UNEP is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.
Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, it works through its divisions as well as its regional, liaison and out-posted offices and a growing network of collaborating centres of excellence. It also hosts several environmental conventions, secretariats and inter-agency coordinating bodies.
They categorize their work into seven broad thematic areas: climate change, disasters and conflicts, ecosystem management, environmental governance, chemicals and waste, resource efficiency, and the environment under review.
Secretariats hosted within UNEP
It hosts the secretariats of many critical multilateral environmental agreements and research bodies, bringing together nations and the environmental community to tackle the greatest challenges of our time. These include the following:
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
- Minamata Convention on Mercury
- Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
- Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol
- Convention on Migratory Species
- Carpathian Convention
- Bamako Convention
- Tehran Convention
Carpathian Convention is a subregional treaty to foster sustainable development and the protection of the Carpathian region. The Carpathians are one of Europe’s largest mountain ranges, a unique natural treasure of great beauty and ecological value, and home to the headwaters of major rivers.
Bamako Convention is a treaty of African nations prohibiting the import into Africa of any hazardous (including radioactive) waste.
Tehran Convention or also known as the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea is a regional convention signed by the official representatives of the five littoral Caspian states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan in Tehran (Iran) on 4 November 2003.
Funding
- Environment Fund is the core source of flexible funds.
- Earmarked funds (funds given or “earmarked” to a specific project, theme, country etc.) enable us to expand and replicate our program in more countries and with more partners. Main providers of earmarked funds include the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund and the European Commission.
The Minamata Convention (UNEP)
- 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 Minamata Convention on Mercury is the most recent global agreement on environment and health, adopted in 2013. It is named after the bay in Japan where, in the mid-20th century, mercury-tainted industrial wastewater poisoned thousands of people, leading to severe health damage that became known as the “Minamata disease.”
