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News from Earthwatch - 2003
Meanwhile new work on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has already been agreed at the first meeting of the Parties to the 1998 Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which took place in Geneva in conjunction with the Convention’s most recent session of its Executive Body. UNECE Release: Protocol
on Heavy Metals enters into force and new work on persistent organic pollutants
agreed Swarms started to form in Mauritania where breeding continues in many areas. During the first ten days of December, 12 swarms of immature locusts were seen east of Nouakchott, while three other swarms flew over the capital itself on 4-6 December, according to a new report by the FAO Locust Groupe. FAO Release: Desert
Locust threat growing The agency catalogued the year’s weather in various parts of the world, ranging from European heat waves that saw the warmest temperatures on record in several countries to record warmth in Australia that produced wildfires, continued drought in much of southern Africa, and above normal rainfall in most of the Sahelian region of western Africa. WMO Release: WMO STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE IN 2003: GLOBAL TEMPERATURE IN 2003 THIRD WARMEST (DOC) Climate change is responsible for 2.4 per cent of all cases of diarrhoea worldwide and for 2 per cent of all cases of malaria, according to the most recent figures available . Moreover, an estimated 150,000 deaths and 5.5 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years were caused in the year 2000 due to climate change. WHO Release: New
book demonstrates how climate change impacts on health FAO was the designated lead coordinating agency for International Year of Mountains and is mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day .The theme for the first ever International Mountain Day is 'Mountains - Source of Freshwater'. FAO Release: Putting
mountain development on the map The Climate Change Working Group of the UNEP Finance Initiative launched a briefing document highlighting the opportunities and challenges of emissions trading and aimed at the Chief Executive Officers of large corporations. The report says that several national and regional emissions trading schemes have been launched or are being proposed including a Europe-wide scheme planned for 1 January 2005 that plans to trade some 1,200 million tonnes or just under half of the European Community’s carbon dioxide emissions, and others in Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. UNEP Release: Weather
Related Natural Disasters in 2003 Cost the World Billions The Government of Ethiopia and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) are jointly hosting the Conference. The Pan-African Conference represents a political commitment at the highest level among African Governments to move forward in solving the continent's impending water crisis. ECA Press Release: PAN
AFRICAN CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS HOW TO MEET AFRICA'S WATER GOALS The good news is that, unlike 2002, most of this money now flows to World Bank client countries – about 90 percent – but the bad news is that Africa and small developing countries have been essentially bypassed. That data and the subsequent analysis appear in the World Bank’s third annual State of the Carbon Market 2003 report released on 4 December in Milan, Italy, at the Ninth Conference of the Parties of UNFCC. Worldbank Release: Carbon
Market Doubles, But Poor Countries Bypassed According to World Bank Report The term IUU fishing is commonly used to describe a wide range of unscrupulous fishing activities. Worldwide, IUU fishing appears to be increasing as a number of fishers seek to avoid the stricter rules being established in many places in response to shrinking catches and declining fish stocks. The situation is particularly grave and forbidding given that some 75 percent of world fisheries are already being fully exploited, overexploited, or depleted. FAO Release: FAO calls for intensified action to combat illegal fishing A new study lunched by UNEP on 2 December, concludes that many low altitude ski resorts face economic hardship and even ruin as a result of global warming. Experts at the University of Zurich say that the levels of snow falling in lower lying mountain areas will become increasingly unpredictable and unreliable over the coming decades. Currently an estimated 15 per cent of Switzerland’s ski resorts are deemed to have unreliable levels of snowfall. In the future, between 37 percent and 56 per cent could have such low levels of snow that many, including the Swiss resorts of Wildhaus and Unterwasser, will be facing acute difficulties in attracting overseas tourists and local winter sports enthusiasts. UNEP Release: Many
Ski Resorts Heading Downhill as a Result of Global Warming Without ratification by the Russian Federation, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, ratified by 119 other countries, will not enter into force, but governments have used its guidelines to reinforce domestic climate change policies. Despite measures currently in place to limit emissions from Europe, Japan, the United States and other highly industrialized countries, combined emissions could grow by 8 per cent from 2000 to 2010, or to about 17 per cent over 1990 levels. UNFCCC release: Milan
conference to promote stronger national action on climate change
The Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) improves the availability of more efficient cruising levels. This leads to less air pollution because of reduced fuel burn and to fewer ground delays, in this case for flights on the Asia-Europe routes south of the Himalayas. ICAO Release: REDUCED DISTANCE BETWEEN AIRCRAFT BENEFITS AIRLINES, PASSENGERS AND ENVIRONMENT The Convention, whose early entry into force was urged by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last year, will contribute to the WSSD’s aim of ensuring that, by the year 2020, chemicals are used and produced in ways that minimize significant adverse effects on human health and the environment. UNEP & FAO Release: Treaty
on hazardous chemicals and pesticides trade to become law Representatives from all countries with great ape populations and donor countries will meet with leading scientific experts from non-governmental organizations and universities through the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP), co-ordinated by UNESCO and UNEP. They will develop a Global Great Ape Conservation Strategy, to be released at a press conference at UNESCO, on 28 November. UNESCO Release: Emergency
meeting to save the great apes FAO Release: Asbestos
and two hazardous pesticides could be added to trade watch list Building on the success of past events, a World Conference on Sport and the Environment will be organised by the International Olympic Committee in Turin, Italy, from 2-3 December 2003, in cooperation with the Organising Committee for the XX Olympic Winter Games (TOROC) and UNEP. Issues include the role of top athletes as ambassadors for the environment to organizing and delivering environmentally-friendly sports events. UNEP Press Release: Sports
Men and Women Call for Action on Air Pollution and Urge More Eco-Friendly Sports
Equipment The Conference Mobilizing for Implementation of the Commitments Made at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, is held at UNESCO in Paris from 12-14 November 2003, aiming to catalyze useful strategies for achieving implementation of the global oceans agenda. Conference Website: http://www.globaloceans.org/globalconference/ More than 500 representatives of governments and civil society started a one-week conference in Montreal, Canada, to devise ways to measure progress on implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), from 10-14 November. The ninth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-9) will continue its work assessing the status of biological diversity; reviewing measures taken to meet CBD provisions and answering technical questions from the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP). The previous eight SBSTTA meetings sent 78 recommendations to COP. Website: Ninth Meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice The first session of the Preparatory Committee for the Development of a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (“SAICM PrepCom1”) is held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok from 9-13 November 2003. PrepCom1 will be the first substantive step in the SAICM process, which is to culminate in a final “International Conference on Chemicals Management” around the end of 2005. The conference and its preparatory sessions are being convened jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) and the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC). SAICM Website: http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/ According to UNEP Executive Director, the Montreal Protocol, the international agreement that is leading to the phase out of ozone depleting chemicals, has so far been one of the great environmental success stories. Developed countries have, with the exception of some small-scale specialist uses, already phased out Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) and several other chemicals with high ozone depleting potential. Developing countries are also successfully implementing their phase outs according to agreed targets and time tables. In Nairobi, Parties to the Montreal Protocol will consider applications for so-called Critical Use Exemptions by developed countries. These amount to some 15,000 tonnes of methyl bromide. Some farmers, predominantly in North America and Europe, are not convinced that the available alternatives are technically or economically feasible to use. UNEP Links: The
Fifteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol - 10 - 14 November
2003, Nairobi, Kenya The Geneva Conventions and Protocols and other international laws had discouraged the worst excesses of armed conflict, including targeting civilians, mistreating prisoners of war, and destroying sensitive infrastructure, such as large dams and nuclear power stations. The increasingly devastating potential of modern warfare showed, however, that existing international laws have not fully addressed environmental dangers, such as the indiscriminate use of landmines, the ecological destruction caused by mass movements of refugees and the potential devastation threatened by weapons of mass destruction. Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, said two international agreements cover some ground. Article 35 of the 1977 Geneva Protocol I bans "methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. The 1976 Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) was designed to tackle new, environmentally unfriendly technologies for waging war. But most legal experts have concluded that these and others fall far short of what is ideal and what is needed. UN Secretary-General Release:Secretary-General's
message on the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment
in War and Armed Conflict Beginning 3 November, Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention are meeting at the IAEA for two weeks for the first peer review meeting. Each Party will present its own national report and it will answer questions on it from other Parties. The national report is expected to explain how the country is complying with, or planning to comply with, the 25 technical Articles of the Convention. The outcome of the discussions will be recorded in a publicly available summary report agreed upon by the 32 Contracting Parties. IAEA Release: Safety
of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management - First Peer Review Meeting Under
Joint Convention Opens at IAEA There is an urgent need to find effective, low-cost means of reducing death and injury from unsafe chemical exposures, according to the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety. Over 600 leading international experts and officials from government, the private sector and non-governmental organizations are meeting in Bangkok with the aim of scaling up critical actions to protect vulnerable populations from chemical threats, from 1-7 November. There are tens of thousands of synthetic chemicals being produced commercially worldwide, yet there is a lack of adequate safety information about the great majority of these chemicals and their health and environmental effects. Putting basic information about chemical hazards into the hands of the public is one of the most powerful tools available for the protection of public health and the environment. Determining the roles and responsibilities of the chemical industry, as well as governments, in providing hazard information will be a key undertaking at this Fourth Session of the IFCS (Forum IV). IFCS Release: RISKS
FROM MAN-MADE CHEMICALS ARE INCREASINGLY PUTTING WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN DANGER To take this ‘new look’ at cities even further, counsellors, planners and other urban stakeholders from cities around the world were meeting with scientists and conservation specialists in a two-day conference on “Urban Biosphere and Society: Partnership of Cities” organized by Columbia University, UNESCO and UN-Habitat from 29-30 October, at the New York Academy of Sciences, which is also co-sponsored the event. UNESCO Release: World Cities join to protect their biological and cultural diversity The Protocol at present covers 16 substances: 11 pesticides (including DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, lindane, hexachlorobenzene and heptachlor), 2 industrial chemicals (hexabromobiphenyl and PCBs) and 3 by-products/contaminants (dioxins/furans, hexachlorobenzene and polyaromatic hydrocarbons). The Protocol aims to eliminate any discharges, emissions and losses of these 16 POPs. The POPs concerned have a wide range of harmful effects on man and on wildlife. Some are believed to cause birth defects, or affect physical and intellectual development, some are carcinogenic, whilst others may harm the immune system. Foetuses and infants are particularly at risk, exposed through the placenta or breast milk. UNECE Release: Entry
into force of the Protocol to control persistent organics Desert locusts are normally solitary, scattered insects but when climatic conditions are favourable, for example after good rains and a mild temperature, they can rapidly increase in number. As the rainy season ends and green areas shrink locusts tend to group together in the few remaining green vegetation and start to change appearance and begin behaving as a group. After several years of drought, exceptional rains in Mauritania have allowed the Desert Locusts to breed and increase in number. "If the situation worsens this migratory pest may move northwards across northern Mauritania into Morocco, from Sudan towards the Red Sea and from Mali and Niger into Southern Algeria," the Locust Group said. FAO Release: FAO
issues Desert Locust alert Citing a deadly European heatwave and recent massive power failures in the US, Scandanavia and Italy, the Executive Director of UNEP said two of world’s most pressing issues - energy security and climate change – will not be solved “by the mindset that created them”. “Instead of climate change we need to create the climate for change,” Mr Toepfer told more than 600 bankers, financiers and members of the financial sector in Tokyo for the UNEP Finance Initiative Global Roundtable, from 20-21 October. Although sustainable energy technologies such as solar cells and wind generators have advanced rapidly, the transaction costs and market uncertainty of many renewable energy projects has lead most financiers to adopt a “wait-and-see” attitude, which is compounded by an overall lack of information, experience and the tools needed to quantify, mitigate and hedge project and financial product risks. With support from the United Nations Foundation (UNF), SEFI will help mainstream financiers overcome these barriers and consider renewable energy and energy efficiency as not just niche investments, but key components of secure energy systems based on truly sustainable forms of energy. UNEP Release: UN
Environment Chief Challenges World’s Financiers (pdf) Guidelines for decision makers on how to integrate early warning for natural hazards and risks into relevant policies were revised by eight ministers and mayors from all corners of the world present at the conference. The document comprises a series of elements that need to be taken into account for an effective early warning system, based on real-life examples and good practices, to be disseminated to local and national leaders worldwide. Considering the increasing number of human and economic losses resulting from disasters, it is vital that the world’s leaders take action towards better preparing and protecting communities from imminent hazards,” said Sálvano Briceño, Director of the Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. “This means minimizing risk by taking active steps to mitigate and, where possible, prevent disasters from happening in the first place.” EWCII Release: Early
Warning Can Save Lives! Leaders Learn How (doc) Despite the fact that 17 years that have passed since the accident, the situation in and around Chernobyl and the contaminated areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine remains difficult. The scientific data, as well as anecdotal information, indicate that this problem continues to affect a vast number of people, including children, in the three most affected States. Their future prospects and well-being have been profoundly influenced by decisions that they were able neither to influence nor control. UN Release: Chernobyl
victims need coordinated international help, Annan says Seagrasses are the only marine flowering plants. Seagrass beds form complex physical structures and are a highly productive ecosystem. This enables them to support a considerable biomass and diversity of associated species. For the first time the World Atlas of Seagrasses summarises the opinion and science of the world's leading experts on the global status of the ecosystem. The Atlas is a collaboration of more than 50 authors from 25 nations. Fully illustrated, the Atlas contains the first global and regional maps of seagrass distribution and a wealth of information on key issues concerning this 'forgotten' ecosystem. UNEP Press Release: Underwater
Life Support System Dying Through Ignorance The Protocol on Heavy Metals focuses on three toxic heavy metals, cadmium, lead and mercury, and its ultimate objective is to control the man-made emissions of heavy metals that cause harm to our health and the environment. All three metals in the Protocol are well-known pollutants that have caused severe damage in some parts of the world and more widespread chronic effects in some populations. There are many industrial sources of heavy metal pollution (coal combustion in power stations and heating plants, iron and steel industry, non-ferrous metal industry, refuse incineration and chlorine production) and the application of best available techniques (BAT) is another requirement of the Protocol. The Protocol also introduces measures to lower heavy metal emissions from other products, such as mercury in batteries, and proposes the introduction of management measures for other mercury-containing products, such as electrical components (thermostats, switches), measuring devices (thermometers, manometers, barometers), fluorescent lamps, dental amalgam, pesticides and paint. UNECE Press Release: Protocol
to control heavy metals to enter into force This year, the global observance will be held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on Monday 6 October 2003. It will focus on the theme of Water and Sanitation for Cities to highlight the world’s urban water and sanitation crisis – a situation far worse that official statistics suggest. As noticied by UN Secretary-General, the theme of World Habitat Day 2003 -- “Water and Sanitation for Cities” -- highlights the need to provide the urban poor with clean water and decent sanitation. World Habitat Day URL: http://www.unhabitat.org/whd/2003/ The report, which runs into over 300 pages, is packed with new statistics and studies of a situation that has made governments the world over increasingly concerned – to the point where they have adopted a specific clause – Target 11 of Millennium Development Goal 7 – to “significantly improve” the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. UN-Habitat Release: The
Challenge of Slums – UN-HABITAT’s new Global Report on Human Settlements The report comes in advance of the UK launch of the Disney blockbuster, ‘Finding Nemo’, which has already taken the United States by storm. Data for the new report has largely come from the Global Marine Aquarium Database, a joint collaborative effort between UNEP-WCMC, the Marine Aquarium Council (MAC) and members of various aquarium trade associations. UNEP Press Release: From
Cauliflower Corals to Clown Fish The main goal of the Conference is a comprehensive discussion of the scientific aspects of natural and anthropogenic climate change; impacts; measures for adapting human society, economies and ecosystems to on-going and future climate change; and integrated approaches to reducing anthropogenic interference with the climate system. The Conference, not being an inter-governmental forum, will endeavor to foster maximum mutual understanding on these issues between various stakeholders (governments, scientific community, business, non-governmental organizations, and the public at large). United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan worned in a message delivered by UNEP Executive Director, that if the ever-increasing emission of greenhouse remains unchecked, the planet as we know it today could look very different by the end of this century, with many small islands gone and ecological life-support systems under stress as never before . UN Secretary-General Message:
Delivered
by Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director, Moscow - 29 September 2003 The goal of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is to establish the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being without undermining their long-term productivity. Its research results will be published starting late 2004 in a series of four in-depth reports and up to seven shorter studies intended for decision-makers in government, the private sector, and civil society groups. The report is availble for download from the Millenium Ecosystems Assessment website at: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/2/ products.aspx Millenium Assessment release: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Releases First Report At the opening day of the Congress FAO Director-General stressed that sustainable management of forests rests on tangible achievements. He called on all concerned to implement ideas, principles and programmes progressively put in place by preceding congresses, post Rio conventions and the international forest dialogue. He also called for regional and global action effectively focused on concrete outcomes that make sustainable forest management an active and living reality. Today, less than 5 percent of the world forest resources are effectively managed in a rational manner, according to FAO. FAO Press release: Sustainable
forest management: tangible achievements needed In support of the International Year of Freshwater, Clean up the World 2003 encourages Members to undertake year round activities and clean up events that improve the state of their local waterways. The 2003 Clean Up the World weekend, 19–21 September, provides an opportunity for volunteers from around the world to celebrate the successful environmental activities they have undertaken. UNEP: Clean
Up the World - Think Globally, Act Locally Every year, there are between 2 and 3 million new cases of non-malignant melanomas and more than 130,000 new melanoma skin cancer cases worldwide. An estimated 66,000 deaths occur annually from melanoma and other skin cancers. The cause of many of these skin cancers is ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun and children, who are both most vulnerable and most exposed, are disproportionately affected. In response to the problem, WHO, UNEP and other partners launched new educational products to address the public health danger on the occasion of the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. UNEP and WHO Press release: Children
suffer most from the effects of Ozone Depletion - 16 Sep 2003 Tourism and Biodiversity: Mapping Tourism’s Global Footprint focuses on the impacts of tourism on biological diversity, includes maps that chart tourism's growth across the planet's most biodiversity rich environments and provides guidelines for governments, private businesses, donor organizations and local communities for supporting more sustainable tourism development. In some places the growth has been staggering. The report illustrates how tourism development guided by the principles associated with ecotourism – environmental sustainability, protection of nature, and supporting the well being of local peoples – can have a positive impact on biodiversity conservation and provide important economic alternatives for local communities. UNEP Press release: Tourism
to Earth’s Most Threatened Areas Surges by over 100 Percent in Last Decade Dr. Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of UNEP, Mr. Hamdallah Zedan, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), The Honourable Rejoyce Mabudafhasi, Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for South Africa, representing the government of South Africa, the most recent state to accede to the Protocol, and Mr. Juan Mayr, the former Colombian Minister of Environment who chaired the final rounds of negotiations of the Protocol, mark the entry into force with a Press Conference on 9 September in Durban, South Africa where they are attending the IUCN Fifth World Parks Congress. Press Kit: Entry
into force of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety WIS-6 is a joint effort of the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and the Water Web Consortium. Co-sponsors include UNESCO, WSSCC, UNESCO-IHE, Cap-Net, GEF-IW:LEARN, International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), INFODEV, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). IRC Water Summit Page: http://www.irc.nl/news/wis6.html
United
Nations Outlines Over a Century of Success and Failure in Conserving World’s
Natural Heritage
The report has been compiled by UNEP’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in collaboration with the IUCN-World Conservation Union and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). The 2003 United Nations List of Protected Areas is available from the IUCN Publications Services Unit, 219c Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom, CB3 0DL or from the web site www.iucn.org/bookstore. Report (PDF): United
Nations List of Protected Areas The Vth IUCN World Parks Congress will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 8 to 17 September, 2003. Both Patrons of the Congress, former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr Nelson Mandela and Her Majesty Queen Noor strongly endorse the theme of the Congress, "Benefits Beyond Boundaries". UN Secretary-General's message:
http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=484 UNECE Press Release: Air pollution cuts help forests recover As of today, 188 countries have ratified the Convention. Yet, there are still unprecedented challenges. With an extra 2 billion people to feed over the next quarter century, food production will have to double on less land and less water. UNCCD Press release: UNCCD
Conference accepts the GEF as a financial mechanism and calls for more financial
commitments to meet needs
WWF calls on governments and donor agencies to significantly increase their efforts in protecting water catchment areas if they are to reduce poverty and halve the number of people without adequate access to water by 2015 — a target set at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The need for long-term protection of these areas will be at the heart of the forthcoming World Park Congress, in Durban, South Africa (8–17 September). The report is available for download in PDF format from WWW website. WWF Press Release: Protected forests crucial to supplying the world's biggest cities with cheaper clean water.
In the address made at the 3rd International Water Forum in Kyoto, Tajikistan President, expressed his hope that the Dushanbe Fresh Water Forum would be a platform for the countries of the world to share their views as to how to create the conditions needed to improve the management of water resources for next generations. He also suggested to proclaim the International Decade of Fresh Water beginning from 2005 that would correspond to the MDGs set up to increase number of world's population with sustainable access to drinking water by 2015. The Forum should allow participants to consolidate efforts and summarize experience of other countries in such important aspect as "Water, Environment and Safety". The problem is felt very acutely in Tajikistan in particular, as well as in the Central Asian region, many developing and transition countries. Forum website: http://www.freshwaterforum.org/index-eng.htm Secretary-General Press Release: World must act now to provide safe water, further delay entails great risk
The announcement by Shell follows the pledge made last week by the International Council on Mining and Metals, comprising 15 of the world’s largest mining companies, not to explore or mine in World Heritage sites. UNESCO Press Release: UNESCO welcomes pledge by Royal Dutch/Shell to stay out of world Heritage sites
TUNZA International Youth Conference: http://www.unep.org/children_youth/tunza/ default.htm.
World Water Week Press release: 2003 World Water Week Press Information. World Water Week Website: http://www.siwi.org/waterweek2003/ frameset.html.
UNEP-WCMC Press release: Wild forests 'living museums' of virtually extinct species.
UNFCCC Press release: Green light for submission of CDM projects: Executive Board approves first methodologies UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) website: http://cdm.unfccc.int/
One out of four critical questions addressed by the forum is: How can biotechnology protect the environment ? In the context of this framework, four regional consultative meetings have been designed with the objective of setting the agenda for discussion of opportunities, policies and needed actions in the context of the region's particular circumstances. Latin America and the Caribbean meeting is organized in Brasilia, Brazil, from 22 to 25 July 2003.
UNESCO Release: UNESCO calls for radical reform of water education programmes UNESCO-IHE Release: First UNESCO-IHE Director Opens International 'Symposium on Water Education and Capacity Building'
The main objective of the meeting is to foster continuing international action on POPs and prepare the Conference of the Parties (COP) process by advancing preparations for the first COP (COP-1) of the Stockholm Convention.
Referring to proposals brought to IMO in the wake of the Prestige incident (November 2002, Spain), the Secretary-General urged delegates to ensure their decisions will not cause or lead to any negative repercussionswhich might: damage the concept of universality in the regulation of shipping; discriminate against other regions of the world; have negative repercussions on the supply of oil; undermine the authority of IMO; confuse the industry as to which regulations prevail; and permit other regions to create their own regimes if in disagreement with IMO." IMO Press release: Secretary-General urges realistic, pragmatic and well-balanced approach to tanker regulations as key meeting gets underway
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Global Environmental Headlines
The
19 new Parties to the Protocol on Heavy Metals celebrated its
entry into force on Monday 29 December.
The Protocol, signed by 35 countries and the European
Union at its adoption in Aarhus, Denmark, in 1998, is the seventh to take effect
under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution of UNECE.
After
a summer season of good rains and recent favourable rainfall, Desert
Locust populations continue to increase and may threaten winter crops in northwest
Africa and along the Red Sea, FAO warned on 18
December. 
The
global surface temperature for all of 2003 is expected to be +0.45°C
above the 1961-90 annual average, according to the records maintained
by Members of WMO, released on 16 December.
This value makes 2003 the third warmest year just behind 2002 (+0.48°C).
The warmest year remains 1998 (+0.55°C)..
WHO
and partners launched a major new study of the health impacts of climate
change on 11 December.
The study examines, for example, how weather, air pollution, and water and food
contamination affect the way diseases emerge. It further suggests effective
means for all countries to monitor and control the health effects of climate
change. WHO and partners are also launching practical guidelines designed to
help governments and other organizations monitor and assess the impact of climate
change and take action to prevent those effects.
The
UN General Assembly has designated 11 December,
from 2003 onwards, as 'International Mountain Day' in recogition
of the crucial role that mountains play in our lives. This decision to celebrate
mountains on a special day every year results from the tremendous success of
the UN International Year of Mountains in 2002, which increased global awareness
of the importance of mountains, stimulated the establishment of national committees
in 78 countries, and strengthened alliances through the creation of the Mountain
Partnership.
UNEP
announced during the ninth Session of the Conference of the Parties and Subsidiary
Bodies of UNFCCC, on 10 December,
that natural disasters, the lion’s share of which were weather-related
catastrophes, cost the world over $60 billion in 2003 up from around $55 billion
the year before. UNEP is calling on governments, business and industry
to back emerging emissions trading markets as one way of tackling the crisis.
The high economic losses, highlighted in a report by experts with the Finance
Initiative of UNEP are part of a worrying trend that is being linked with climate
change. 
Under
the aegis of the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW) and the New Partnership
for African Development (NEPAD), the UN system, organised as UN-Water/Africa
and in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and African Water
Task Force (AWTF), the Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference
on Water is held in Addis Ababa from
8-13 December 2003.
A
new World Bank study is demonstrating the powerful influence of the
Kyoto Protocol, even though it is not yet in force. Volumes of greenhouse
gas emission reduction transactions have more than doubled for the second consecutive
year, going from nearly 30 million tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions
in 2002, to 70 million tons as of November 2003. This is five times the 13 million
tons traded in 2001. Most of the 2003 volume is for project based transactions
intended for compliance.
Efforts
to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing must be intensified,
FAO stated in a report presented on 2 December
to representatives of its Member Nations gathered here for the 32nd session
of the Organization's governing Conference.
The
World Conference on Sport and the Environment is organised
by the International Olympic Committee in Turin, Italy, from 2-3
December, in cooperation with the Organising Committee for the
XX Olympic Winter Games (TOROC) and UNEP.
The
188 parties to the United Nations Climate Change Convention are meeting in Milan,
Italy, from 1-12 December to assess
the progress governments have made in reducing manmade climatic changes
and to set the global agenda for the coming year.
A
milestone in air navigation history was reached on 27
November when the minimum vertical separation between
aircraft on major air traffic routes between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
was reduced from 2000 feet to 1000 feet. The increased route capacity
and operational flexibility result in considerable economic, environmental and
passenger service benefits.
Armenia
became the 50th country on 26 November
to ratify the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC)
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade,
triggering the 90-day countdown to the treaty’s entry into force. Jointly
supported by FAO and UNEP, the Rotterdam Convention enables importing countries
to decide which potentially hazardous chemicals they want to receive and to
exclude those they cannot manage safely.
A
crisis meeting to rescue the great apes is held at UNESCO Headquarters,
from 26-28 November, at which
representatives of 23 African and Asian states and scientific experts will develop
a strategy to save humankind’s closest living relatives from extinction.
Every single species of great ape now faces a high risk of extinction
either in the immediate future or at best within 50 years, according
to IUCN.
A
sport and environment survey conducted by the Global Sports
Alliance, an international organization supported by UNEP, was released on
13 November. The findings were discussed at the Global
Forum for Sport and the Environment 2003 (G-ForSE), which opened at
the ANA Hotel, Tokyo, Japan, on 14 November.The
survey, which involved almost 4,000 people aged mainly between 10 and 29 years-old,
questioned men and women for whom sports is a passionate hobby. It also involved
some professional players, coaches, sports manufacturers, operators of sports
facilities and sports associations. G-forSE (www.g-forse.com)
is part of a growing series of activities and events being organized by or in
collaboration with UNEP in the context of a sport and the environment strategy
adopted by its Governing Council in February 2003.
The
Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands is organized
by the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, comprised of individuals
from governments, intergovernmental and international organizations (IOs), and
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), with the common goals of advancing the
interest of oceans- incorporating 72% of the Earth; coasts-the home of 50% of
the world's population, and islands-43 of the world's nations are small island
developing states, which are especially dependent on the oceans. The Forum was
created at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in September
2002 by the WSSD Informal Coordinating Group on Oceans, Coasts and Islands.
The
fifteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Motreal Protocol is
held at the seat of the Secretariat in Nairobi, Kenya, from 10-14
November 2003. The first three days of the Meeting will be devoted
to the preparatory segment of the fifteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal
Protocol, while the following two days, will be devoted to the high-level segment.
In
a message to mark the observance of the International Day for Preventing
the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict, on 6
November, the United Nations Secretary-General said, "I
urge the international community to examine how legal and other mechanisms can
be strengthened to encourage environmental protection in wartime. Ensuring environmental
sustainability is not a luxury; it is a prerequisite for the future peace and
prosperity of our planet."
The
Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety
of Radioactive Waste Management aims to achieve and maintain a high
level of safety worldwide. The mechanism for achieving this is through the “peer
review” of national programmes for spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
The
use of man-made chemicals, such as pesticides, has increased substantially over
the last several decades. Exposure to dangerous chemicals can lead to a range
of consequences, from the development of cancer and chronic respiratory diseases,
to death. The populations most vulnerable to health risks due to chemical exposures
are the poor, in particular women and children. Workers and
The
image of cities as hotbeds of pollution, stress, poverty and crime needs an
update. They are also havens of natural and cultural diversity – and may
hold the keys to sustainable development in the twenty-first century. While
some 3 billion people worldwide are now estimated to live in towns or cities,
with a growing number of poor, cities are by no means incompatible with rich
biodiversity.
Desert
Locust outbreaks in Mauritania, Niger and Sudan may locally threaten crops,
FAO said on 20 October, issuing
an alert to inform affected governments and the international donor community.
UNEP
Executive Director, Klaus Toepfer, launched the UNEP Sustainable Energy
Finance Initiative (SEFI) aiming at engaging the finance sector to
invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, on 20
October.
The
EWC II took place from 16 - 18
October 2003 in Bonn, Germany. It was hosted by the Government
of Germany under the auspices of the United Nations and supported by the Inter-Agency
Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR).
The conference represents a milestone in the development of an unprecedented
international early warning programme, that will enable the early warning dialogue
to continue and further develop capacities at all levels.
The
new report on Chernoby, issued on 15 October,
is submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 56/109, regarding
the strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts
to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.
The resolution requested the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly,
at its fiftyeighth session a report containing a comprehensive assessment of
the implementation of the resolution, and to make proposals for innovative measures
to enhance the effectiveness of the international community’s response
to the Chernobyl disaster. The report presents the activities undertaken by
the funds, programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations to optimize
the international humanitarian response to the Chernobyl disaster during the
reporting period.
The
World Atlas of Seagrasses, prepared by the United Nations Environment
Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and launched on 15
October, provides the first ever global estimate for seagrasses
world-wide: 177,000 sq km, an area just two thirds the size of the UK. 
Since
its inception by the UN General Assembly in 1985, World Habitat Day
has been celebrated annually on the first Monday in October.
The
world’s slums are growing, and growing, with the number people living
in such dire conditions now at the 1 billion mark – making up 32 per cent
of the global urban population, according to UN-HABITAT’s new
Global Report on Human Settlements 2003. The report published in October,
The Challenge of Slums, says the crisis is such that
the world will see this figure double in the next 30 years unless a concerted
effort is undertaken to alleviate the situation.
Up
to 12 million stony corals are being harvested, transported and sold annually
estimates a report, released on 30 September
by the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring
Centre (UNEP-WCMC). “From Ocean to Aquarium: The Global Trade
in Marine Ornamentals” says that the value of aquarium creatures
in trade is worth between $200 to $330 million annually. Over
20 million tropical fish, including 1471 species ranging from the sapphire devil
to the copperhead butterflyfish, are being harvested annually to supply the
booming marine aquarium trade in Europe and the United States. A further nine
to 10 million animals, including molluscs, shrimps and anemones and involving
some 500 species, are also being traded to supply tanks in homes, public aquaria
and dentists’ surgeries.
The Russian Federation hosts the «World
Climate Change Conference», a G8 initiative of President
Vladimir Putin, from 29 September to 3 October.
The meeting is aimed at the scientific community.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), the most extensive
study ever of the linkages between the world’s ecosystems and human well-being,
released its first report on 25 September,
Ecosystems and Human Well-being. The 245-page report lays out
the approaches, assumptions, processes, and parameters scientists are using
in the study. It offers decision-makers a mechanism to identify options that
can better achieve core human development and sustainability goals and better
understand the trade-offs in decisions about development and the environment.
The future of forests is the focus of the XII World Forestry
Congress (21-28 September), as
the world’s forestry community gathers in Québec City, Canada.
The first World Forestry Congress took place in Rome in 1926. Since 1949, the
event has been held approximately every six years under the auspices of FAO.
The World Forestry Congress is the largest and most important international
meeting of the world’s forestry sector. With its theme of Forests,
source of life, the XII World Forestry Congress constitutes a forum for
presenting and sharing the ideas and actions that will have an impact on the
conservation and development of forests.
Clean Up the World, in conjunction with UNEP, brings together
businesses, community groups, schools and individuals in a range of activities
and programs that positively improve local environments. It is a community based
environmental campaign that inspires and empowers individuals and communities
from every corner of the globe to clean up, fix up and conserve their environment.
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 16
September the International Day for the Preservation of the
Ozone Layer, commemorating the date in 1987 on which the Montreal Protocol on
Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed. This
year's theme is “Save O3ur Sky: There is a Hole Lot More to Do
for Our Children”. More information about this year’s Ozone
Day is available from the 
Tourism has increased by more than 100 percent between 1990 and 2000 in the
world’s Biodiversity hotspots, regions richest in species and facing extreme
threats, according to a report released on 12
September by Conservation International (CI) and UNEP. Over
the past decade, tourism has increased by more than 2000 percent in both Laos
and Cambodia, nearly 500 percent in South Africa, over 300 percent in the countries
of Brazil, Nicaragua and El Salvador, and 128 percent in the Dominican Republic.
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety enters into force on 11
September. This follows ratification by the 50th State, the
Republic of Palau, on 13 June, 2003. The Protocol is the first legally binding
international agreement governing the transboundary movement of living modified
organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology. It seeks to ensure an
adequate level of safety in the transfer, handling and use of LMOs which may
have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity,
also taking into account potential risks to human health.
The Water Information Summit (WIS-6) commenced on 9
September bringing together 70 communication specialists, information
managers, web site managers, academics, scientists, policy-makers, and other
water information users and providers. Under the theme "Breaking the Barriers:
Let Water Information Flow!" , WIS-6 focuses on strategies to overcome
the digital divide between North and South and within the South and to share
knowledge and information in support of the management of the water and sanitation
sectors.
A report released by UNEP and the IUCN-World Conservation Union on 9
September shows crucial progress is being made towards conserving
the world’s most spectacular habitats and wildlife. More
than 100,000 protected areas, some 90 per cent of which have been listed over
the past 40 years, have been established across the developed and developing
world.
The
Significant
reductions in sulphur emissions in Europe have led to lower concentrations of
sulphur in spruce and pine tree needles, according to a report released on 2
September by a monitoring program under the 
The
World Bank called upon all stakeholders - both rich and poor countries alike
-of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to do more
to address land degradation and take concrete implementation actions that are
required to meet the objectives of the Convention, on 2
September. The call came at the 
At
the occasion of the International Freshwater Forum in Dushanbe, 29
August - 1 September, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan called on the international community to avoid further dangerous
delays and move from pledges to action in order to halve by 2015 the
proportion of people lacking safe drinking water and sanitation.
The
2003
is also the United Nations 
The
report provides the case for a need to map the status and distribution
of the world’s threatened tree species. The report is a joint
collaboration between 
The
Executive Board of the Kyoto Protocol’s
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) approved the first two
baseline and monitoring methodologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
thus giving a major boost to the CDM on 28
July, in Bonn. The proposals had been developed for
a landfill project in Brazil and an HFC decomposition project in the
Republic of Korea. The report is available on the UNFCCC CDM web site
Recognising
that the diffusion of biotechnology to the developing world in an
environment of economic globalisation requires constructive dialogue
amongst all stakeholders, UNIDO and the Government of Chile are organising
the first 
In
the face of looming water shortages, which threaten to affect billions
of the earth's inhabitants by mid-century, UNESCO is calling
for a radical review and reform of water education programmes and
for a speedy doubling in the number of water professionals around
the world. This call is contained in a speech that the Director-General
of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will deliver on 17
July at the new 
The
IMO
Secretary-General urged a realistic, pragmatic and well-balanced approach
to consideration of proposals to amend oil tanker regulations in the
MARPOL convention, as he addressed delegates at the opening of the
Africa
and the world can reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
of halving poverty, ending hunger, putting every boy and girl in