment

New UNEP report tracks the changing global environment over the past two decades

Tracking 20 years of environmental change, UN report lays out challenges ahead

1 November 2011
Concerted and rapid action is urgently needed to curb resource depletion and ensure human activities do not destroy the very environment that supports economies and sustains life, warned a United Nations report released today, which tracks the environmental changes the planet has gone through over the past 20 years.
The four co-winners of the Young Environmental Leader Award receiving their prizes in Germany

UN agency honours four students for innovative environmental projects

25 October 2011
A small bioreactor that can be used in household cooking and eco-friendly fuel briquettes made out of dried foliage and waste paper are among four projects – all designed by young students – that are being honoured with a United Nations award for environmental innovation.

Hazardous chemical recommended for elimination by UN experts

14 October 2011
A United Nations-backed panel of experts has recommended that a toxic flame retardant be added to a watch list of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) designed to eliminate the impact of hazardous chemicals on human health and the environment.
President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki

Kenya issues call at UN to strengthen environmental bodies

22 September 2011
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki called for the streamlining of international environmental organizations to better respond to global ecological challenges, telling the General Assembly that climate change had wrought havoc in the Horn of Africa where recurring droughts have greatly undermined people’s livelihoods.

European environment conference a vital platform for sustainable development – Ban

21 September 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked today’s start of a European environmental conference by welcoming the efforts of the region’s countries to implement green policies and measures to boost sustainable development.

Animal experts at UN-backed conference are ‘concerned’ about trade in animals and skins

22 July 2011
Animal experts from 50 countries meeting at a United Nations-backed conference today expressed concern about the sustainability of current levels of trade in snake skins used in luxury products and another 20 animal species used in biomedical research, the food industry or as pets.

Scientists open UN-supported conference on endangered species

18 July 2011
Scientists from around the world gathered in Geneva today for the opening of a meeting of the United Nations-backed international organization aimed at regulating trade in endangered species.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Convention on environment and human rights crucial for ecological protection – Ban

1 July 2011
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today lauded the world’s leading international convention on environment and human rights as a powerful tool for environmental protection and the promotion of civil rights, saying the instrument also helped to combat climate change and air and water pollution.
Rubbish heap with people and animals

UN urges leaders to harness extraordinary benefits of forests

3 June 2011
Potentially irreversible environmental changes threaten the progress that has brought hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, stressing the need for policy-makers to do more to preserve and strengthen the planet’s natural resources, particularly its forests.
The critically endangered Sociable Lapwing, a migratory bird

UN-backed World Migratory Bird Day puts spotlight on land sustainability

14 May 2011
United Nations-backed events celebrating the annual migration of an estimated 50 billion birds are taking place this weekend as enthusiasts mark one of nature's great wonders and highlight the negative effects that human activities can have on migratory birds and their habitats.