{"id":81139,"date":"2022-06-01T10:40:36","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T10:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadialogue.net\/?p=81139"},"modified":"2022-06-01T10:43:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T10:43:16","slug":"unep-at-50-what-has-the-worlds-environmental-conscience-achieved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/pollution\/unep-at-50-what-has-the-worlds-environmental-conscience-achieved\/","title":{"rendered":"UNEP at 50: What has the world\u2019s \u2018environmental conscience\u2019 achieved?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 1960s and early 1970s were critical times for the environment in industrialised countries. The public, and some politicians, had woken up to the global threat of oil spills, acid rain and wildlife extinctions, with 20 million people across the US attending the first Earth Day rallies in 1970. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were formed, and environmental protection agencies were established in the US, Sweden and Germany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN had taken up the environment as an issue in 1968 with a report<\/a> by the UN secretary-general U Thant, which warned: \u201cIf current trends continue, life on Earth could be endangered.\u201d It called for the UN to hold a Conference on the Human Environment, which took place in Stockholm in June 1972. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This landmark meeting<\/a> placed the environment on the global agenda for the first time, with the Stockholm Declaration<\/a> marking the start of a dialogue between industrialised and developing countries on the link between economic growth, pollution and human wellbeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"United<\/div>
The 1972 Stockholm Conference, the first global conference on environmental issues, led to the formation of UNEP\u00a0(Image: @ Yutaka Nagata \/ UN Photo)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It also led directly to the formation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with a remit to monitor the state of the environment, inform policymaking with science, and coordinate responses to the world\u2019s environmental challenges. More than 100 countries initially signed up, and membership has since grown to 193. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global cooperation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The organisation got to work quickly: the first meeting of its governing council in 1973 resulted in the Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (known as MARPOL), which imposed strict rules on industry to prevent spills; and the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulated trade in more than 38,000 animals and plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A notable early issue taken up by UNEP was damage to the ozone layer \u2013 the thin shield that protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun \u2013 caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used in refrigeration and aerosol sprays. Its work led to the Montreal Protocol, which regulates the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances, and is to date the only UN treaty that all 198 UN member states have ratified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the ozone layer is projected to recover by mid-century, and some 2 million people each year have been saved from skin cancer, according to UNEP<\/a>. Tackling the ozone crisis is \u201cperhaps UNEP\u2019s most successful achievement\u201d, according to Maria Ivanova, director of the US-based Center for Governance and Sustainability and author of The Untold Story of the World\u2019s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty (2021).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP had the courage to say what was needed<\/blockquote>Nick Nuttall, director of climate change social media network We Don\u2019t Have Time<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In that book she wrote: \u201cThe institution effectively deployed all of its functions \u2013 scientific assessment, policy development, and coordination of actions across the UN system and across governments \u2013 and its leadership committed fully to addressing this global problem. It developed the capacity \u2013 human, institutional, and financial \u2013 connected to the relevant constituencies, and gained authority as it delivered a solution.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP was also responsible, along with the World Meteorological Organization, for forming the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 to comprehensively review the science on climate change and make recommendations for a possible future international agreement to tackle the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This had not been specifically requested by governments, according to Nick Nuttall, director of We Don\u2019t Have Time, a review platform for climate solutions, and a former spokesperson at UNEP. \u201cUNEP had the courage to say what was needed,\u201d he says. Moments like this show that despite being a small organisation, UNEP has been bold when it needed to be, he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The IPCC\u2019s process was a \u201cwhole new way of doing science\u201d, according to Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. Through it, working groups of the world\u2019s leading scientists write reports, with politicians allowed to suggest edits for the summary report. Statements on scientific knowledge in the report are given degrees of confidence based on the opinions and research of the scientists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very clever way of saying that this is as close to capturing the state of scientific knowledge as possible, given that we don\u2019t know everything yet,\u201d says Steer. \u201cThe IPCC has been very influential.\u201d In 2012, UNEP established the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to coordinate science on biodiversity loss in a similar way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-quality science produced by UNEP has been the organisation\u2019s major contribution to the environmental campaign sector, according to Paul Johnston, principal scientist at Greenpeace. \u201cIt\u2019s been really hugely successful in informing both the scientific community, but also the wider world, and creating that huge environmental awareness in the public consciousness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Protestors<\/div>
Climate protestors in London in April this year. The IPCC\u2019s reports regularly inform broader society, as well as policymakers, on climate science. (Image: Vuk Valcic \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UNEP\u2019s work has led to 15 multilateral agreements on the environment. As well as CITES<\/a>, these include the Convention on Biological Diversity<\/a> (CBD), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants<\/a> and the Minamata Convention on Mercury<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, governments meeting in early 2022 at the UN Environment Assembly \u2013 the successor to UNEP\u2019s Governing Council \u2013 agreed to launch negotiations on an international and legally binding agreement to end plastic pollution<\/a>. UNEP\u2019s executive director, Inger Andersen, called this the most significant environmental multilateral deal since the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move was a \u201cmajor breakthrough\u201d, according to Stephen Stec, senior fellow and lead researcher on environment and democracy at the Central European University. However, such big developments are \u201ca little bit few and far between\u201d, he notes. \u201cPeople talking about the atmosphere when this was announced compared it to the Montreal Protocol, which was now many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP\u2019s influence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commentators\u2019 praise of UNEP is tempered by acknowledgements that, despite its achievements, the world\u2019s environment has continued to be degraded at an alarming rate. However, many believe this is more down to the failure of governments to act on UNEP\u2019s scientific findings and advice than a failure of UNEP itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics is still very \u201cschizophrenic\u201d on environmental issues, Nuttall says, pointing to how governments can simultaneously work on decarbonisation targets and boost fossil fuel production. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weakness of UNEP is not UNEP. It is the inability of governments to internalise the science… to work out what needs to be done.<\/blockquote>Nick Nuttall, director of We Don\u2019t Have Time, a review platform for climate solutions<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe weakness of UNEP is not UNEP. It is the inability of governments to internalise the science really clearly with laser focus to work out what needs to be done and move the dial forward,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivanova mirrors this view in her book, saying: \u201cWith the dichotomy between economic growth and environmental protection deeply lodged in the outlook of individuals and governments worldwide, UNEP has been close to powerless to change behavior considerably, and its achievements have been hard-won.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some believe that UNEP was set up to be weak from the start, in particular with the choice of Kenya for its headquarters. The East African nation had lobbied strongly to host the new organisation on the basis that the developing world needed a stronger voice in UN activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At the time, its win had been seen as a major coup, as the first time a developing country would host a UN organisation. However, many believe that the lack of reliable connectivity in terms of communications and infrastructure limited its effectiveness in the early years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These constraints in turn led to difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, according to Ivanova. As a result \u201cits visibility suffered, and its credibility diminished\u201d, she wrote. Furthermore, the location did not by itself lead to greater input from developing countries, with only 36% having diplomatic missions in Nairobi, even 50 years after UNEP\u2019s creation, she noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuttall believes that developed countries that did not initially want to see UNEP created would have been \u201cpleased as punch\u201d when it was located on the east coast of Africa. Though Kenya\u2019s communications infrastructure has vastly improved in the past 20 years, \u201cit was really tough at the beginning for UNEP to really have any impact\u201d, he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNEP\u2019s budget has also constrained its effectiveness. The bulk of the organisation\u2019s finance comes from a mixture of contributions by governments based on the size of their economies, known as UNEP\u2019s Environment Fund, and donations for particular projects or \u201cearmarked contributions\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the years, the proportion coming from the Environment Fund has declined. In 1972, the fund was expected to receive US$100 million a year, and grow over time, according to Ivanova\u2019s book. However, in 2021, it received $78.5 million, representing 15% of UNEP\u2019s total income, according to UNEP<\/a> itself. More than 90% of this came from 15 countries, with the Netherlands, France and Germany the organisation\u2019s top donors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though UNEP\u2019s budget has increased overall, the fact that most of it comes from donors that have particular projects in mind \u2013 with strings attached \u00ad\u2013 has made it challenging for the organisation to set its own priorities, and increased unpredictability year-to-year, Ivanova says. \u201cThis is not an institutional design issue, rather it reflects the changes in global attention to environmental concerns,\u201d she writes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its medium-term strategy<\/a> to 2025, adopted last year, UNEP acknowledges that securing higher contributions to the Environment Fund, as well as funding that is \u201conly softly earmarked\u201d, will be \u201cindispensable\u201d for UNEP to bring about tangible results on its priorities of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

UNEP\u2019s 50th anniversary, which will be marked by a two-day event in Stockholm, Sweden, prompts the question of what its next 50 years could hold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stec believes that UNEP could have a role in promoting better global standards on corporate behaviour and accountability in terms of the environment, in the same way as the UN Human Rights Council has on human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) could also have a role in holding member states to account for their treatment of the environment, with UNEP acting as a secretariat to gather information and compile reports to refer to UNEA to take action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuttall would like to see member states step up more resources for UNEP to overcome the limitations caused by short-term politics and funding. UNEP undertakes pilot projects, such as on renewable energy generation and ecosystem restoration, and could achieve much more with larger finances, he says. It could also spread its regional presence and strengthen the case made to governments of the links between the environment and economies, he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He also believes that the legal structures created through UNEP will be increasingly tested through the courts with the rise in environmental litigation by campaign groups and citizens. \u201cThe legal route will be perhaps one of the most effective,\u201d he believes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steer says the world is moving into a new period of history where coalitions of governments, businesses, scientists, campaigners and citizens work together to solve problems. For this, he believes more modern governance will be needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be interesting to see at the UNEP+50 event whether there\u2019s any appetite for institutional strengthening of UNEP. If you went back to 1972, they were quite ambitious about the role of UNEP, and Maurice Strong, its first executive director, had great expectations,\u201d Steer says. \u201cIf he was still alive and could be asked if he felt his dream had been fulfilled, I guess he would say it\u2019s been a mixed story, that they\u2019ve done their best given the resources.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the UN Environment Programme reaches its 50th anniversary, we review its successes and shortcomings and how to strengthen its role in an era of deepening environmental crises<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1072,"featured_media":81778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[760],"tags":[513,523],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-81139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pollution","tag-carbon-emissions","tag-conservation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUNEP at 50: What has the world\u2019s \u2018environmental conscience\u2019 achieved? | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the UN Environment Programme reaches its 50th anniversary, we review its successes and shortcomings and how to strengthen its role in an era of deepening environmental crises\" \/>\n<meta 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