The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in June 1972. Its mandate is to provide leadership, deliver science and develop solutions on a wide range of issues, including climate change, the management of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, and green economic development. The organization also develops international environmental agreements; publishes and promotes environmental science and helps national governments achieve environmental targets.
Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science, atmospheric science, mathematics, and geography.
Cleaner production is a preventive, company-specific environmental protection initiative. It is intended to minimize waste and emissions and maximize product output. By analysing the flow of materials and energy in a company, one tries to identify options to minimize waste and emissions out of industrial processes through source reduction strategies. Improvements of organisation and technology help to reduce or suggest better choices in use of materials and energy, and to avoid waste, waste water generation, and gaseous emissions, and also waste heat and noise.
The developing nations of Africa are popular locations for the application of renewable energy technology. Currently, many nations already have small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation providing energy to urban and rural populations. These types of energy production are especially useful in remote locations because of the excessive cost of transporting electricity from large-scale power plants. The applications of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems that face Africans every day, especially if done in a sustainable manner that prioritizes human rights.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development of the Government of Singapore. It was established on 1 April 1999 through the merger of the Construction Industry Development Board and the Building Control Division of the former Public Works Department.
The Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) is an Italian research centre dedicated to climate and climate related research, including climate variability, its causes and consequences, carried out through numerical models ranging from Global Earth System to Regional models within the Euro-Mediterranean area.
Green growth is a concept in economic theory and policymaking used to describe paths of economic growth that are environmentally sustainable. It is based on the understanding that as long as economic growth remains a predominant goal, a decoupling of economic growth from resource use and adverse environmental impacts is required. As such, green growth is closely related to the concepts of green economy and low-carbon or sustainable development. A main driver for green growth is the transition towards sustainable energy systems. Advocates of green growth policies argue that well-implemented green policies can create opportunities for employment in sectors such as renewable energy, green agriculture, or sustainable forestry.
Paolo Buoni is an Italian British renewable energy advocate and marketer. He is the Founder and Director of the first renewable energy Institute in Europe, the Renewable Energy Institute (REI). He is also the Director of the European Energy Centre (EEC) and an alumnus of Edinburgh Napier University. His main achievements are related to promoting best practice in renewable energy for over 3 decades through training courses and conferences and to highlight the importance of training and the lack of technicians working in the renewable energy field.
The King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) is an advisory think tank specializing in energy economics, climate, and sustainability that seeks to advance Saudi Arabia’s energy sector and inform global policies through evidence-based advice and applied research. It is located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. The convention was a result of three years of meeting and negotiating, after which the text of the convention was approved by delegates representing close to 140 countries on 19 January 2013 in Geneva and adopted and signed later that year on 10 October 2013 at a diplomatic conference held in Kumamoto, Japan. The convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata. This naming is of symbolic importance as the city went through a devastating incident of mercury poisoning. It is expected that over the next few decades, this international agreement will enhance the reduction of mercury pollution from the targeted activities responsible for the major release of mercury to the immediate environment.
Tan Sri Zakri bin Abdul Hamid has had a distinguished career in science as a researcher, educator, administrator and diplomat.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. It is the first international organisation to focus exclusively on renewable energy, addressing needs in both industrialised and developing countries. It was founded in 2009 and its statute entered into force on 8 July 2010. The agency is headquartered in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. The Director-General of IRENA is Francesco La Camera, a national of Italy. IRENA is an official United Nations observer.
Fatima Denton is a British-Gambian climatologist. She is the director at the Ghanaian branch of the United Nations University, at the UNU Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) in Accra. She focuses on innovation, science, technology and natural resource management. She partners with countries such as Benin and Liberia to develop and implement country needs assessment missions.
The European Centre of Technology (ECT) Institute is a Professional Body created in 1975 and its focus is engineering, marketing, finance education, and upskilling in order to create a workforce capable of promoting and supporting engineering topics including energy, efficiency and renewable energy. The ECT is also the first Renewable Energy Institute in Europe and in the Western Hemisphere.
Adnan Z. Amin is a Kenyan diplomat and a development economist with a specialty in sustainable development. He served as the first Director-General of the Abu Dhabi-based intergovernmental organisation, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Amin was elected in April 2011, having previously served as the Agency's Interim Director-General in 2010. Prior to his appointment at the IRENA, he worked in a variety of senior positions within the United Nations system in areas relating to in renewable energy, sustainable development and environmental policy. He served as the Director of the New York Office of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Special Representative of the UNEP Executive Director.
World Refrigeration Day is an international day established by the World Refrigeration Day Secretariat in Derbyshire, England. Held annually on 26 June, it was created to raise awareness about the importance of refrigeration technologies in everyday life and to raise the profile of the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump sector. The day was chosen to celebrate the birth date of Lord Kelvin on 26 June 1824.
The Renewable Energy Institute is the global professional and educational body for the renewable energy and low carbon sectors. Its focus is education and professional membership for those working and upskilling to work in renewable energy, energy storage, energy efficiency, energy conservation, hydrogen energy, electric vehicles. The Renewable Energy Institute is the first Renewable Energy Institute in the Western Hemisphere. The Renewable Energy Institute, in cooperation with the affiliated European Energy Centre, European Centre of Technology and Centro Studi Galileo, runs a biennial European Conference on renewable energy, heating and cooling applications. The institute was founded to assist with renewable energy education, training and conferences and to help develop a workforce capable of designing, installing, repairing and maintaining renewable energy equipment and managing renewable energy projects.
