United Nations Environment Programme

Though the worst of COVID-19 appears to be over, it also raises important questions about COVID-19's immediate and then longer-term impacts on urban air quality. To understand both sets of impacts, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Asia Pacific Office, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), the Ministry of...

Mahidol University and UNEP co-organized an expert review meeting of their on-going publication project on " Assessment Report on Plastic Pollution Management in Asia and the Pacific."". Hotta facilitated a session 1 on policy approaches to plastic pollution with providing a guiding questions and major discussion points for the report.

▶ In the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), loss and damage has emerged as a third key pillar of climate policy, alongside mitigation and adaptation, to address ever-increasing climate impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effect of climate change. ▶ Losses and damages arise...

Evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation policies and actions is key to understanding whether they have reduced climate risks and achieved other intended outcomes. The goals are to ensure that adaptation is adequate to address climate risks, do not foster negative unintended consequences over space and time, and inform adaptation financing. The...

This report presents findings from a project jointly implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). The project reviewed 50 Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from 36 Asia and the Pacific countries from 2016 to 2021. In this...

Open waste burning is a widespread practice that is provoked by a lack of systematic waste collection, the unavailability of other disposal options, and inadequate land for the final disposal of the collected waste, especially in low- and middle-income countries. From a global perspective, two billion people have no waste collection at all, and the...

Peatlands are unique and rare ecosystems that, despite only covering around 3-4% of the planet’s land surface, they contain up to one-third of the world’s soil carbon, which is twice the amount of carbon as found in the world’s forests. Keeping this carbon locked away is absolutely critical to achieving global climate goals. However, about 12% of...

The Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On is the 12th edition in an annual series that provides an overview of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

The Asia and the Pacific is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2020, the region faced a record number of climate-related disasters coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting tens of millions of vulnerable people. The need to address climate change threats and build resilience has never been more urgent than now. This...

[DAISY] GEO for Youth Asia and the Pacific (text only DAISY3, zip file) IGES is proud to provide GEO for Youth Asia and the Pacific in DAISY format. DAISY enables accessibility of information to all, including people with print disabilities. This DAISY file was created by persons with disabilities and the support of the Assistive Technology...