United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
1. How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the priorities of your organization?
UNEP reviewed and repurposed its existing work looking at emerging needs that were developing at the national level. Based on this UNEP formulated a COVID-19 response strategy built around four blocks:
Medical and humanitarian emergency phase – avoid adverse impacts on human and planetary health from the world response to COVID-19 from the spike in hazardous waste (personal protective equipment, electronics and pharmaceuticals), from masses of wastewater and massive use of detergents, and disinfectants and antimicrobial solutions.
Transformational change for nature and people
- Improved science and policy options to better understand and respond to zoonotic threats - Designing a risk and response programme to improve countries’ ability to reduce zoonotic threats through approaches that take impacts on nature into consideration.
- Investment in nature for improved human health, sustainable socio-economic recovery, poverty reduction and livelihood recovery - Promoting expanded opportunities for valuing and investing in nature as part of the response to the COVID-19 crisis.
- Science, technical support and advocacy to ensure progress on environmental issues through global processes – Supporting countries to deliver stronger commitments under the Paris Agreement, agree on the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and adopt the Post-2020 Chemicals and Waste Management Framework.
- Raising awareness of the links between nature, health and sustainable living -Support to transforming agriculture and food systems through a post-COVID-19 economic recovery which accelerates the shift towards sustainable agriculture.
Investing to build back better – Greening the recovery efforts to increase resilience to future crises.
- Promotion of green fiscal stimulus packages and financing to accelerate the shift to a green economy.
- Engaging economy actors to rebuild, scale up and accelerate sustainable consumption and production, and create new green jobs.
- Supporting governments to rebuild the next generation of social, ecological and productive infrastructure.
- Linking recovery efforts with the clean energy transition, nature-based solutions and the Paris Agreement.
Modernising Environmental Governance
- Review of the implications of moving environmental governance and multilateralism towards virtual, and thus lower environmental footprint, meeting platforms.
- The pandemic led to the postponement of key high-level meetings.
Several UNEP programmes and projects made adjustments to their implementation plans in order to better support countries. One example is the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE). In 2020, PAGE supported its 20 partner countries throughout a year of unprecedented challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic emerging in early 2020 led to a health crisis and the need for emergency measures. Associated lockdowns came with significant socioeconomic impacts. All 20 PAGE countries were affected by this throughout 2020, with varying patterns as the pandemic moved worldwide in different waves. The pandemic caused an important disruption to the world economy and the work that PAGE had initially planned for 2020. But as soon as the pandemic hit the first countries in early 2020, PAGE responded quickly and adapted to the new situation, working with its partner countries to adjust and refocus planned activities. Seeing the immediate need to reemphasize the green economy path as countries seek to relaunch their national economies, PAGE included an additional element in its programme focused on green economic recovery. With this new window of opportunity, PAGE guided its partner countries in 2020 through the process of developing needs-based proposals for future work that aligns the objectives of recovery with SDGs and climate targets.
As a result, PAGE started implementing additional work focused on green economic recovery in 14 countries from 2021.The procedure for developing the green economic recovery proposals required engagement and close collaboration with the UN Resident Coordinators in each country, ensuring that PAGE work was at the heart of the UN socioeconomic response to COVID-19 and aligned with priorities and complementary initiatives in the country. PAGE’s pro-active response was recognized in the official UN documents: A UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19 and the UN Sustainable Development Group’s (UNSDG) guidance note to UN Country Teams on Economic Transformation. Additionally, PAGE played a role in shaping country-specific COVID-19 socio-economic response strategies and action plans. This immediate support to PAGE countries was complemented by a suite of timely global products launched by PAGE in the midst of the crisis to advance the discussion on how economic recovery could be achieved by ‘building back better’, including a COVID-19 Resource Hub, a Data Observatory, a summary of relevant analytical tools and a Learning for Green Recovery Campaign. With governments’ attention on the health and immediate socio-economic crisis, national policy planning and policy development processes were in many cases interrupted or delayed, also delaying some of the results that PAGE was hoping to achieve in its partner countries. However, throughout most of the past year, depending on when countries were most severely hit, the delivery of technical products, workshops, and trainings could continue, many also adopting an on-line format.
2. In 2020/2021, how has your organization endeavored to support Member States to build back better from COVID-19 while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Please select up to three high-impact initiatives to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs. How has your organization cooperated with other UN system organizations in those efforts to achieve coherence and synergies?
In implementing the building blocks of its Covid-19 response strategy, UNEP has support Member States to build back better from the pandemic
- Block 1 -The medical and humanitarian emergency phase. UNEP worked to address the spike in waste from the COVID-19 pandemic and, on 13 August 2020, published a report entitled Waste Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic: from response to recovery, with practical information and guidelines on healthcare and municipal solid waste management. This report was shared widely.
- Block 2 - A transformational change for nature and people. On 6 July 2020, UNEP, together with the International Livestock Research Institute and partners, released the report Preventing the next pandemic - Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission, which identified the root causes of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 and highlighted the need to treat human, animal and planetary health as a single issue in policymaking, known as the “One Health” approach. Having released this report, UNEP began collaborating with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health, working as a team to help prevent zoonotic diseases.
- Block 3 - Investing to build back better. UNEP supported Member States to cope with the impacts of COVID-19 and build back better, focusing on greening fiscal stimulus and finance packages to accelerate sustainable consumption and production and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) set up a support mechanism for a green economic recovery in its 20 partner states, leveraging UN reform. UNEP also worked with investors and ministries of finance to shift investments and subsidies towards nature-based and climate-neutral strategies, including through global platforms such as the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance and the Green Fiscal Policy Network.
- Block 4 - Modernizing global environmental governance. UNEP supported important meetings, such as the first virtual ministerial meeting on COVID-19 and the environment in West Asia in August 2020. It brought together ministers of the environment from the region and adopted a ministerial statement that highlighted the importance of the UNEP COVID-19 response and green recovery. In early May 2020, in coordination with UNEP administered Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), UNEP conducted a study on options, opportunities and barriers to accelerating a transition to multilateralism in a virtual setting, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study provided guidance on how interactive intergovernmental meetings can happen online or “virtually” in a manner that respects the legal framework for such meetings. It reviews objections made to virtual meetings and identifies possible reforms. However, despite these initiatives to deal with COVID-19, the pandemic has affected UNEP’s work. Not only did UNEP experience some temporary interruptions in delivery, in particular with partner implementation for “on the ground” projects, but the UNEP staff community was affected, as many staff members and their families struggled personally with the virus.
| Initiative | PAGE Economic Policy Advisory Group |
| Partners | ILO, UNDP, UNEP, UNITAR, UNIDO, UN RCOs, UN ESCAP, UN |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 1, 8, 13, 17 |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Argentina, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Thailand |
| Description | PAGE, in close coordination with United Nations Economist Network (UNEN) and its Chief Economist, Elliott Harris, established the PAGE Economic Policy Advisory Group (PEPAG) to provide deeper support on economics to partner countries — aiming to deliver transformative results for the whole economy and the economic recovery from impacts of COVID-19, paying special attention to shifting transformational levers, while keeping an eye on fairness and social justice. The PAGE Economic Policy Advisory Group brings together UN’s internal economic expertise (economists from UNRCOs, PAGE agencies, UN Regional Economic Commissions, and the Office of the UN Chief Economist) and is complemented by external capacities such as national and global think tanks to advise and inform the PAGE delivery mechanism for creating transformational impacts on national economies. The mechanism will create a template for joint planning and delivery by country resident and non-resident UN agencies – a key but less implemented component of the UN Reforms – and will lead to long term “greening” of the whole of the UN System’s support to partner countries on socioeconomic development. |
| Website | https://www.un-page.org/page-holds-first-dialogue-advance-green-recovery-un-economists-and-page-agencies |
| Initiative | UNEP Covid-19 building block 1 -The medical and humanitarian emergency phase |
| Partners | International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 3, 6, 14, 15 |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan, Sudan, India, Afghanistan, Haiti, Serbia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa |
| Description | UNEP provided technical advice on medical waste management to countries as well as to UN peacekeeping operations. It also provided governments with support on COVID-19 related assessments. |
| Website | https://www.unep.org/resources/report/waste-management-during-covid-19-pandemic-response-recovery |
| Initiative | Global Recovery Observatory |
| Partners | University of Oxford, PAGE, Green Fiscal Policy Network |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Global |
| Description | Reflecting the importance of nature to societies and our economic system, the outputs aim to increase the precision of the existing natural capital impact assessment at a policy level and ascertain whether the current granularity of categorization effectively balances value-add for policymakers and scientific rigor. The outputs will also seed future work on Sustainable Budgeting. Given the importance of fiscal policy and public finance allocations in supporting both current and future household and business activity and investment decisions, it is important to give decision-makers a tool to help understand the potential directional impact of policy choices on natural capital. There is also a transparency and accountability perspective to the exercise as better information on the alignment of a country’s economic planning with environmental sustainability commitments will be important to measure progress in this super decade for action and identify opportunities for course-correction. |
| Website | https://greenfiscalpolicy.org/observatory/ |
3. Has your organization published or is it planning to publish any analytical work or guidance note or toolkits to guide and support recovery efforts from COVID-19 while advancing SDG implementation at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three high-impact resources to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.
UNEP has published several publications to support recovery efforts from COVID-19 while advancing SDG implementation at national, regional and global levels. The following are some examples of resources published by UNEP.
| Resource | A Multi-Billion-Dollar Opportunity: Repurposing agricultural support to transform food systems |
| Publishing entity/entities | FAO, UNDP and UNEP |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 |
| Target audience | Policymakers, practitioners and civil society |
| Description | UNEP together with UNDP and FAO has launched a global analysis on agricultural support/subsidies which analyze their impacts on environment including nature as well as their socio-economic impacts as (health, equity). The report provides a guidance on how to repurpose such perverse incentives for a better management of nature and an improvement for the environment. The report was launched in cooperation with the Just Rural Transition in the context of the UN food summit. |
| Link to access | https://www.unep.org/resources/repurposing-agricultural-support-transform-food-systems |
| Language | English |
| Resource | Are We Building Back Better? |
| Publishing entity/entities | UNEP |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 1, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,17 |
| Target audience | Policymakers, practitioners and civil society |
| Description | The report, Are We Building Back Better? Evidence from 2020 and Pathways for Inclusive Green Recovery Spending, provides an analysis of over 3500 fiscal policies announced by leading economies in 2020 and calls for governments to invest more sustainably and tackle inequalities as they stimulate growth in the wake of the devastation wrought by the pandemic. The report draws evidence collected up to February 2021 on The Global Recovery Observatory is an initiative led by the Oxford University Economic Recovery Project (OUERP) and supported by UNEP, the International Monetary Fund and GIZ through the Green Fiscal Policy Network (GFPN). |
| Link to access | https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/are-we-building-back-better-evidence-2020-and-pathways-inclusive-green |
| Language | English |
| Resource | Inclusive Green Recovery an Essential Post-COVID-19 Paradigm Shift to Recover Better |
| Publishing entity/entities | Environment Management Group |
| Relevant SDGs | |
| Target audience | UN Entities |
| Description | The report is aimed at informing and contributing to the ongoing efforts of the UN System to support the country-level implementation of the UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19, to enhance coherence and collaboration for green, inclusive, and rights-based recovery. |
| Link to access | https://unemg.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/EMGSOM.27_INF_6_Green_Recovery_Report.pdf |
| Language | English |
Other examples include:
- Preventing the next pandemic – Zoonotic diseases and how to break the chain of transmission
- Zoonotic Diseases
- COVID-19 FAQs: Trade and the Environment
- Green Approaches to COVID-19 Recovery: Policy Note for Parliamentarians
- Investing in Forests to Build Back Better & Greener
- COVID-19 FAQs: Nature Based Solutions
4. How has your organization engaged with stakeholder groups to support SDG implementation and COVID-19 recovery at national, regional and global levels? Please provide main highlights, including any lessons learned. If your organization has established multi-stakeholder partnerships in this regard, please describe them (objectives, partners involved, relevant SDGs, Member States benefiting from the partnership) and provide links to relevant websites, if applicable.
UNEP has collaborated with various stakeholder groups and UN entities to support SDG implementation and COVID-19 recovery at national, regional and global levels.
| Partnership Name | The UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment |
| Partners | 2,000 organizations from around the world |
| Relevant SDGs | Several |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Global |
| Description |
The UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment is a framework designed to catalyze a more dynamic interface between science, policy, business, and society. The Forum aims to facilitate multi-stakeholder platforms to identify and promote opportunities for green investment that are driven by advances in science and technology, empowering policies, and innovative financing. It also seeks to function as an accelerator and incubator of innovation and positive change to achieve the SDGs. The Forum brings together more than 2,000 organizations around the world to: Since its inception in 2017, the Forum has become an influential network of networks, earning the support and trust of technology giants, startups, governments and scientific bodies as well as citizen science and civil society. The Third Global Session of the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment (UN-SPBF) was held in February 2021. It aimed to identify how to address the three planetary crises through a shift to sustainable consumption and production (SCP) patterns. On 5 October 2021, the first of the Forum’s regional mechanisms was launched in Asia-Pacific, in conjunction with the convening of the 4th session of the Forum of Ministers and Environment Authorities of Asia-Pacific region, hosted by the Republic of Korea. |
| Partnership Name | The One Planet Network |
| Relevant SDGs | SDG 12 though SCP is an enabler for the implementation of a range of other goals and many of their targets. |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Global initiative open to all |
| Description |
Adopted in 2012 at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) is a global commitment to accelerate the shift towards sustainable consumption and production in both developed and developing countries. The One Planet network was formed to implement the commitment of the 10YFP. The One Planet network is a global community of practitioners, policymakers and experts, including governments, businesses, civil society, academia and international organisations, that implements the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production and works towards achieving SDG 12: ensuring sustainable patterns of consumption and production. It is comprised of thousands of individual members; six thematic programmes and their partner organisations; numerous working groups; and over 140 national focal points for sustainable consumption and production within country governments. Serving as the secretariat of the 10YFP, UNEP facilitates the One Planet network. Collectively, the One Planet network holds enormous experience and expertise on sustainable consumption and production, and houses a global repository of projects, policies, tools and resources. It inspires a global movement for sustainable consumption and production, facilitating collaboration, cooperation and coordination to increase our combined knowledge, effectiveness and impact. The One Planet network is an open partnership, and countries including all relevant stakeholders and organisations are invited to join and actively engage. The strategic objective of the One Planet network over the period 2018-2022 is to be recognised as the lead mechanism to support and accelerate the shift to sustainable consumption and production patterns becoming the leading implementation mechanism for Goal 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Achieving sustainable consumption and production will deliver not only SDG 12, but simultaneously contribute to the achievement of almost all of the other SDGs, directly or indirectly. SCP should be seen as an enabler for the implementation of a range of other goals (beyond SDG 12) and many of their targets. Actions and policies required to achieve the objective of SDG 12 aim to decouple economic growth from resource use and range of other impacts on the environment and their associated effects on poverty eradication and shared prosperity – this is the enabling effect of the shift to sustainable consumption and production patterns. |
| Website | https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/ |
| Partnership Name | United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) |
| Partners | More than 450 banks, insurers, and investors and over 100 supporting institutions |
| Relevant SDGs | 17 and several others |
| Member States benefiting from the initiative | Global initiative |
| Description | United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a partnership between UNEP and the global financial sector to mobilize private sector finance for sustainable development. UNEP FI works with more than 450 banks, insurers, and investors and over 100 supporting institutions – to help create a financial sector that serves people and planet while delivering positive impacts. We aim to inspire, inform and enable financial institutions to improve people’s quality of life without compromising that of future generations. By leveraging the UN’s role, UNEP FI accelerates sustainable finance. |
| Website | https://www.unepfi.org/about/ |
| Partnership Name | Global Recovery Observatory |
| Partners | UNEP, UNDP, Oxford University |
| Language | English |
| Relevant SDGs | SDGs 4, 8, 13, 17 |
| Target audience | Governments, policy makers |
| Description | The Global Recovery Observatory tracks and assesses every individual COVID-19 related fiscal spending policy announced by the 50 leading economies (countries to be added) for potential impacts on the environment and the socio-economy. The Observatory database is updated weekly. This data visualisation is developed by UNDP and utilises the Observatory data. It also draws inspiration from a report led by Oxford University Economic Recovery Project and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), “Are We Building Back Better? Evidence from 2020 and Pathways for Inclusive Green Recovery Spending”. |
| Website | https://recovery.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/tracking/ |
5. In the 2019 SDG Summit declaration (GA Resolution 74/4), Member States outlined ten priority areas for accelerated action in SDG implementation. Please highlight any major integrated and innovative policies or initiatives that your organization may have adopted in these ten priority areas:
5.1 leaving no one behind
UNEP’s Environmental and Social Sustainability Framework (ESSF) is an action-oriented policy to ensure that UNEP projects and programme interventions do no harm and do good. Leave no one behind (LNOB) is one of four Guiding Principles of the ESSF. All UNEP projects, regardless of the safeguard risk levels, need to consider and incorporate it in project design and implementation. The Gender and Safeguards Unit (GSU) provides support to inform project managers and sensitize them on this issue consistently.
UNEP delivered Human Rights training and developed e-learning YouTube videos on how to engage stakeholders. These reference materials and capacity building efforts together with vigilant screening of the projects on LNOB are some of UNEP’s effort to focus on those who are furthest behind.
UNEP takes part in the United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and as of 2019, had met or exceeded 8 of its 17 gender equality and empowerment of women indicators (UN-Women, 2019). UNEP is working to fully implement Environment Assembly resolution 4/17 on promoting gender equality and the human rights and empowerment of women and girls in environmental governance. UNEP supports Member States in their achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the context of the environment, calling for women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of environmental decision-making. It also emphasizes operationalizing gender and human rights dimensions and non-discrimination issues in programme and project design. UNEP seeks to foster the widespread use of a gender lens to ensure that gender equality and human rights perspectives are fully embedded and integrated through associated principles. UNEP also aims to invest in enhancing the abilities of staff, including within the multilateral environmental agreements, to better understand, implement, monitor and analyse gender and human rights and intersectional gender and non-discrimination issues, with the goal of integrating related objectives into the organization’s analytical and operational work.
Paragraph 40 of UNEP’s Medium-Term Strategy (2022-2025) states that “UNEP will work to “leave no one behind” while increasing its focus on the special needs of disaster- and conflict-affected States. It will address the special needs of least developed countries, land-locked developing countries and small island developing States, facilitating access to finance, technology and innovative solutions to help them build more resilient and inclusive economies and societies in a post-COVID-19 world.”
Paragraph 52(c) of the MTS states that “Focusing on those who can contribute to the highest impact while supporting the most vulnerable: UNEP will help all countries raise the level of their mitigation ambition, with a focus on countries with the largest emissions.
In parallel, UNEP will continue to support adaptation action while integrating aspects of human health, gender responsiveness, environmental security and poverty eradication, particularly in the countries that are most vulnerable and most in need, such as disaster- and conflict-affected countries, least developed countries and small island developing States.”
UNEP provides support to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) in the context of its Medium-Term Strategy and the Programme of Work. It is a member of the Inter Agency Consultative Groups on LDCs and LLDCs and participates in their meetings and activities. Over the past 2 years, reviews of project templates and reporting tools have been made with suggestions on how to enhance the capture of information on LDCs and LLDCs in UNEPs programme implementation.
5.2 mobilizing adequate and well-directed financing
UNEP’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) seeks to create a financial sector that serves people and planet while delivering positive impacts. It aims to inspire, inform and enable financial institutions to improve people’s quality of life without compromising that of future generations. UNEP FI accelerates sustainable finance. UNEP FI supports global finance sector principles to catalyze integration of sustainability into financial market practice.
The frameworks UNEP FI has established or co-created include:
• Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) launched with more than 130 banks collectively holding USD 47 trillion in assets, or one third of the global banking sector.
• Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), established 2012 by UNEP FI and today applied by one-quarter of the world’s insurers (25% of world premium).
• Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), established in 2006 by UNEP FI and the UN Global Compact, now applied by half the world’s institutional investors (USD 83 trillion).
These frameworks establish the norms for sustainable finance, providing the basis for standard-setting and helping to ensure private finance fulfils its potential role in contributing to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Paris Agreement on Climate Change agreed by governments around the world in 2015.
UNEP FI also supports the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSEI).This involves 90 stock exchanges accounting for almost all publicly-listed capital markets. UNEP is supporting institutional investors to transition their portfolios to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. This is part of the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI), that has the following specific initiatives.
The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. This Alliance is supported by WWF and Global Optimism. Further information on Alliance supporters, collaborators and scientific advisers is available here. The Alliance will utilise state-of-the-art tools and align with various initiatives led by Asset Owners who have demonstrated leadership on the topic of decarbonisation.
The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA) brings together fifteen of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers to play their part in accelerating the transition to net-zero emissions economies. They are committing to individually transition their underwriting portfolios to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, consistent with a maximum temperature rise of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance The industry-led Net-Zero Banking Alliance brings together banks worldwide representing over 40% of global banking assets, which are committed to aligning their lending and investment portfolios with net-zero emissions by 2050. Combining near-term action with accountability, this ambitious commitment sees signatory banks setting an intermediate target for 2030 or sooner, using robust, science-based guidelines.
As part of the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero, UNEP has also established the Global ecosystem based adaptation (EBA) Fund and the Adaptation Fund Climate Innovation Accelerator - UNEP-CTCN .
In 2020, UNEP worked to unlock private finance for sustainable land use. For example, in partnership with the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and the governments of Germany and Luxembourg, UNEP launched the Restoration Seed Capital Facility to promote investment in forest landscape restoration. Additionally, the Agri3 Fund closed its first two transactions, worth US$ 15 million, with Rabobank in China and Brazil, with investments focusing on sustainable farm practices, forest protection and improving local rural livelihoods.
As outlined in its Medium-Term Strategy 2022-2025 (MTS 2022-2025) aims to develop and promote frameworks and norms for biodiversity- and nature-positive financing and infrastructure. This will be done by supporting the integration of biodiversity and ecosystems services considerations and related risks into financial and economic decision-making and providing guidance to governments and financial institutions to achieve positive outcomes for people and nature, in line with the post-2020 global biodiversity framework and relevant environmental targets of the SDGs.
Under green recovery work, PAGE will support Ghana to strengthen the enabling environment to facilitate greater public and private green finance. PAGE activities will identify opportunities to support green fiscal policies and tax and regulatory regimes that promote employment and disincentivize polluting activities and will support new business opportunities emerging from the crisis. PAGE will also work to integrate green recovery policies into the sub-national recovery plans and facilitate capacity development for enterprises in resource efficiency and sustainable production principles under the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) government policy on to build back better from COVID-19.
5.3 enhancing national implementation
In alignment with the UN reform, UNEP works with countries to enhance implementation of their national priorities. Through the use of integrated approaches UNEP supports the incorporation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development into development plans and actions. UNEP is working to support the Common Country Analyses conducted in countries by providing environmental data, information and statistics. It also supports countries in developing and implementing their UN Cooperation Frameworks. This includes ensuring that country commitments to relevant multilateral environmental agreements are considered by UN Country Teams as they develop and implement their plans.
Thematic examples:
-The Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UNEP promotes an integrated approach which contributes to bringing poverty, environment and climate objectives into the heart of national and subnational plans, policies, budgets, and public and private finance to strengthen the sustainable management of natural resources and to alleviate poverty.
- UNEP’s whole climate portfolio supports countries to implement the Paris Agreement and SDG 13.
• Climate resilience: supporting countries in using ecosystem-based and other approaches to adapt and build resilience to climate change. As global attention shifted towards COVID-19, countries, regions and businesses began leveraging climate strategies, such as national adaptation plans, as blueprints for recovery. UNEP supports countries to implement policies that build resilience to climate change. It helps build national, technical and institutional capacity to enhance overall resilience, including through the management of ecosystems.
• Low-emission growth: supporting countries to adopt energy efficiency measures, access clean energy finance, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants by transitioning to low carbon solutions.
During 2019–2020, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, hosted by UNEP, supported 16 countries on national planning and 8 countries to implement their action plans. It also supported 22 countries to develop black carbon inventories (eight of which are finalized) and strengthened 41 institutions in 30 countries.
In 2020, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition supported Bangladesh to develop a National Action Plan for Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants.
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+): enabling countries to capitalize on investment opportunities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation with adequate social and environmental safeguards. In 2020, UNEP supported 5 countries to secure finance, including performance-based finance for implementation of REDD+ policies and measures; and 2 countries to demonstrate quantifiable ability to generate social and environmental non-carbon benefits.
PAGE supports countries through Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) diagnostics, assessments, and policy analysis, prioritization of IGE sectors, as well as mobilization and engagement of public, private and civil society stakeholders. PAGE has supported 43 national development plans or cross-sectoral strategies integrating IGE priorities in 15 countries.
5.4 strengthening institutions for more integrated solutions
- UN-REDD builds on the convening capacity and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
UN-REDD helps its 65 partner countries to advance the implementation of the Paris Agreement, particularly Articles 5 and 6, in order to reduce deforestation, promote sustainable land uses, advance international cooperative approaches to climate mitigation and mobilise climate finance to turn the tide on tropical deforestation. UN-REDD supports nationally led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and local communities, in the implementation of REDD+ activities agreed under the UNFCCC. The UN-REDD Programme has played a strategic role in facilitating the identification of financial needs and opportunities for on-the-ground implementation and policy level transformations. Recently, the UN-REDD Programme’s agencies have capitalised on readiness efforts to support countries in securing and channeling results-based payments for REDD+ under the Green Climate Fund. This makes the Programme uniquely positioned to support the design and delivery of COVID-19 recovery efforts in developing forest countries at the scale and pace required to transform rural landscapes into better, greener, more resilient and productive economies and livelihoods. The UN-REDD Programme supports partner countries to establish governance systems of and for REDD+ contributing to the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals and strengthening the enabling environment for the long term sustainability of REDD+ activities at different levels.
UN-REDD’s work with forest governance boosts participatory approaches, strengthening government, local and national stakeholder knowledge and capacities on different topics:
• Promotion of governance principles (Accountability, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Equity, Participation, Transparency).
• Strengthening legal frameworks, through technical support for development/revision and enforcement of forestry, agriculture, land and climate change laws and policies. Particular emphasis is made on the analysis of carbon/ER rights, benefit-sharing schemes and institutional arrangements needed to implement REDD+.
• Land and forest tenure reforms to support REDD+ readiness and implementation.
• Strengthening of multi-stakeholder consultation processes and promotion of a transparent and inclusive dialogue.
• Strengthening of subnational and national governance structures, including institutional arrangements needed to promote REDD+ sustainability and encourage effective inter-sectoral coordination (including in key Warsaw pillars, such as NFMS).
• Formulation and implementation of REDD+ strategies/action plans through multi-stakeholder processes, including through analyzing the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation from a governance perspective.
• Support the design of national REDD+ funds/investment plans.
• Construction of national approaches on safeguards and safeguards information systems (including the design and operation of grievance redress mechanisms).
• Support for enhanced recognition of the value of gender mainstreaming.
- The Climate and Clean Air Coalition is a voluntary partnership of governments, intergovernmental organizations, businesses, scientific institutions and civil society organizations committed to improving air quality and protecting the climate through actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants. This is another example of UNEP’s engagement with other institutions to integrated solutions. More information is available here.
- To strengthen capacity building for institutions, PAGE has conducted global-level and national-level trainings which has reached over 15,000 people.
5.5 bolstering local action
Example: District Energy in Cities Initiative. The District Energy in Cities Initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership coordinated by UNEP with financial support from DANIDA, the Global Environment Facility, Italian Ministry of Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, and the Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP). As one of six accelerators of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform, the Initiative aims to double the rate of energy efficiency improvements for heating and cooling in buildings by 2030, helping countries meet their climate and sustainable development targets. The Initiative supports local and national governments to build know-how and implement enabling policies that will accelerate investment in low-carbon and climate-resilient district energy systems. It currently provides technical support to cities in four pilot countries (Chile, China, India and Serbia) and ten replication countries (Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Egypt, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Russia, the Seychelles and Tunisia).
PAGE Argentina has supported various events and initiatives helping to promote awareness of green jobs and just transition, especially in a youth context. In November 2019, PAGE Argentina, together with the Institute for Youth of the National Ministry of Social Development (INJUVE) and the National Secretary for Labour Security and Safety, organized a “Youth Hackathon on Green Jobs and Just Transition”.
5.6 reducing disaster risk and building resilience
A transformative new programme initiated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to establish climate and ocean information services and multi-hazard early warning systems in Pacific Small Island Developing States, which are among the most vulnerable in the world when it comes to climate change, natural disasters and increasingly frequent or intense extreme climate events such as tropical cyclones, flooding and drought. The Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for resilience in 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean programme will cover the Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, countries with some of the world’s smallest and most dispersed populations surrounded by vast ocean areas. The programme aims to develop climate science and information services that are essential for sustainable development, environmental management, disaster risk reduction, food security, health services, water resource management and energy efficiency.
PAGE support on green buildings included the development of a handbook on green school buildings and the design for a green school building showcasing how to achieve energy efficiency standards. Completed in 2016, the design can be applied to the more than 220 schools that need to be built over the next 3-4 years, with a prototype school already built.
5.7 solving challenges through international cooperation and enhancing the global partnership
The United Nations Environment Assembly serves as an opportunity for the international community across all sectors, levels of government and walks of life, to come together to discuss and address global environmental issues. Driven by sound science, the UN Environment Assembly will continue to inspire, identify and capture bold transformative actions for the environment, while focusing on solutions that speak to all. UNEP supports the Assembly to enhance its relationship with the multilateral environmental agreements and contribution to implementing the 2030 Agenda, by strengthening convergence and dialogue on common strategic actions and shared experiences, as well as providing increased visibility to the decisions of the governing bodies of the multilateral environmental agreements.
Through partnerships and alliances with the private sector, UNEP seeks to target specific objectives and engage in impactful advocacy actions to promote the necessary policy and cultural shifts that will help producers and consumers orient towards sustainability. For example, building on its Strategy for Private Sector Engagement, UNEP is working to engage the private sector to effect significant shifts that will result in the generation of sound policies and sustainable technologies, including digital technologies, informed by state-of-the-art scientific knowledge.
Examples - In May 2021, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) endorsed a common approach to integrating biodiversity and nature-based solutions for sustainable development into the UN policy and programme planning and delivery. The UN Common Approach to Biodiversity was elaborated by a High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) task team through an inclusive and participatory process, which included the participation of 27 UN system entities and was co-led by UNEP and UNDP. Through this approach, the UN system commits to mainstream biodiversity and catalyse collective action to address the drivers of and restore biodiversity in view of achieving the 2050 vision of ‘living in harmony with nature’. The Common Approach provides the normative framework, in a result-based structure, to organize collective action and joint delivery to mainstream biodiversity and nature-based solutions, complementing the UN system strategic approach on climate change action. It builds on previous commitments by representatives from 51 UN entities which, under the auspices of the UN Environment Management Group, prepared a report that defines a roadmap with timely actions to support governments and relevant stakeholders in delivering on a decade of action for biodiversity. By leveraging the expertise, collaboration potential and convening power of the UN system, the UN Common Approach to Biodiversity will contribute to support the implementation of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement - The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) is a data-driven, action-focused initiative by UNEP with support from the European Commission to catalyse dramatic reduction of methane emissions, starting with the energy sector. IMEO is set to revolutionize the approach to methane reduction by interconnecting data with action on research, reporting, and regulation. IMEO will collect and integrate diverse methane emissions data streams to establish a global public record of empirically verified methane emissions at an unprecedented level of accuracy and granularity. By providing near-real time, reliable, and granular data on the locations and quantity of methane emissions that targets strategic mitigation action, IMEO will catalyse strategic mitigation actions that are urgently needed to achieve the Paris agreement goals. IMEO will be a powerful agent for change in the ecosystem of partners and institutions engaged in the methane emissions challenge.
Between 2021-2030, PAGE will deepen its engagement with current partner countries, assist new countries in integrated economic policy development and national planning, and widen its alliance with other institutions, initiatives and programmes, including from the private sector and civil society, with special attention to youth and gender movements. This will include greater South-South and Triangular Cooperation which will enable partners to share their best practices and transfer knowledge to further expand the impact of the Partnership.
5.8 harnessing science, technology and innovation with a greater focus on digital transformation for sustainable development
UNEP’s MTS 2022-2025 established a new enabling programme on digital transformation. Through it UNEP aims to digitize scientific knowledge and democratize its availability. UNEP has the responsibility to contribute to the integration of environmental and sustainability norms and goals in the global digital economy. The Digital Transformations subprogramme will focus on the following actions and interventions.
- Supporting and scaling environmental change through effectively governed and inclusive data architecture and digital ecosystem for the planet.
- Catalyzing a transformative use of environmental digital public goods to amplify and accelerate progress towards global climate, biodiversity and pollution goals and targets as well as a circular economy.
- Strengthening environmental digital literacy and e-governance capacities of diverse stakeholders to engage in the environmental dimensions of digital transformation, with an emphasis on the Global South.
UNEP also moved forward with another form of digital transformation: holding intergovernmental meetings online. The Carpathian Convention, Vienna Convention, Montreal Protocol Conferences of the Parties, and meetings of UNEP’s Committee of Permanent Representatives all took place online for the first time ever.
5.9 investing in data and statistics for the SDGs
- As custodian for 25 indicators across six Sustainable Development Goals, UNEP developed methodologies for collecting data to measure progress. UNEP also reached new levels of innovation, collaborating with Google, NASA and other partners to monitor ecosystems, using remote sensing, satellite data and other technologies.
- The new World Environment Situation Room provides public access to information as well as customized data on environmental issues for Member States, UN Country Teams and Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Supporting the UN Reform process, the platform enables country level understanding of environmental factors, which form the basis of Common Country Analyses, UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and reporting by Member States. The World Environment Situation Room draws on near real-time maps supported by geospatial technologies and offer a public knowledge platform informed by in-situ satellite and data modelling sources, as well as citizen science.
Other key initiatives are summarized below.
- UNEP in collaboration with UNITAR and SIAP launched in April 2021 the online training course for Environmental SDG Indicators where UNEP is the custodian agencies. The e-learning course is available on the on the e-learning platforms of UNITAR, UNSD and the UN-CEBD.
- UNEP in collaboration with other custodian Agencies launched the SDG 12 Hub on 7th July 2021 as a side event of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and is coordinate and managed by the One Planet network. The SDG 12 Hub is a one-stop-shop for governments, businesses, civil society and the public for tracking progress on the achievement of Goal 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns. The SDG 12 Hub supports the transformation to sustainable consumption and production practices by offering direct access to transparent data, impactful solutions, guidance and official reporting all in one place, and facilitates the sharing of progress, knowledge and solutions for sustainable consumption and production.
- UNEP has been working with global and regional partners to build capacity on environment statistics and the SDGs. All partners (UNEP, UNSD and Regional Commissions) collaborated in ensuring the delivery of environment statistics trainings, technical assistance and support with more than 12 workshops or technical assistance activities provided to countries during the year.
- UNEP is working with UNESCO on developing the model for measuring Index of Coastal Eutrophication Potential (ICEP) for SDG Indicator 14.1.1a.
- UNEP is working with CSIRO for the development of online training course on Material Flow Accounting to train the trainers and to assist countries for the production and reporting on SDG Indicator 8.4.1-12.2.1 and 8.4.2-12.2.2
- UNEP launched the data for 7 SDG Indicators (8.4.1-12.2.1, 8.4.2-12.2.2, 12.1.1, 12.c.1 and 17.7.1)
UNEP launched the following publications:
- Understanding the state of the Ocean: a global manual on measuring SDG 14.1.1, SDG 14.2.1 and SDG 14.5.1
- Food Waste Index Report 2021
- The use of Natural Resources in the Economy: a global manual on Economy Wide Material Flow Accounting
- The Global Chemicals and Waste Indicator Review Document
- UNEP conducted SDG indicator 6.3.2 training for LAC countries with the support of GEMS Water.
- The UNEP Climate Action Note shows the global state of the climate emergency and its development.
- The Capacity Building Initative for Transparency (CBIT) Global Coordination Platform keeps track of national CBIT projects and addresses any lack of national transparency capacities and limited coordination efforts.
5.10 strengthening the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
UNEP has actively participate in the HLPF with the aim to ensure the balanced consideration of the environmental dimension of sustainable development across different sessions on topics such as: green recovery from the pandemic, addressing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, the importance of incorporating a one health approach and sustainable consumption and production patterns, among others.
UNEP is also involved in thematic sessions, special events and side events on issues relevant to its mandate and work during the sessions of the forum, with a special focus on the environmental targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Pursuant to UNEA Resolution 3/3, the President of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), has a speaking slot for addressing the ministerial segment of the forum in order to convey the main messages of the Environment Assembly and to present its contributions as an input to the forum’s debates.
This serves as an opportunity to further strengthen links between the UNEA and the HLPF, reiterate the important role of the Environment Assembly as the highest decision-making body on environmental matters in the United Nations system and to convey UNEA’s key messages and recommendations to the forum. UNEA’s key messages delivered at the HLPF are also a contribution to the implementation of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
UNEP will take active part in the High Level Political Forum in 2022 which will meet under the theme “Building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, will consider the different and particular impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic across all Sustainable Development Goals and will have an in-depth review of Sustainable Development Goals 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals).
6. In the lead up to the 2023 HLPF to be held under the auspices of the General Assembly (or 2023 SDG Summit), please provide your organization’s recommendations on how to overcome challenges to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the SDGs, taking into account the thematic reviews and voluntary national reviews conducted to date.
There is increasing demand from governments and UN Country Teams for guidance on mobilizing and aligning public and private finance for SDGs. Work and expertise on sustainable finance is on-going across the UN agencies, funds and programmes but is currently being delivered in a largely ad hoc manner from the regional and global levels. UNEP recommends that regional UN teams be formed, under the Regional Collaborative Platform, to provide coordinated support as requested by Governments, UNCTs.
- Pilot a joint UN development system and World Bank group UN CCA/WB Group Country Diagnostic Study in one or two countries to bring together the knowledge and expertise of UN/WB and to better coordinate the development of programmes at the country level in support of the SDGs. These are currently being done separately though they cover many of the same thematic issues.
- Build capacity of relevant officers to collect, monitor and report on SDG indictors. Request the regional UN Thematic Working Groups on Data and Statistics and Regional Commissions under the Regional Collaborative Platform, to scale up and coordinate support from SDG Indicator custodian agencies to build national capacities for effective monitoring of SDG progress. (i.e. building capacity to roll out the methodologies developed by custodian agencies).
- Enhance application of integrated approaches in policy making to ensure that environmental perspectives are given due recognition.
- Improve access to data and information on SDG indicators.