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.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity,climate change,international waters,land degradation,persistent organic pollutants (POPs),mercury,sustainable forest management,food security,and sustainable cities in developing countries. It is the largest source of multilateral funding for biodiversity globally,and distributes more than $1 billion a year on average to address inter-related environmental challenges.
The Global 500 Roll of Honour was an award given from 1987 to 2003 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The award recognized the environmental achievements of individuals and organizations around the world. A successor system of UNEP awards called Champions of the Earth started in 2005.
Andrew Levitas is an American painter,sculptor,filmmaker,writer,producer,photographer,and restaurateur.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) established Champions of the Earth in 2005 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors,and from civil society.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent policy research institute whose stated mission is to "build a fairer,more sustainable world,using evidence,action and influence in partnership with others." Its director is Dr Tom Mitchell.
Richard Elliot Benedick is President Emeritus of the National Council for Science and the Environment. He is a former ambassador and was chief United States negotiator to the Montreal Protocol on protection of the ozone layer.
The presence of mercury in fish is a health concern for people who eat them,especially for women who are or may become pregnant,nursing mothers,and young children. Fish and shellfish concentrate mercury in their bodies,often in the form of methylmercury,a highly toxic organomercury compound. This element is known to bioaccumulate in humans,so bioaccumulation in seafood carries over into human populations,where it can result in mercury poisoning. Mercury is dangerous to both natural ecosystems and humans because it is a metal known to be highly toxic,especially due to its neurotoxic ability to damage the central nervous system.
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) is a reporting service providing daily coverage on a variety of global environmental and sustainable development negotiations.
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.
Francisco Carlos Bustillo Bonasso is a Uruguayan diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay from July 6,2020 to November 1,2023.
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.
Robert K. Dixon is an energy,environment,and economic expert at the Office of International Affairs,US Department of Energy headquarters in Washington,DC,USA.
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) was founded on 18 September 2018. Hosted by the Netherlands,GCA engages in policy activities,research,communications,and technical assistance to government and the private sector,policy development,research,advocacy,communications,and partnerships. GCA's floating headquarters is hosted by the Netherlands in Rotterdam,with regional offices in Africa,South Asia,and Asia Pacific.
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.
The Global Pact for the Environment project was launched in 2017 by a network of experts known as the "International Group of Experts for the Pact" (IGEP). The group is made up of more than a hundred legal experts in environmental law and is chaired by former COP21 President Laurent Fabius.
SıtkıUğur Ziyal is a Turkish diplomat.
UN Member States are currently negotiating a legally-binding,international agreement on plastics that will address the entire life cycle of plastics,from design to production and disposal. On March 2,2022 UN Member States voted at the resumed fifth UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) with the mandate of advancing a legally-binding international agreement on plastics. The resolution is entitled “End plastic pollution:Towards an international legally binding instrument.”
The Montevideo Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (Montevideo Environmental Law Programme) is a United Nations sequential ten-year intergovernmental program for the development and periodic review of Environmental Law,designed to strengthen the related capacity in countries. The program was conceived in 1982.
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme was established as a Working Group of the Arctic Council in 1991. Its main function is to advise the governments of the eight Arctic member nations—Canada,Denmark,Finland,Iceland,Norway,Russia,Sweden and the United States—on environment-related issues such as pollution. AMAP's work is a cooperative effort involving scientists and Arctic Indigenous peoples,as well as political representatives of the eight nations.
