A new report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reports that environmental degradation is among the root causes of decades of conflict in Sudan.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, says the report "has shown clearly that peace and people's livelihoods in Darfur as well as in the rest of Sudan are inextricably linked to the environmental challenge."

"Just as environmental degradation can contribute to the triggering and perpetuation of conflict, the sustainable management of natural resources can provide the basis for long-term stability, sustainable livelihoods, and development."

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UNEP's Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign met its goal--to plant a billion trees worldwide this year--seven months early after Senegal unveiled a pledge to plant 20 million trees.

The campaign, announced at the recent climate change convention conference held in Nairobi, Kenya, now switches to turning those pledges into one billion actual plantings by the end of 2007.

Senegal made its announcement on the International Day on Biological Diversity, which this year has a special focus on the relationship between biodiversity and climate change.

The campaign was inspired by 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Special Envoys for Climate Change: the first woman Prime Minister of Norway, the former President of Chile, and the President of the 56th Session of the UN General Assembly.

The three envoys--Norwegian ex-Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, President Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile, and former GA President Han Seung-soo--are also prominent in international environmental affairs, says Ban's spokesperson, Michele Montas.

"The Secretary-General looks forward to working with these three highly respected international figures on a matter which is of highest importance to the future of the planet," Ms. Montas said.

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Kicking off the 15th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, delegates in New York proposed a wide range of measures to bring modern energy services to the poor, reduce energy waste and cut climate change-causing greenhouse gases.

"We need a major policy push to promote energy efficiency, to generate new energy technologies, and to promote advanced and cleaner technologies," said Jose Antonio Ocampo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, in an opening address to the two-week session.

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Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with former United States Vice President Al Gore to discuss climate change.

In his meeting, Ban said he was "very much encouraged by his firm commitment, as well as voluntary willingness to help the cause of the United Nations" regarding global warming. Ban also noted that he hopes to work closely with Gore to mobilize countries and "enhance the awareness of the international community with this issue."

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Actress Daryl Hannah was among the awardees.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recognized seven winners for its 'Champions of the Earth Award' at a ceremony in Singapore.

UNEP chief Achim Steiner, who presented the awards, said "If we are to shape a new partnership between human-kind and the natural environment upon which all life ultimately depends then we need leaders, we need champions - champions in public life, champions in business and champions in our communities."

For a list of the winners, click here.

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After negotiations throughout the night in Brussels, the second installment of the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is ready for publication. The Financial Times offers a good summary of the panel's findings:

Spring is occurring earlier all around the world, and glaciers are melting. The polar ice caps are also melting, sea levels are gradually rising, and wildlife are migrating.

Mr Pachauri [the Panel's Chair] said one of the most important aspects of the report was the "equity dimension" – that poor countries, which are least able to cope with climate change and which are least responsible for past emissions, are likely to be most affected by it.

Read More.

A new report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says that the right mix of government regulation, energy saving technologies and behavioral change can reduce global-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the building sector. The building sector, the report notes, accounts for 30 to 40 per cent of total energy use.

"The savings that can be made right now are potentially huge and the costs to implement them relatively low if sufficient numbers of Governments, industries, businesses and consumers act," UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said of the measures that range from revamping ventilation systems to replacing the traditional incandescent light bulb.

"By some conservative estimates, the building sector worldwide could deliver emission reductions of 1.8 billion tonnes of C02. A more aggressive energy efficiency policy might deliver over 2 billion tonnes or close to three times the amount scheduled to be reduced under the Kyoto Protocol," he added, referring to the pact setting legally binding emission reduction targets for 35 industrialized countries in the 2008-2012 period.

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Today the world observes World Water Day, a moment dedicated to a widespread, but often-overlooked issue. The UN's 2007 World Water Day website delivers some sobering statistics:

In an industrialized city with plenty of water, flushing the toilet in an average household can send up to 50 litres of water down the drain every day. Yet more than one in six people worldwide -- 1.1 billion -- don't have access to 20-50 litres of safe freshwater daily, the minimum range suggested by the UN to ensure each person's basic needs for drinking, cooking and cleaning. Two people in five lack proper sanitation facilities, and every day, 3,800 children die from diseases associated with a lack of safe drinking water and proper sanitation.

Both water use and the world population are growing, which means that water will only grow more scarce. And, the implications of that scarcity are not limited to humanitarian concerns, though those concerns are great (guaranteeing water security is central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals).

It is a vital resource, and there isn't enough to go around. As such, nations and groups will take action to ensure access. For example, this Guardian article gives an overview of water as a central security issue and a vital component of posturing in the Middle East. Two of the issue's many facets:

[R]elinquishing control of the [Golan] Heights could cost Israel about one-third of its fresh water if the flow into the Sea of Galilee becomes contaminated, deliberately or otherwise.
---
The Palestinians accuse Israel not only of plundering their water but polluting it. Some Jewish settlements pump raw sewage into the streams of neighbouring Palestinian villages, contaminating water once used for drinking, cooking and irrigation.

For those of you who are interested, our sister site, The People Speak, is hosting a video contest, asking for submissions focusing on water conservation.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the European Union decision to establish targets for energy efficiency in the battle against global warming.

"In the face of rising greenhouse gas emissions, committing to a substantial decrease for the next decade is ambitious...but ambition and leadership are just what is needed to respond to climate change, one of the greatest challenges facing humankind."

The EU agreement, made on Friday, that would make Europe the world's leader in the fight against climate change.

Issuing a challenge to the United States, China and India to match European ambitions in the battle against global warming, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany called on the world to follow the European Union's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by the year 2020. She said the bloc's 27 members would commit to a 30 percent reduction if other nations followed suit.

The plan goes beyond the 35-nation Kyoto Protocol, which requires industrial nations to reduce the emission of global-warming gases by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Major European Union economies had already committed to do better than that, promising to decrease greenhouse gases by 8 percent in that time.

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At the United Nations on Friday, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission launched a new project to promote the sustained use and production of Biofuels. According to news reports, the International Biofuels Forum will meet regularly to help set industry standards and, eventually, work toward the commoditization of biofuels so one day they may be traded, like oil, on the open market.

This seems to be a step in the right direction. So far, biofuels account for only 2% of the world's energy stock. Coordinating the development of these new fuel sources is a worthy endeavor for the world's largest energy consumers. For his part, President Bush traveled to Brazil to promote cooperation on the production of ethanol, one of the more promising sources of Biofuel.

The two countries are the top global producers of ethanol, but because of investments decades ago, Brazil's ethanol usage is by far the highest in the world. When oil prices rose sharply in the 1970s, Brazil invested heavily on the production of sugar cane for ethanol. Today, sales of "flex" cars that can run on ethanol blends or gasoline have surpassed sales of gasoline-only automobiles. Part of this success can be attributed to the fact that ethanol is much cheaper than gas and is carried ubiquitously by gas stations in Brazil's cities.

Brazil is clearly proof that large energy consuming countries can transition toward a biofuels future. If the world's key players bring that kind of determination to the global stage, the International Biofuels Forum holds great promise.

The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, released today "Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable," the final report of the Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The report, prepared as input for the upcoming meeting of the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), outlines a roadmap for preventing unmanageable climate changes and adapting to the degree of change that can no longer be avoided.

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Watch this BBC coverage of the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

(And of course, don't forget to check out the IPCC Facts website.)

Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its report concluding (with 90% certainty) that human activity causes global warming, skeptics have come out in droves to undermine this conclusion. Some of these empirically-challenged pundits come from the Exxon-Mobilfunded American Enterprise Institute. Still others can be found in the pages of rightwing magazines like the National Review and similar refuges of fantasy.

For those of us in the reality-based community, the United Nations Foundation has set up a new website, IPCC Facts, that helps distill the IPCC report in language accessible to non-scientists like myself. With its "myths" page, the site is a particularly useful resource for those with the unfortunate task of having to debate climate change with the flat-earth people. Check it out.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday that it is poor countries that will suffer the most from global warming.

In a message to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Governing Council in Nairobi, Ban said, "The world has reached a critical stage in its efforts to exercise responsible environmental stewardship...It is also becoming increasingly clear, in North and South alike, that there is an inextricable, mutually dependent relationship between environmental sustainability and economic development." More

Following the release of the IPCC report on global warming, top UN officials called for international action to reverse environmental damage.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "Protecting the global environment is largely beyond the capacity of individual countries...This assault on the global environment risks undermining the many advances human society has made in recent decades. It is undercutting our fight against poverty. It could even come to jeopardize international peace and security."

General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa also noted, "We need clear objectives and strong ecological governance at the global level, a concept that continues to elude us...Without radical change, we will all ultimately find ourselves in a situation of generalized precariousness." More

As mentioned earlier on this blog, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - a body composed of hundreds of scientists from around the world - released its much awaited report on the causes and consequences of global warming.

Today's report is the group's fourth report on global warming since the United Nations established the IPCC in 1988. However, the newest report is the first assessment in which the group has stated with near full confidence (they say "90% certainty") that human activities are the main cause of global warming. From now on, when one hears the term "overwhelming scientific evidence" in a discussion about human activities and global warming, this report will be the point of reference.

Of course, the idea that humans cause global warming should be of little surprise to most people. But there are still some outfits that would like you to believe otherwise. Politically, the report is groundbreaking precisely because it should put to rest, once and for all, unhelpful debates over whether or not humans cause global warming. (Think: Galileo's scientific confirmation of Copernicus' theories about the earth and the sun.)

On the United Nations Foundation website, Richard Moss, director of the Climate Change program at the United Nations Foundation, discusses the significance of the just-released IPCC report. From 2000-2006, Moss directed the interagency US Climate Change Science Program Office, which was established to coordinate President Bush's Climate Change Research Initiative. Earlier in his career, Moss worked with the IPCC, editing and authoring several reports. He is, briefly stated, one of the country's foremost experts on climate change and public policy. You can listen to his podcast below.

Podcast:
Climate expert Richard Moss on the new UN IPCC Report

The much anticipated report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now available. Click here for the report's 20 page summary for policy-makers.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) announced the 10 finalists for one of five Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (Seed) Awards yesterday.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, said, "As we meet in Davos and Nairobi to discuss scaling up sustainable solutions, the Seed Initiative is again offering inspiring examples of local level entrepreneurs in all parts of the world who are setting up new partnerships and using 'global/local' networks to address sustainable development challenges with a business-case approach."

The winners of the Seed Awards will be announced in May 2007. More

Reuters: "The United States is the biggest source of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels, and Bush's decision to reject caps under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol discourages involvement by other big-polluting outsiders such as China and India.

After two weeks of talks, about 70 environment ministers in Nairobi agreed on Friday to a 2008 review of Kyoto as a possible prelude to deeper emission cuts by rich nations beyond 2012 and steps by developing countries to brake rising emissions....

Several senior delegates at the U.N. talks say 2010 now looks the most likely date for a new global pact to replace Kyoto. "We'd love a deadline of 2008 or 2009 but that looks unlikely unless Bush has a change of heart," one said.

Environmentalists want a 2008 deadline. "Technically it's still not impossible," said Hans Verolme, climate director of the WWF conservation group. "The planet cannot wait."

Developing countries say rich states must lead the way -- China told Kyoto nations to makes pledges to cut their emissions in 2008 or 2009." More

"They are dubbed the 'climate canaries' - the people destined to become the first victims of world climate change. And as government ministers sit down in Nairobi at [the] UN Climate Conference, the people most likely to be wiped out by devastating global warming will be only a few hundred miles away from their deliberations.

Those people, according to research commissioned by the charity Christian Aid, will be the three million pastoralists of northern Kenya, whose way of life has sustained them for thousands of years but who now face eradication. Hundreds of thousands of these seasonal herders have already been forced to forsake their traditional culture and settle in Kenya's north eastern province following consecutive droughts that have decimated their livestock in recent years." More

"A campaign to plant a billion trees within a year was launched at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, today in a bid to encourage all sectors of society, from concerned citizens to philanthropic corporations, to take small but practical steps to combat what is probably the key challenge of the 21st century.

"Action does not need to be confined to the corridors of the negotiation halls," UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner said, noting that intergovernmental talks on tackling climate change can often be difficult, protracted and sometimes frustrating, especially for those looking on." More

"Global warming is threatening archaeological sites from Peru to Egypt as well as natural wonders such as the Caribbean's largest coral reef, a U.N. report said on Tuesday.

Heritage sites linked to thousands of years of civilization "may by virtue of climate change very well not be available to future generations," said Achim Steiner, head of the U.N. Environment Program." More

"Africa could suffer greater effects from global warming than previously feared, the United Nations said yesterday, with the risk of widespread coastal flooding, substantial loss of animal habitat and lower cereal yields all likely in coming decades.

In a report published on the eve of a key climate change conference opening in Nairobi today, environmentalists gave warning that the continent needed help in dealing with a problem created by the industrialised world." Full story

Read more about the UN's climate conference here

And here:

.

"The industrialized world's emissions of greenhouse gases are growing again, despite efforts under the Kyoto Protocol to cap them and stave off global warming, the United Nations reported Monday.

Emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases declined in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet bloc and the shutdown of polluting factories and power plants in eastern Europe. But now those economies are rebounding, contributing to a 2.4 percent rise in emissions by 41 industrialized nations between 2000 and 2004." More

"The latest scientific assessments conducted under the auspices of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found clear evidence of a reduction in ozone-depleting substances in the lower atmosphere, as well as indications that their destructive impact in the stratosphere was also on the wane, according to the message. But they also push back the estimated date for total ozone layer recovery by 15 years, to 2065." More

NYT: "More than two billion people already live in regions facing a scarcity of water, and unless the world changes its ways over the next 50 years, the amount of water needed for a rapidly growing population will double, scientists warned in a study released yesterday.

At the worst, a deepening water crisis would fuel violent conflicts, dry up rivers and increase groundwater pollution, their report says. It would also force the rural poor to clear ever more grasslands and forests to grow food and leave many more people hungry.

The report, which draws on the research of more than 400 hydrologists, agronomists and other scientists, was sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the world's premier network of agricultural research centers, among others."

"An oil slick, caused by the destruction of the Jiyyeh power utility 30km south of Beirut after being struck by Israeli bombs, is now reported to be affecting up to 80 km of the Lebanese coastline and threatening the Syrian one too.

Achim Steiner, a UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP's Executive Director, said requests of assistance from the government of Lebanon were being responded to by the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Center for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC).

REMPEC, administered by the UN International Maritime Organization and part UNEP's Regional Seas Network, is giving advice to the Lebanese Ministry of the Environment on how to tackle the heavy fuel oil slick."

"Organizers of the soccer World Cup in Germany are earning praise for the event's execution -- and its environmental friendliness." Link

The 'Green Goal' project--the inspiration of the Local Organizing Committee for the 2006 FFIA World Cup and the German Ministry of the Environment-aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from transport and electricity generation during the month long tournament.

A preliminary snapshot indicates that the 'Green Goal', which is supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and private business, is meeting if not exceeding expectations. Link

Damage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control, the United Nations warned yesterday. In a report that indicates that time is running out to save them, the UN said humankind's exploitation of the the deep seas and oceans was "rapidly passing the point of no return".

Last year some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing gear, and 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses, were killed by illegal longline fishing. [More]

© Binh Thuan, Thien Anh Huynh / Vietnam / UNEP

"World Environment Day, commemorated each year on 5 June, is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The World Environment Day theme selected for 2006 is Deserts and Desertification and the slogan is Don't Desert Drylands! The slogan emphasizes the importance of protecting drylands, which cover more than 40% of the planet's surface. This ecosystem is home to one-third of the world's people who are more vulnerable members of society." [Read more]

ABC News: "Disease spread by global warming could kill an extra 185 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of the century and turn millions more into refugees unless rich nations take action now, a report said on Monday.

Christian Aid said rich developed countries had to end their dependence on fossil fuels and set aside large sums of aid to help poorer nations ride out the worst impacts of global warming and switch to energy sources like wind, solar and waves.

"Rich countries must take responsibility for having largely created this problem -- and cut CO2 emissions radically," the non-governmental organization said in a report "The Climate of Poverty: facts, fears and hopes."

"Climate change is taking place and will inevitably continue. Poor people will take the brunt, so we are calling on rich countries to help them adjust as the seas rise, the deserts expand, and floods and hurricanes become more frequent and intense."

Most scientists agree that global warming is due to burning fossil fuels for transport and power, and new calculations suggest that having risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius in the 20th century, global temperatures could surge three degrees by 2100.

Christian Aid said it based its estimate of 185 million deaths due to disease on figures from the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Global warming should allow carriers like mosquitoes to expand their ranges."

"The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said today that a Compliance Committee for the Kyoto Protocol, the environmental treaty aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, has begun operations, with an enforcement branch dealing with countries having difficulties meeting their commitments." [More]

"Eastern European countries, which disproportionately produce greenhouse gas emissions, have taken a small but very significant step in tackling the problem thanks to a United Nations-backed project, a new report released today says.

With only 6 per cent of the world's population, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) produce approximately 12 per cent of all greenhouse gases." [Read more]

"Tony Blair has admitted that the risks of climate change may be more serious than previously thought. The Prime Minister's concern is revealed today in a book that contains compelling evidence from some of the world's leading scientists of the growing threat to the planet.

Reassessments of major risks to the Earth, such as the melting of the great land-based ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, which would raise sea levels disastrously, or the slowing down of the Gulf Stream, which would plunge Britain into a new ice age, show that they may be triggered by temperature rises well within those already predicted for the coming century.

The fresh appraisals indicate that the situation is far more dangerous than that set out in the last report of the main scientific body monitoring global warming, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). That study, the IPCC's third assessment report, known to scientists as the TAR, said there was "new and stronger evidence" that much of the warming already observed in recent decades had been caused by human activities, such as the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases from power stations and motor vehicles." [Read more]

Also see:

Corals and Mangroves in the Front Line

Floods and Drought Boost Global Disasters

Global Warming Study: Polar Ice Sheets Could Start to Melt this Century

UN News Service: "Laws aimed at protecting Afghanistan's wildlife, waterways and forests, believed to be the first legal conservation tools in the country, have been developed by the Government with assistance from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the agency announced today."

150 Nations Agree to Future Climate Talks

Kyoto Accord Won't Hurt Economies: Clinton

Climate change conference urges strategies to curb massive deforestation

Clinton Warns of Climate Peril, Demands US Switch Out of Fossil Fuels

Kyoto Reforms to Boost 'Green' Business

US Isolated at World Climate Talks

Seattle Sets Own Kyoto Goals for Emissions

Inspired by Lennon, Youth Say Give Climate a Chance

2,300 Computers at the UN Climate Change Conference are Powered by the Wind

Blogs weighing in:

Barking Dingo
Guardian Blogs
Climate Change News
Greendiary
It's Getting Hot in Here
Rubicon

"The rise of deadly new diseases such as SARS and bird flu could be linked to the destruction of the environment, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

"Human health is strongly linked to the health of ecosystems, which meet many of our most critical needs," Maria Neira, director of WHO's Department of Protection of the Human Environment told a news conference at the launch of a new report.

"As a result of human actions, the structure and the world's ecosystems changed more rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century than at any other time in human history," the report said." [Read more]

Full Report

"A small community living in the Pacfic island chain of Vanuatu has become one of, if not the first, to be formally moved out of harms way as a result of climate change.

The villagers have been relocated higher into the interior of Tegua, one of the chains' northern most provinces, after their coastal homes were repeatedly swamped by storm surges and aggressive waves linked with climate change.

The relocation, under a project entitled Capacity Building for the Development of Adaptation in Pacific Island Countries, underlines the increasingly drastic measures now underway to conserve low lying communities as a result of the rise in human-made emissions to the atmosphere." LINK

More here

"The impact of spiralling pollution on the planet poses a threat to civilisation just as catastrophic as much-vaunted weapons of mass destruction, Britain's top scientist warned today.

Lord Robert May, president of the country's leading scientific body, the Royal Society, issued the warning as a 12-day conference was set to get underway today in Montreal to decide the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' troubled treaty for curbing greenhouse gases.

"The impacts of global warming are many and serious: sea-level rise ... changes in availability of fresh water ... and the increasing incidence of extreme events -- floods, droughts, and hurricanes - the serious consequences of which are rising to levels which invite comparison with weapons of mass destruction," Lord May said in an advance copy of a speech released today to coincide with the start of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on the same day.

The Montreal meeting is the first by the convention since the UN's pollution-cutting Kyoto Protocol, signed by 156 countries, took effect on January 16.

But a notable non-signatory of the pact committing industrialised nations to reducing or offsetting emissions of carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases is the planet's heaviest polluter: the US." [Read more]

BBC NEWS: "The United Nations is to set up a task force to investigate the effects of climate change on regions like the Himalayas.

The decision came at the annual meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (Unesco) World Heritage Committee, which declared that climate change does pose a threat to natural and cultural heritage sites."

UN News Service: "The theme of the UN environmental day this year is "Green Cities - Plan for the Planet," The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has adapted it to: "Green your Camps - Improve Natural Resource Management and Plan for the Planet." The Day was celebrated yesterday, 5 June, in San Francisco, California and around the world."

"An atlas of environmental change compiled by the United Nations reveals some of the dramatic transformations that are occurring to our planet.

It compares and contrasts satellite images taken over the past few decades with contemporary ones. These highlight in vivid detail the striking make-over wrought in some corners of the Earth by deforestation, urbanisation and climate change.

The atlas has been released to mark World Environment Day. The United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) produced One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment in collaboration with other agencies such as the US Geological Survey and the US space agency (Nasa)." Read full article

"Iraq's environmental problems - among the world's worst - range from a looted nuclear site which needs cleaning up to sabotaged oil pipelines, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

"An improvement is almost impossible in these security conditions. Chemicals are seeping into groundwater and the situation is becoming worse and creating additional health problems," said Pekka Haavisto, Iraq task force chairman at the United Nations Environmental Programme." Full Story

"For the first time ever a UN program, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has won the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award." LINK

"Fifteen years after the former Iraqi government used old blueprints dating from the British Empire to drain a vast wetland, the area is slowly creeping back to life.

For millennia, the Mesopotamian Marshlands were an isolated and swampy oasis in the desert, covering more than 20,000 square km of interconnected lakes, mudflats and bayous. Some believe it is where the biblical Eden was located.

The U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), which first alerted the world via satellite images that the marshes were vanishing, is playing an active role in capacity-building and promoting sustainable development in the area.

The agency created the Marshland Information Network, comprising the Marshland Arabs Forum, various government ministries and the U.S.-based Iraq Foundation, which runs the Eden Again Project.

"We're targeting smaller communities with projects for drinking water, sanitation and water quality management," said Chizuru Aoki of UNEP. "The goal is to support environmentally sustainable technologies." Read more...

For background on this story read The Demise of Mesopotamian Marshlands, UN Chronicle 2002

From UN News Service: "As part of a United Nations-backed effort to rid the planet of some of the worst pollutants tied to cancer, birth defects and immune system damage, 800 government officials and observers from 130 countries will gather next week in Uruguay for the first meeting of a treaty banning the world's most dangerous pesticides and chemicals."

"[T]he need to protect the environment does not begin or end in the great outdoors. The ecology of urban areas is becoming an increasing concern of the environmental movement, as underscored by its focus in an upcoming five- day United Nations conference on "green cities." The conference is attracting mayors from around the globe to try to bring attention -- and possibly some international accords -- on city-environment issues such as urban design, transportation, energy, open space, recycling, health and water." Full Editorial

"A high-level U.N. meeting is trying to tackle what a senior U.N. official called the world's "silent humanitarian crisis" - dirty water, poor sanitation and slums.

Jose Antonio Ocampo, undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, told the 53-member Commission on Sustainable Development at the opening of a two-week meeting on Monday that providing safe drinking water and basic sanitation to the world's slum dwellers is an achievable goal." Read More

(Via UN Wire)

"Changes to the environment that are sweeping the planet are bringing about a rise in infectious diseases, the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) has warned. Loss of forests; the building of roads and dams; urban growth; the clearing of natural habitats for agriculture; mining; and pollution of coastal waters are promoting conditions under which new and old pathogens can thrive, according to research published today in Unep's Global Environment Outlook Year Book for 2004/2005." More...

Miami Herald:
Kyoto treaty offers opportunities
BY TIMOTHY E. WIRTH

The Kyoto Protocol took effect this week, beginning the worldwide process of reducing the emissions that are causing global warming. As one of the negotiators of that international accord, I know how big the climate change challenge is -- but where there is challenge, there is also opportunity.

Businesses increasingly are grasping the fact that a transition to cleaner, more sustainable energy systems presents enormous opportunities for innovation and change -- opportunities to offer consumers worldwide products and services that reduce carbon emissions and boost energy-usage efficiencies. Past cycles of innovation tell us that the pioneers -- not the laggards -- take home the jobs and economic benefits.

Competitiveness and profits

While facilities operating within the United States aren't bound to carbon-emission limits because we haven't ratified Kyoto, companies must abide by these caps in those countries that have. The need to cut emissions can't be ignored by multinational companies in a global economy. Companies that reduce their carbon pollution are finding tremendous opportunities to improve productivity, competitiveness, and profits.

The Climate Group's analysis of the efforts of 22 companies in seven countries illustrates the potential for cost savings. Eleven of those companies reported reductions in expenditures that together exceeded $5.5 billion. Of those 11, five companies reduced their carbon emissions by 60 percent or greater (DuPont, Alcan, British Telecom, IBM and Norske Canada), achieving combined savings of $3 billion.

We will see a rapid increase in demand for carbon-reducing solutions over the next decade -- not only in countries participating in Kyoto, but also in rapidly growing nations like China and India. U.S. companies have been slow to exploit the opportunities and are already behind their competitors in some key sectors. The hybrid car, which runs on gas and electricity generated by braking, illustrates this point. Toyota's Prius sedan already has 63 percent of the U.S. hybrid market.

Analysts forecast hybrid sales reaching 500,000 by 2009, or 3 percent of U.S. car and truck purchases. Compare that to last year, when hybrid sales represented only 0.5 percent of the 16.9-million vehicles sold. While Japan's automakers are well into perfecting their second generation of hybrids, Detroit is licensing Toyota's technology while it refines prototypes.

So, how do we help U.S.-based companies understand and tap into the opportunities that will drive tomorrow's economy?

* Seed money from the federal government is one step. A study from the Apollo Alliance shows that a $300-billion investment over 10 years would add more than two million new jobs each year, stimulate $1.4 trillion in economic growth, and produce $284 billion in net energy cost savings. The government's investment could be repaid in 10 years through higher tax revenues that Washington would collect on the increase in corporate earnings from lower utility bills and higher profits.

* Policy predictability is also key. If U.S. companies know the goals that they must reach within the United States, they will figure out the solutions. As one utility chairman told Business Week: ``Give us a date, tell us how much we need to cut, give us the flexibility to meet the goals, and we'll get it done.''

* Goals are needed to compel American companies to reach beyond their grasp. Policymakers should consider establishing a nationwide portfolio standard for renewable energy, as 17 states and the District of Columbia have already done. One possible U.S. goal: deriving 25 percent of electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2025. This will ignite development of biofuels, which use plant materials to create carbon-neutral liquid transportation fuels. With effort, ingenuity and commitment, ''25 by 25'' is possible.

* Energy efficiency must be promoted. Energy efficiency remains the cheapest, cleanest way to meet our ever-growing needs while cutting carbon emissions. Substantial savings can be achieved by modernizing the ''grid'' -- the vast network that distributes electricity. We can do more by expanding state and utility energy-efficiency programs with federal co-funding. The federal Energy Star program, which helps consumers choose the most efficient appliances, should be expanded and tax credits brought to bear. Again, simple steps that can have a big impact over time.

U.S. companies can fill the Washington leadership vacuum. Investing now in solutions will mean a more-secure future for U.S. companies, higher economic growth, and more jobs for Americans. The start of the Kyoto Protocol is the opening bell. Let's get started now.

Timothy E. Wirth is president of the United Nations Foundation and a founder and steering-committee member of the Energy Future Coalition. He served in the U.S. Senate, representing Colorado, and as undersecretary of state.

The UN Foundation sponsored a program at the United Nations on Thursday, February 17, entitled "One Day after Kyoto: Next Steps on Climate."

Senator Chuck Hagel made the following remarks at the event: "There will always be uncertainties and incomplete information in any climate science or climate policy. But that should not inhibit our commitment to developing climate policies based on sound science. The question we face is not whether we should take action on climate change, but what kind of action we should take. Climate change is a shared responsibility for all nations, including the United States. Global climate policy affects the world's economic, energy, and environmental policies." Read the rest of the speech...