UNEP

As debates on reform of global environmental governance intensify, the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has come into acute political focus. Many argue that the organization has faltered in its role as the UN’s leading agency for the environment. In this article, I use historical institutional analysis in combination with current International Relations and management theory to explain UNEP’s creation and evolution. Having described how the creators of UNEP envisioned the nascent organization, I analyze its subsequent performance, identifying the key factors that have shaped its record. I argue that the original vision for UNEP was ambitious but fundamentally pragmatic, and that the organization’s mixed performance over the years can be explained by analysis of three factors: its design, leadership, and location. Thus, this article clarifies the record on UNEP‘s intended function, and lays the foundation for a systematic methodology for evaluating international organizations.

This forum reflects upon the current state of research on post-conflict natural resource management. It identifies two dominant perspectives on environmental peacebuilding in the literature: one focused on environmental cooperation, the other on resource risk. Both perspectives share a concern for the sustainable management of natural resources in post-conflict settings and prescribe environmental cooperation at large as a means to foster peace and stability. Yet both perspectives also feature notable differences: The cooperation perspective is driven by a faith in the potential of environmental cooperation to contribute to long-term peace through spillover effects. The resource risk perspective , however, recognizes that resource-induced instability may arise after intrastate conflict; stressing the need to mitigate instability by implementing environmental cooperation initiatives. Despite the significant contributions of both perspectives, neither has provided any cohesive theoretical understanding of environmental peacebuilding. This article suggests a timely revision of the research agenda to address this gap. For international and domestic actors, post-conflict situations constitute one of the most difficult policy arenas to understand and operate within. In this context, the role of natural resources management has received increasing scholarly attention over the past two decades, as researchers have focused on the ecological foundations for a socially, economically, and politically resilient peace. However, this research has not led to a cohesive theoretical understanding of the pathways by which environmental cooperation facilitates peace. This is concerning, because it is increasingly evident that the interaction between social, political, and ecological processes decisively shapes the post-conflict landscape.

Environmental justice is the idea that all environmental costs and  benefits of development should be equally distributed across the population. The concept emerged mainly in the 1980’s, when studies first showed that in the United States of America the incidence of pollution was higher in poor communities areas. Other studies have since endorsed these conclusions, meaning that some specific populations are more affected by development costs than they are by its benefits. The ones that suffer the most with environmental injustices are mainly determined by their social status, their race or their nationality. Furthermore, those people are not only more affected by pollution, but also are usually excluded from policy and decision-making processes, rendering them even more vulnerable.
In this sense, the matter of environmental justice also comprehends the idea of social justice and how economical and political inequalities have influence over the distribution of environmental costs and benefits. On the one hand, the placement of highly polluter industries or landfills, for example, would be more likely determined to be in low-income settlement regions because people living there would not have the power to react against it. On the other hand, some argue that the cause is on reverse: low-income populations would settle down in hazardous areas after the industries are there located, since lands in industrial areas are cheaper than in other areas of the cities. Thus, independently of the temporal ordering, both visions relate environmental injustice with economical inequality.
Environmental injustice affects fundamental human rights, such as the right to live with dignity. People living near polluted areas are more likely to have health problems, due to air pollution, animal proliferation and contaminated water. Besides, since those people do not have political influence, polluting industries are hardly ever accountable for their violations. Environmental justice has, then, two dimensions: the participation in the decision-making process and the fair distribution of costs and benefits (Keller 2011). Both are essential to the discussion and cannot be considered solely. Another important side of the problem is the pollution itself, for if it was controlled it would not have negative consequences. Therefore, the environmental justice debate includes also the matter of responsibility and accountability over development externalities.

FOR CITATION:
UNEP 2016. GEO-6 (Sixth Global Environment Outlook) Regional Assessment for West Asia. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. 145 Pages. (Hilmi S. Salem: Coordinating Lead Author, Lead Author, and Main Contributor, See Pages: 143 and 145).

ABSTRACT:
The GEO-6 Regional Assessment1 for West Asia2 is guided
by seven regional priorities: water, land, marine resources,
biodiversity, air, climate change and waste management.
These were identified by member States and stakeholders
at the Regional Environmental Information Network (REIN)
Conference held in Amman, 10-14 May 2015. Along with the
identified regional priorities, 2 themes governed the West
Asia assessment report; Peace, Security and Environment,
along with the water, energy and food nexus. This document
provides a summary of key findings and policy messages.
State and Trends of the West Asia Environment: Following
trends highlighted in previous editions of the GEO report
series, the current analysis of drivers, pressures, state,
impact and responses of the West Asia environment, shows
that a holistic and integrated approach is needed to identify
challenges related to the environment and address the two
themes. Several regional environmental challenges that are
continuing include:
• Despite some efforts on integrated water resource
management and the short lived solutions applied
for managing increasing water demand, there is
deteriorating water quality, in addition to persistent
overexploitation of groundwater resources;
• Shared water resources continue to be a source of major
regional concern due to lack of regional cooperation;
• Unsustainable consumption patterns threaten water,
energy and food security;
• Biodiversity loss, desertification and ecosystem
degradation are ongoing challenges;
• Air pollution continues to greatly impact human health
and the environment;
• Waste management continues to be addressed
through ad-hoc initiatives without an integrated waste
management outlook;
• Energy efficiency and energy mix continue to be a
priority; and
• The environment continues to be threatened by and a
cause for lack of peace and security and increasing levels
of conflicts.

UNEP 2016, The ABC for Sustainable Cites: a glossary for policy makers (lead authors: FRYXELL Stellan and DA SCHIO Nicola) ---

Global events such as Rio+20, the Summit for the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, the COP 21, and the Habitat III conference show how the international community increasingly recognizes that many solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges facing our planet can be found in cities.
In the context of a proliferation of initiatives and projects, the ABC for Sustainable Cities aims to contribute to the international debate and action by clarifying key terms and concepts and providing policy makers with a key tool to understand a complex reality.

Through the commodification of nature, the framing of the environment as a 'natural resource' or 'ecosystem service' has become increasingly prominent in international environmental governance. The economic capture approach is promoted by international organizations such as the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) through Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). This paper will inquire as to how forest protection is related to issues of social and ecological justice, exploring whether forest exploitation based on the top-down managerial model fosters an unequitable distribution of resources. Both top-down and community-based approaches to forest protection will be critically examined and a more inclusive ethical framework to forest protection will be offered. The findings of this examination indicate the need for a renewed focus on existing examples of good practice in addressing both social and ecological need, as well as the necessity to address the less comfortable problem of where compromise appears less possible. The conclusion argues for the need to consider ecological justice as an important aspect of more socially orientated environmental justice for forest protection.

This essay will consist of two major parts. Firstly, various roles and functions of central banks will be presented, with particular focus on the recent years. Secondly, complexities of the central banking functions and monetary policy will be analysed, considering the extent to which Artificial Intelligence is (un)prepared to perform them autonomously in the foreseeable future (up to 2030).

تعتبر البائة التي نعاش بها؛ بمواردها المخت ة؛ عنصا ا رً أسااساااً مم عناصر التنماة المستدامة. إم توفر البائة المروف
الملائمة لمعاشاة ا نساام وتمدغ بمقومات الصااة مم هوار ومار وغمار ومسا م وم بب؛ وفي الولت ن ساه تعتمد التنماة
بمخت ف إتجاهاتها اعتمادا أساااااااساااااااا ع ى الموارد البائاة في ت باة اصتااجات الساااااا ام وتصسااااااام وتطوار نوعاة صااتهم
وتوسااااااب خاا ا رتهم. ولد أد ملل في ةار مم الأصاام إلى تغاا ا رت في البائة انع سااااات سااااا با ع ى التنماة الاجتماعاة
% والالتصاااداة ل موارد البائاة الطباعاة بساابلا تجاوز صدود لدرة البائة ع ى العطار. ورغم ةروة الع ا را الن طاة فأم 27
مم الأساااار الع ا رلاة تعتبر مات مسااااتو معاشااااي متوسااااط إلى منخ ض، مما ان د ع ى ضاااارورة اجتةاث ال قر مم بام
الع ا رلاام نم ا رُ للارتباط والت امل بام الس ام والتنماة والبائة.
وع ى هما الأسااااااااااب فقد تم إعداد التقرار الصالي ل تولعات البائاة لاغطي جوانلا العلالات الوةاقة والمت ام ة بام صالة
ومتط بات الساااا ام؛ ومتط بات التنماة؛ والبائة. وملل في ةلاةة أبوالا رئاسااااة تضاااام أصد عشاااار فصاااالاً تتناول الصالات
والعلالات والمشا ل والص ول المقترصة

This paper presents an overview of the current state of global environmental governance with an eye toward highlighting the challenges that are presented by the scale and speed of environmental change that we are now witnessing. The scale of anthropogenic environmental change has led to what many now dub the Anthropocene-reflecting that humanity is changing our natural planetary systems in ways that have fundamental implications on a geologic scale. It also harkens in an era when humanity will be called on to consciously manage on a planetary level massive environmental change and the economic and social impacts that arise from this change.

Despite of persistent efforts from the part of organizations aiming to solve or to alleviate the
world’s most challenging issues, there are limitations of the current problem-solving system based
on hierarchical bureaucratic models. These are mainly related to the powerlessness of the profes-
sional sector when, alone, facing global issues of ever increasing complexity and uncertainty. The
current context often called “the network age” has in turn, supported and enhanced systems
which serve as means for coping with these complex and uncertain scenarios, such as the concept
of distributed cognition that leads (in its positive aspects) to collaborative, participatory and peer-
to-peer common oriented processes, including the emergence of decentralized systems as well as
the gradual empowerment of the civil society (overlapping with the latter); forming altogether,
the background of latent paradigm shifts. 
Concurrently there is the political discourse (driven by the UN) on Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and of a Data Revolution, where the claim is that the latter is indispensable for
achieving the former. The Data Revolution’s main purpose is to fill data gaps in order to leave no
one behind and its realization is also crucial for unlocking other latent paradigm shifts. This thesis
introduces the core concepts of such a paradigm shifts whilst focusing on two collaborative ap-
proaches for data collection and analysis: crowdsourcing and citizen science; most specifically on
their role and challenges in the context of the current data revolution. Crowdsourcing and citizen
science (also citizen journalism and other participatory monitoring activities) are not just part of the
context of latent paradigm shifts, but do play a major role for the realization of a data revolution,
once professionals and machines do not currently suffice to fill those data gaps. This hinders proper
accounting, planning and distribution of resources and hence spoils efforts to tackle the critical
issues involved in the SDGs. 
Unfortunately there is wide reluctance from the part of the institutions (UN, INGOs and
governments) in adopting these approaches as valid data/information sources. The main goal of
this MA thesis is to identify the reason behind this reluctance, shedding light on deadlocks ham-
pering the consolidation of a data revolution. In order to do so, the problematic was approached
from multiple perspectives, characterizing a truly interdisciplinary inquiry, which, based on the
approach of the “informed grounded theory”, presents the main challenges of crowdsourcing
and citizen science in multiple levels and from multiple perspectives. 
From a pragmatic perspective, issues related with data quality as well as the issue of little un-
derstanding  have  been  the  most  cited.  Withal  the  fact  that  both  issues  are  not  exclusive  to
crowdsourcing or citizen science has shown to be crucial for the present inquiry, although widely
neglected  in  the  literature.  Thus  for  this  and  other  important  reasons  to  be  further  discussed
throughout chapters 3 and 4, an alternative to the “quality-centred” approach towards crowdsourc-
ing and citizen science is appropriate, nevertheless the quality issue should not be disregarded, as it
is reasonable, but eventually addressed in a different manner as part of the problematic, but not as
“the problematic” itself. 
In addition, prejudice from the part of professionals has been cited by some expert inter-
viewees as the “real” reason behind the reluctance vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and citizen science as
valid data/information sources. Analysis has shown that prejudice is omnipresent with regards to new technologies or any novel approach. For there is no time to wait for wider acceptance, given
the urgency of matters, and as prejudice shows to result from ignorance linked to the clash of
paradigms, this thesis also focuses on the question of what lays behind prejudice. In order to
answer this question, other crucial parts of the problematic encompassing constrained profes-
sional autonomy, risk and blame aversion are discussed throughout the thesis, forming altogether
a hypothesis advocating that the resistance from the part of institutions towards crowdsourcing
and citizen science is not just rooted on prejudice, but also on lack of trust in society; being both
resultants of excess of accountability which has been ultimately delineated by public discourse.
After a rough analysis, the latter has shown to be in unbalance, overemphasizing the need for
accountability and consequently (based on the premise of a necessary balance between trust and
control/accountability), inadvertently, undermining trust.
Paradoxically the overdose of accountability in public discourse reflects an attempt to restore
trust in society. This paradox can be found also within the discourse on the data revolution, hinder-
ing this and other latent paradigm shifts of thriving, as for them all mutual trust is a requisite. If
there is no trust from the part of organizations towards the public, there will be no room (ac-
ceptance) for approaches relying on citizen-generated data, leaving data gaps and many people and
countries behind. The outcomes of this analysis are useful for those stakeholders contributing to
the discourses on the fundamental role of a data revolution, as they should reframe the latter giving
more weight to “top-down” trust, if we are to see the realization of such a shift.

Numerous recent studies project that 'climate engineering' technologies might need to play a major role in the future. Such technologies may carry major risks for developing countries that are often especially vulnerable to, and lack adaptive capacity to deal with, the impacts of such new technologies. In this situation, one would expect that developing countries-especially the least developed countries that are most vulnerable-should play a central role in the emerging discourse on climate engineering. And yet, as this article shows in detail, the discussion about whether and how to engage with these technologies is shaped by experts from just a small set of countries in the Global North. Knowledge production around climate engineering remains heavily dominated by the major research institutions in North America and Europe. Drawing on information from 70 climate engineering events between 2009 and 2017 along with extensive document analysis, the article maps a lack of involvement of developing countries and highlights the degree to which their concerns remain insufficiently represented in politically significant scientific assessment reports. The article concludes by sketching options that developing countries may have to influence the agenda on climate engineering, reflecting on earlier attempts to increase control over novel technologies and influence global agenda setting.

The State of Play of Sustainable Building in Latin America provides a general picture of the current situation regarding public policies, programs and initiatives on sustainable building and on sustainable social housing in Latin America. UNEP-SBCI expects that this report and its findings will contribute to more strategic attention of the challenges and opportunities presented by sustainable buildings, social housing and resource efficient cities in the Latin America region and serve as a baseline for the further development of awareness raising, policies and tools. The report was a collaborative effort of the Mexico Green Building Council (GBC), the Tecnologico de Monterrey team, UNEP-SBCI and several GBCs in the region, as well as the World Green Building Council.

In the 21st century, a great amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has accumulated,
and the unregulated nature of its disposal and recycling represents a particular hazard
in a global context. For the purposes of e-waste management, there must be more emphasis on
the scientific processes for recycling, reusing and remanufacturing precious materials. Resource
management is related to energy management; therefore, the harvesting of costly materials from
e-waste is important for both energy management and sustainable development. At present, a lack
of scientific recycling of a significant amount of e-waste is a source of environmental pollution and
health hazards that are having a detrimental effect on sustainable development goals. It is necessary
to find a process for recovering valuable materials from e-waste with the minimum possible
environmental impact. At present, it is essential to modify the process of electrical and electronic
products (e-products) becoming e-waste, and the subsequent process of e-waste recycling, in order to
lessen the impact in terms of pollution. E-waste scientific recycling initiatives can reduce the environmental
impact of the process, which in turn can support a shift from the current linear flow of costly
materials to a more sustainable circular flow. Furthermore, internal consumption loss, emissions,
and heating loss from e-products are the main factors contributing to the loss of energy efficiency
in the process, which in turn contributes to environmental pollution. Promoting green innovation
in the manufacturing process of e-products, as well as their reuse, can reduce the environmental
impact of e-waste in near future. Both of these pathways are imperative for a less polluted, low-toxic
environment and sustainable development. However, the sustainable development initiative of the
United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) policy framework is the ultimate goal. This is
expected to support the management of environmental pollution, maintaining it at an acceptable
level, while also preventing hazardous risks to human health. Hence, this review examines the
prospects for achievable environmental sustainability through technological developments.

This study responds to Resolution 11.3 of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which requested an independent analysis and report on the legal, financial, operational, and
administrative implications of actions to enhance synergies,  such as through sharing
services in common service areas. It focuses on the secretariat services provided among
the CMS Family of instruments.

The Environmental Effects Assessment Panel Report for 2006 205 REVIEWERS OF THE 2006 UNEP EFFECTS ASSESSMENT PANEL Professor Ayite-Lo Nohende Ajavon Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory FDS/Université de Lome BP 1515 Lome TOGO Phone:+ 228-225 5094 Fax:+ 228-221 8595 Mobile+ 228-904-1593/944 9444 Home+ 228-226-9170 noajavon@ tg. refer. org Dr. Pedro J. Aphalo Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences Plant Biology/Plant Ecology PO Box 65 00014 University of Helsinki Finland pedro. aphalo@ ...

FOR CITATION:
Hilmi S. Salem "L'Orient-Le Jour: Une conférence organisée par Heïnrich Böll pour tenter de sonder ce danger” (Page 41). In "The Environment in the News", United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Report – 6 November 2007, 101 PP (in English and French).

ABSTRACT:
Hilmi S. Salem, directeur de l’Institut de recherche appliquée à Jérusalem, a montré les injustices bien actuelles vécues par les Palestiniens de la Cisjordanie, en mal d’eau. Alors que les accords d’Oslo leur accordaient un peu plus de 200 millions de mètres cubes par an, et que leurs besoins réels se situent autour de 300 millions de mètres cubes, la part qui leur est régulièrement réservée par les Israéliens est de… 28,6 millions de mètres cubes, selon les chiffres qu’il a avancés. Il a raconté que les familles palestiniennes ont parfois l’eau deux fois toutes les deux semaines, et une eau polluée de surcroît.

The present work aims to analyse the action of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from the beginning to present days, taking into account its structure and the core functions established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 2297 (XXVII), enlightning both its virtues and critical aspects.
Considering its juridical status of General Assembly subsidiary body ex art. 22 of the UN Charter, the article underlines the limits of UNEP action.
The analysis can't ignore the context of the International Environmental Governance, with the profusion of Agencies, Institutes and Organizations that works on these issues, and the broader context of sustainable development, considering the international debate emerged during the preparatory works towards the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20, June 20-22, 2012) established by the UN General Assembly Resolution 64/236 adopted on the 24th of December 2009. 
Finally, the article analyses the reform options for the IEG and the UNEP itself, since the reform of the Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development will be one of the focus themes of the Rio+20 Conference.