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.
A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus. The 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report argues "that to be green, an economy must not only be efficient, but also fair. Fairness implies recognizing global and country level equity dimensions, particularly in assuring a Just Transition to an economy that is low-carbon, resource efficient, and socially inclusive."
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 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during June 5–16, 1972.
The United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) is one of the five United Nations Research and Training Institutes. The institute was founded in 1968 to assist the international community in formulating and implementing improved policies in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice. Its work currently focuses on Goal 16 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, that is centred on promoting peaceful, just and inclusive societies, free from crime and violence.
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.
The European Energy Centre (EEC) Institute is an independent professional educational body for the renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric vehicles sectors. The EEC is also the first Renewable Energy Institute in Europe and in the Western Hemisphere. The EEC along with the affiliated Centro Studi Galileo runs a biennial European Conference on renewable energy, heating and cooling applications. EEC's focus is on renewable energy education, training and conferences to help develop a workforce capable of designing, installing, repairing and maintaining renewable energy equipment and managing renewable energy projects.
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 International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), is an independent intergovernmental science and technology-based organization which promotes knowledge of refrigeration and associated technologies and applications on a global scale that improve quality of life in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner, including:
The Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) is composed of international and supranational organisations, whose mandate includes the provision of statistics. The CCSA promotes inter-agency coordination and cooperation on statistical programmes and consistency in statistical practices and development. As a forum of committed members, the CCSA fosters good practices in the statistical activities of international and supranational organisations, in accordance with the principles governing international statistical activities. The members of the CCSA contribute actively to the development of a coordinated global statistical system producing and disseminating high-quality statistics.
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 World Resources Forum (WRF) is a non-profit organisation for sharing knowledge about the economic, political, social and environmental implications of global resource use. WRF promotes resource productivity among researchers, policymakers, business, NGOs and the public. In addition to organizing international and regional conferences, the WRF Secretariat coordinates multistakeholder dialogue projects, amongst others the Sustainable Recycling Initiative (SRI) as well as the H2020 projects Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials (FORAM), and CEWASTE. The WRF contributes to other EC-projects and projects with the German development organisation GiZ, UNEP and UNIDO.
The Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (CCAC) was launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and six countries—Bangladesh, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States—on 16 February 2012. The CCAC aims to catalyze rapid reductions in short-lived climate pollutants to protect human health, agriculture and the environment. To date, more than $90 million has been pledged to the Climate and Clean Air Coalition from Canada, Denmark, the European Commission, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The program is managed out of the United Nations Environmental Programme through a Secretariat in Paris, France.
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.
Arcot Ramachandran (1923-2018) was an Indian scientist, anthropologist, author and a former Under-Secretary General of United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, known for his scholarship on the subjects of heat and mass transfer and environment and his social commitment to the cause of sustainable development. The Government of India honoured him in 2003, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services to the fields of Science and Engineering.
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.
