ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY
Environmental crime has become the world's fourth-largest crime sector, growing at 2-3 times the rate of the global economy. INTERPOL and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimate that natural resources worth up to US$258 billion are being stolen by criminal syndicates, depriving countries of their resources, revenues and development opportunities. UNEP is working with judges, prosecutors, and enforcement agencies to strengthen national capacities to respond to environmental crimes.
Trends in generation, handling and trans-boundary movement of hazardous and other wastes
According to the 'Waste without frontiers II’ report released by the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Convention Secretariat in 2018, an increase from 9.3 to 14.4 million tonnes in trans-boundary movements of household wastes was recorded between 2007 and 2015. For proper monitoring and implementation of the global conventions, transparency and availability of information from the key actors involved is important. However, in a given year, only 50 percent of the Parties to the Convention fulfill their reporting obligations, with only 25 to 30 percent of the reports carrying quantitative information on how much hazardous and other wastes were generated. Read more...
The Minamata Convention joins the Green Customs Initiative
The Green Customs Initiative (GCI) recently welcomed the Secretariat of the Minamata Convention as the 12th partner of the Initiative. The Convention will collaborate with the 11 other GCI partners to support countries to establish national plans that address the management of trade in mercury. The GCI will provide capacity building and information exchange platforms for the Convention to enhance capacities of countries to adhere to the provisions related to international trade. Read more...
Facing our global environmental challenges requires efficient international cooperation
According to Erik Lundberg, Finland's Ambassador to Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Seychelles, and Permanent Representative to the UN Environment Programme and UN-Habitat, 'the extraction and processing of natural resources is the cause of half of global greenhouse gas emissions, and 80 to 90 percent of biodiversity loss. Only nine percent of man-made materials remain in circulation.' In 2019, more than 27,000 species are threatened with extinction. Read more...
Promoting biosafety in Seychelles
The UN Environment Programme and the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Seychelles held the first national Biosafety Clearing Housing (BCH) capacity-building workshop for government and civil society representatives in April 2019, in order to provide them with an in-depth understanding of the (BCH) mechanisms, and other key information on the common format of the BCH records. The other aspects covered at the meeting included the procedures for registering and publishing biosafety-related decisions, the technical national BCH responsibilities, and the impact on the institutional processes for creating and registering information on the BCH system. Read more...
Enhancing knowledge and capacity on legal elements for forest management
The Forestry Department of the Food and Agricultural Organization held a technical working group meeting in May 2019 in Rome, Italy, to develop legal elements that would guide forest management, timber production, and trade. The meeting brought together lawyers, forestry officials, and forestry-related organizations. UN Environment Programme provided technical advice on a set of guiding legal elements for forest management, timber production, and trade. The frameworks are intended to help actors along the timber value chain to understand their obligations in relation to timber harvesting and trade. Read more...
Governments agree on landmark decisions to protect people and planet from hazardous chemicals and waste, including plastic waste
In May 2019, in Geneva, governments amended the Basel Convention to include plastic waste in a legally-binding framework, which will make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated, whilst also ensuring that its management is safer for human health and the environment. Approximately 180 governments adopted a raft of decisions aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and waste. A new Partnership on Plastic Waste was established to assist in implementing the new measures, and to provide a set of practical supports. Read more...
