Nairobi, 26 March 2014
- The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) in 2013 tackled a range of critical
and emerging issues on the global environmental
agenda, according to the organization's
2013 Annual Report, which was released today.
The report focuses on UNEP's achievements
in key focus areas: climate change; disasters
and conflicts; ecosystem management; environmental
governance; harmful substances and hazardous
waste; resource efficiency; and sustainable
consumption and production.
On harmful substances and hazardous waste,
the report spotlights the historic adoption
of the Minamata Convention on Mercury -
a global, legally binding agreement to reduce
mercury emissions and the first new global
convention on environment and health for
close to a decade - which was widely viewed
as a major step forward in the global phase-out
of the deadly heavy metal.
It also addresses UNEP's
work in reducing the lead content of fuels
and paint, and tackling ozone-depleting
substances such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons
and methyl bromide.
In the area of climate
change, the report highlights the findings
of its Emissions Gap Report 2013 - which
details the gap between current global emissions
and the reduction needed to remain on track
to meet the 2 degree Celsius global warming
target - and its Africa Adaptation Gap Report,
which describes the costs of adaptation
measures on the African continent under
various global warming scenarios.
It also focuses on the
2013 opening of the Climate Technology Centre
and Network (CTCN) and the adoption of a
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Forest Degradation (REDD) in developing
countries 'Rulebook', as well as the organization's
work on adaptation, energy and resilience.
The report describes
UNEP's work in the area of ecosystem management,
in particular with regard to natural capital,
payments for ecosystem services and the
marine environment.
In this regard, efforts
by UNEP and partners to incorporate the
value of nature - natural capital, as it
is known - into economic and developmental
policies are also spotlighted. Over the
course of the year, the UNEP-hosted Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), with 115
member states, established an ambitious
five-year work programme and agreed to develop
a set of fast-track assessments.
Meanwhile, more nations
embarked on studies under the Economics
of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative,
which has already demonstrated the negative
economic impact of unsustainable management
of ecosystems. Bhutan, Ecuador, Liberia,
the Philippines and Tanzania have initiated
studies to assess and value their natural
capital, while others such as Brazil, Germany,
the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden have
expressed interest in TEEB scoping studies.
Environmental governance
measures addressed by the report include
UNEP's capacity building efforts to enhance
the implementation of Multilateral Environmental
Agreements (MEAs); its new Poverty-Environment
Initiative (PEI); and various efforts to
address the illegal wildlife trade.
Also in 2013, UNEP's
Governing Council met for the first time
under universal membership following the
adoption of a 2012 resolution by the UN
General Assembly which called for a significant
upgrade to the organization.
Activities to bring
science to policy makers and the general
public are also detailed, including the
launch of UNEP Live, a new digital platform
to collect, process and share the world's
best environmental science and research.
In the area of resource
efficiency, green economy initiatives are
featured, including the Partnership for
Action on the Green Economy (PAGE), the
UNEP Finance Initiative, and the Sustainable
Buildings and Climate Initiative.
Among emerging issues,
it notes that pastoralism - the branch of
agriculture relating to the herding and
tending of livestock - will come into greater
focus as an element of the green economy,
through UNEP's partnerships with the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
and the World Alliance of Indigenous Peoples.
The report also highlights
the benefit of UNEP's work to communities
though success stories such as a programme
for small-scale gold mining communities
in Indonesia. The initiative works with
individuals to help introduce simple recycling
techniques to reduce the use and impact
of mercury on human health and the environment.
The project, which was
created in conjunction with partners and
funding from the US Environmental Protection
Agency, also helped the mining sector and
the government to develop a national strategic
plan on mercury in small-scale gold mining,
resulting in the reduction of mercury releases
by an estimated 3,000 kg in one year.
For each focus area,
the report lists budget allocations and
expenditures, evaluates achieved results
against expected accomplishments and describes
areas of action. It also includes sections
on the environment in numbers, financial
and management issues, and the Champions
of the Earth award.
