Our Planet News
WORLD RESOURCES REPORT
Major collaboration between the World Resources Institute (WRI), UNEP,
UNDP and the World Bank has resulted in the publication of World
Resources 1996-97. This report constitutes the most up-to-date
coverage available of environmental issues requiring urgent attention
around the globe, and is as much about preparing for the next century as
about evaluating where we currently stand.
The first part of the report, in support of the United Nations HABITAT II
Conference, addresses the driving forces of urbanization, its impacts on
human health and natural resources, urban transportation and priorities
for action. The second part examines basic conditions, trends and key
issues in the major resource categories such as water, agriculture,
forests and energy.
UNEP's involvement in producing the Report has led to a strong correlation
between this edition and the new UNEP State of the Environment Report
series - the Global Environment Outlook (GEO). To further
consolidate environment and development efforts, and in collaboration with
other partners, UNEP and WRI are working towards the establishment of a
consortium of global report producers using a common data and knowledge
base.
MAJOR INITIATIVE FOR EAST ASIAN SEAS
The United Nations University (UNU) and UNEP's
Coordinating Unit for East Asian Seas negotiated a joint project,
initiated under the umbrella of the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East
Asia (COBSEA), to support the development of the East Asian Seas Action
Plan.
Entitled Environmental Monitoring and Analysis in the East Asian Region:
Technology Transfer and Environmental Governance, the project seeks to
monitor and analyse hazardous substances in the East Asian region; develop
an environmental monitoring database to promote further research and
provide information for decision-making; undertake policy research with
regard to compliance with international environmental treaties in the
region; and improve analytical methodologies of the laboratories
participating in the project.
UNU has raised funding from the Shimadzu Corporation of Japan to cover
three years of the project. Environmental laboratories from China, Hong
Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Viet
Nam and Thailand are participating. These countries will be provided with
state-of-the-art analytical equipment and specialized training for
scientists. One of the first actions to be undertaken under the project in
1996 will be to analyse pesticides and PCBs found in rice and soils.
The project responds to the requirements and decisions of the Member
States of the East Asian Seas Action Plan and will also contribute
significantly towards the national and regional aims of the Global
Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from
Land-based Activities.
ENVIRONMENT CATEGORY FOR HELSINKI POSTER
BIENNIAL
When Lauri Tarasti, after 10 years as First Secretary-General for the
Ministry of the Environment of Finland, left his position in early 1994,
he stated that his objective was, and would continue to be, the promotion
of environmental issues. For this reason he founded the Lauri Tarasti
Prize, to be awarded for the design of the best poster in the newly
created Environment category of the Helsinki Poster Biennial. The Prize
aims to use poster art to draw attention to environmental issues at
national and international levels and will be awarded to both a Finnish
and a foreign designer.
The new category attracted 116 entries from 40 designers for the 1995
Biennial, of which 32 posters have been selected for the main exhibition,
before being exhibited separately later in 1996 in
Järviluonnonkeskus, Rantasalmi.
UNEP'S PRIORITIES IN FOCUS
The first official visit of the Executive Director to West Asia has
sharpened the focus of UNEP's priorities in the region.
In Saudi Arabia, the Executive Director signed a Memorandum of
Understanding on cooperation between UNEP and the Regional Organization
for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and the Gulf of
Aden. With officials from the Meteorology and Environment Protection
Administration (MEPA), discussions were held on the need to strengthen
UNEP's involvement in the implementation of the Arab Programme for
Sustainable Development adopted by the Council of Arab Ministers
Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE).
During the course of meetings with various national environmental
authorities, Bahrain reaffirmed its support for the work of UNEP's
Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) in Bahrain, and a meeting was
suggested to review the implementation of UNEP's work at the regional
level and to identify priority areas to be addressed over the next three
years.
The Executive Director completed her visit to the region by meeting with
the Crown Prince of Kuwait, the Prime Minister, the Executive Secretary of
the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment
(ROPME) and other high level officials. All these authorities expressed
their concern over the environmental threats posed by the sunken ships in
the northern part of the Gulf which resulted from the Gulf War. UNEP has
invited the International Maritime Organization to collaborate in
addressing this problem. In addition, the environmental authorities of
Kuwait requested UNEP's assistance in studying the ecological impact of
the drainage of the Iraqi marshes in the northern part of the Gulf.
INCREASED LINKS WITH LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN
The recent official visit of the Executive Director to Brazil and Peru
resulted in stronger links between UNEP and Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Discussions with ministers of the region focused on the agenda of the
Commission on Sustainable Development; matters of environmental concern;
and preparations for UNEP's Governing Council. A significant increase in
funding was announced by the Governments of Brazil and Mexico. The
Executive Director signed a partnership agreement with CETESB, a
scientific and technical institution of the State of São Paulo
devoted to water quality management and pollution control, which will
assist UNEP in implementing its advisory services on environment to the
Governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.
While in Peru, the Executive Director accompanied the President of the
country on a tour to review the land degradation control programmes put in
place in the high Andes by the Government. The Executive Director met with
the authorities of CONAM, an innovative organization which enables the
participation of the private sector and the civil society in national
environmental initiatives. A collaboration agreement was also signed with
the Secretariat of the Amazonian Cooperation Treaty.
UNEP'S WORK SUPPORTED BY
ARCTIC COUNTRIES
Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United
States recently signed the Inuvik Declaration on Environmental Protection
and Sustainable Development in the Arctic, supporting, among other things,
the work currently undertaken under the auspices of UNEP towards the
negotiation of a global legally binding instrument for controlling
emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
The Third Ministerial Conference on the Arctic Environmental Protection
Strategy (AEPS) held in Inuvik, Canada, in March, noted the key role
played by the Arctic countries in the Washington Declaration of the
Intergovernmental Conference on Global Action on Marine Pollution Arising
from Land-based Activities, in which countries agreed to develop a
convention on POPs. Ministers decided to seek full support for the active
participation of their countries in the preparation of the convention. In
addition, the UNEP Awareness and Preparedness for Emergencies at Local
Levels (APELL) Programme will be examined further as an instrument for the
involvement of indigenous groups of the Arctic region, and a new
international body, the Arctic Council, will be formed to strengthen
efforts to protect the fragile Arctic environment.
UNEP is supporting activities of the AEPS in the field of environmental
assessment, particularly the development of an Arctic
State-of-the-Environment Report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment
Programme (AMAP), and is exploring ways to assist the Conservation of
Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group in the implementation of the
Convention on Biological Diversity in the Arctic.
ECOLABELING MOVES ON
The Expert Group Meeting on Ecolabeling, held by UNEP in Helsinki in
April, agreed on a framework for further research on the selection of
environmental criteria to harmonize ecolabeling schemes.
The experts present, representing both governments and the private sector,
provided technical and policy information concerning the selection and
definition of environmental criteria used in granting ecolabels, including
input to relevant fora, amongst them the CSD, UNCTAD, OECD and the
International Standards Organization (ISO).
COMMUNITY-DRIVEN PROJECT EVALUATION
UNEP's Dryland Ecosystem and Desertification Control Programme Activity
Centre (DEDC/PAC) and the Environmental Liaison Centre International
(ELCI) are currently devising a method to approach effectively a
community-based evaluation of projects. The new method - Articulating
Indigenous Indicators and Criteria for Community Participation among
Dryland Dwellers: A Method for Community-Driven Project Evaluation - has
been tested in Northern Kenya where several projects are operating in the
same locality. The final document will be a manual for development workers
with practical guidelines on how to apply the method in the field.
The first results have proved particularly useful concerning the
community-based approach to the environment itself, as well as to ongoing
projects. Not only do communities see projects in a completely different
way from project organizers; there are also differing perceptions among
the various stakeholders within the same community. Indigenous appraisal
of projects serves as a mediator between a 'top-down' linear way of
thinking and the perceptions of the community, thus facilitating the
improved understanding that is so important for project success.
For more information contact:
Ute Reckers, UNEP DEDC/PAC, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya; tel: (254 2)
623265; fax: 623284; e-mail: ute.reckers@unep.no
CORAL REEF WORKSHOPS
The fifth of six regional workshops taking place around the world under
the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) was held in Mahe,
Seychelles, in April, resulting in the development of an Action Plan for
coral reef management in the region of the Western Indian Ocean and East
Africa.
Participants addressed community participation, sustainable financial
mechanisms, regional priorities and strategies, as well as the
institutional aspects of coral reef and related ecosystem management. The
last workshop to be convened later this year will focus on the Red Sea.
UNEP is facilitating the convening of the workshops through its Regional
Seas Programme, is providing technical assistance to regions, and is
seeking donor support for implementation of the priority actions
identified through the workshops.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON OZONE
Research programme managers of the Parties to the Vienna Convention met in
Geneva in March to review current information on the state of the ozone
layer. Recommendations at the meeting included high priority for research
on the interactions between the ozone layer, the climate and the impact of
aircraft emissions; and for strengthening research and monitoring of the
effects of UVB radiation. It was recommended that UNEP and the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO), find ways to further these activities
in developing countries through international funding mechanisms such as
the Global Environment Facility. The meeting was convened by UNEP and WMO.
UNEP ACTIVE IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
At the International Conference Towards Strengthening the Application of
International Environmental Law convened in Paris, in March, UNEP
presented its work achieved in the field of environmental law and
contributed substantially to the preparation of Recommendations by
NGOs, the main document which resulted from the Conference. In
addition, UNEP established inter-agency cooperation in Geneva, in March,
with regard to the legal aspects of sustainable consumption. Its meetings
with UNCTAD, UNECE, WTO, UNESCO, OECD, the Council of Europe and the
European Commission also resulted in the preparation of assessment
questionnaires on sustainable consumption for governments, international
organizations, Convention Secretariats, the private sector and consumer
associations.
Taking Action
UNEP's latest handbook, Taking Action: An Environmental Guide For You
and Your Community, designed to enable ordinary people and communities
to work towards a healthier environment, is available (US$12) from SMI
(Distribution Services) Ltd., Stevenage Business Park, Wedgwood Way Green,
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England SG1 4QT; tel: 011-441-438-748111; fax:
011-441-438-748844; e-mail: anthony@smibooks.com
