United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

(1) Introduction

UNEP, as a specialized agency of United Nations, works for protection of the environment and promotion of sustainable development at a global level. It sets environmental agendas, targets, and priorities; promotes adoption and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements; administrates the secretariats of different multilateral environmental agreements; and supports member nations and other institutions in their capacity building and technical assistance. Its functions cover diversified thematic areas such as climate change, nature and biodiversity, chemical and waste, environmental management, and environmental under review (<https://www. unep.org/what-we-do/topics.html>). In recent times, UNEP has focused mainly on promotion of inter-governmental action on three planetary crises: climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and environment pollution and waste. For transformational change in this regard, it coordinates with its member states, along with private partnerships, to address and resolve these planetary crises under the guidance of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA). A review of progress is made annually in the session of UNEA (<https://www.unep.org/environmentassembly.html>).

(2) Sixth Session of UNEA (UNEA-6)

UNEA is considered the world’s highest level decision-making body under the UN system to undertake law and policy reviews; to promote dialogue and exchange of experiences; and to take strategic actions on global environmental matters. The next assembly, UNEA-6, will focus on ‘environmental multilateralism to tackle the three planetary crises.’ It is scheduled to meet from 26 February to 1 March 2024. It will be preceded by the meeting of Open-ended Committee of Permanent Representatives in its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya (<https://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/unea6?%2Funea-6=/html>).

(3) Legal Developments

The major legal developments that took place this year under the leadership of UNEP are described below.

(A) Climate Action

This year, UNEP, in its climate action, contributed evidence based data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, collaborated for low carbon transitions, and provided climate finance mechanism. It released its three important reports for requiring urgent climate action form international community. The first report is Emission Gap Report, 2023: Broken Records: Temperatures Hit New and Highs, Yet World Fail to Cut Emissions (Again), which states that ‘to keep global warming below 1.5 degree celsius, GHGs must fall by 42 percent by the year 2030.’ It is fully implementing conditional nationally determined contributions, which would lower the GHGs emissions of new record held this year of 57.4 gigatons (<https://www.unep.org/resources/ emissions-gap-report-2023.pdf>). The next report published this year is Adaptation Gap Report, 2023: Underfinanced, Underprepared: Inadequate Investment and Planning on Climate Adaptation Leaves World Exposed, which shows that there is an adaptation finance gap larger than thought for the previous year, standing between US $194–366 billion per year. Currently, the adaptation finance gap for developing nations has declined by 15 percent from the previous year. They require at least between US $215–387 billion a year to adapt growing climate impacts (<https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2023.pdf>). The third report is Production Gap Report, 2023: Phasing Down or Phasing Up? Top Fossil Fuel Producers Plan Even More Extraction despite Climate Promises. It notes that ‘member nations still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels till the year 2030 which would obliterate the carbon budget for 1.5 degree celsuis.’ Hence, a stronger commitment is needed from the nations to adopt near and long-term reduction targets in fossil fuels production and complement other climate mitigation targets (<https://www.unep.org/ resources/production-gap-report-2023.pdf>).

UNEP also published Global Cooling Watch, 2023: Keeping It Chill: How to Meet Cooling Demands While Cutting Emissions (<https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/speech/keeping-it-chill-how-meet-cooling-demands-while-cutting-emissions.html>), which states that cooling is a double burden on climate change that led emissions from cooling to surge to 6.1 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2050. Hence, integrated action is needed in three key areas: passive cooling measures, higher energy efficiency, and phasing down of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbons (<https://www.unep.org/resources/global-cooling-watch-2023/report.pdf>). UNEP, along with other partners, produced and published The Climate Technology Progress Report, 2023, which highlights that the progress of climate technology in an Asian setting is deeply contingent on the presence of robust urban infrastructure. Hence, there is necessity to embrace a new paradigm for urban infrastructure investment such as aggregation, green and climate bonds, and gender lens investments (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/climate-technology-progress-report-2023.pdf>). UNEP also assisted in the publication of Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report, which outlines that the 1.5 degrees celsius limit is still achievable, for which critical action is required across sectors and by everyone at all levels (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/climate-change-2023-synthesis-report.html>).

This year, UNEP assisted five countries—Angola, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Romania, and Turkmenistan—to join the ‘Global Methane Pledge,’ aiming to cut down the global methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030. It also helped ten cities in Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, and Turkey to decarbonize their building sectors. UNEP also helped eleven member nations to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, which calls for the phase down of hydrofluorocarbons (<https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>). UNEP also showed leadership in the establishment of early warning systems for climate-related disasters in six countries (Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Niue, Palau, Timor-Leste, and Tuvalu). In addition, UNEP assisted Panama and Uganda in developing their national adaptation plans for combating climate change. This year, UNEP led the Climate Technology Centre and Network-supported development of minimum energy performance standards for refrigerators and transformers in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. UNEP also supported forty-three developing nations in preparation of their biennial transparency reports on climate commitments (<https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>).

(B) Nature Action

This year, UNEP led efforts to protect, restore, and sustainably manage the natural world. It focused on helping member countries to implement the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. UNEP published its State of Finance for Nature, 2023: The Big Nature Turnaround Repurposing $7 Trillion to Combat Nature Loss, which tracks finance flows to nature-based solutions and compares them to the finance needed to maximize the potential of nature-based solutions to help tackle climate, biodiversity, and degradation challenges (<https://www.unep.org/resources/state-finance-nature-2023.pdf>). UNEP also published Antimicrobial Resistance Report, 2023: Bracing for Superbugs: Strengthening Environmental Action in the One Health Response to Antimicrobial Resistance, which provides actionable evidence of the importance of the environment in the development, transmission, and spread of anti-microbial resistance (AMR). It also suggests that a ‘One Health’ response to AMR will not only help reduce the risk and burden of AMR on societies but will also help address the triple planetary crisis (<https://www.unep.org/resources/superbugs/environmental-action/report.pdf>).

UNEP, along with the Global Environment Facility, supported twenty-four projects in twenty-one countries to protect and revive a range of landscape and seascapes. It helped seventeen countries to conserve and restore forests by offering a combined US $1.5 billion in result-based financing for forest conservation. In addition, the ‘UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’ was led by UNEP along with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN for innovative restoration flagships on restoring grassland, regenerative agriculture, and improving soil quality featured in 1,500 stories on social media (<https://wedocs .unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_ Report_2023.pdf>). UNEP and its partners also lunched the ‘National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans Accelerator Partnership’ to support the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In addition, UNEP and its UN bodies supported Indonesia’s ‘National Blue Economy Roadmap 2023–45.’ Throughout this year, UNEP supported member countries to counter desertification and other form of land degradation and also helped them in accessing funds to address desertification and climate change adaptation. It specifically provided help to West Asian countries to combat sandstorms and prevent desertification acceleration in the region (<https://www.wedocs.unep.org/ bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>).

(C) Chemical and Pollution Action

UNEP took initiatives to phase out hazardous chemicals; rein in single-use plastic in order to counter plastic pollution; combat air pollution; and eliminate waste production around the world. UNEP produced Circularity Gap Report, 2023, the first-of-its-kind regional report, which found that the countries of Latin America and Caribbean took 30 percent off their material use and carbon footprint by implementing circular economy strategies (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/circularity-gap-report-latin-america-and-caribbean.pdf>). It also published Greening the Blue Report, 2023, which covered environmental impacts of over 308,000 personnel in headquarters across the UN System and beyond. It provided a full picture of the UN System’s environmental footprint and efforts to reduce it (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/greening-blue-report-2023.pdf>). In September, UNEP made great efforts in reaching a historical deal, the Global Framework on Chemicals, to protect people and the environment from chemical pollution. Also, UNEP managed to create a trust fund in support of this framework, getting contributions from Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland (<https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/statements/unep-welcomes-new-global-framework-chemicals.html>).

This year, UNEP published 2050 Electronic and Electrical Waste Outlook in West Asia, which provides projections for e-waste generation and outlines challenges of managing e-waste in the economically diverse Western Asia region. It recommended that the countries in this region shift from a linear economy towards a circular economy to manage e-waste in an environmentally sound manner (<https://www.unep.org/events/publication-launch/2050-electronic-electrical-waste-outlook-west-asia.html>). Further, jointly with Global Wastewater Initiative and GRID-Arendal, UNEP developed a new report entitled Wastewater: Turning Problem to Solution, which highlights that ‘significant amounts of wastewater are being released untreated into the environment with negative repercussions for environment and human livelihood’ (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/wastewater-turning-problem-solution.html>). In addition, UNEP hosted the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution, which released a zero draft of a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. It also assisted six new governments to sign the New Plastic Economy Global Commitment this year. The UNEP-led Climate and Clean Air Coalition supported fifty countries, including Cambodia, Kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Thailand, in developing their national plans to reduce short-lived pollutants in the air (<https://www.wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>).

(D) Environmental Rights and Governance

In the area of environmental governance, UNEP published its second global report on the environmental rule of law entitled The Environmental Rule of Law: Tracking Progress and Charting Future Directions, which highlights the most prevalent aspect of environmental rule of law across countries and tracks progress in addressing the triple planetary crises (<https://www.unep.org/resources/ publication/environmental-rule-law-tracking-progress-and-charting-future-directions.html>). It also unveiled the ‘Working Paper on Environmental Rule of Law and Human Rights in Asia Pacific’ to safeguard the environmental human rights defenders in Asia Pacific (<https://www.unep.org/resources/newsletter/environmental-governance-update-quarterly-newsletters/june-sept-2023.html>). In addition, UNEP published Global Climate Litigation Report: 2023 Status Review, providing an overview of current state of climate change litigation and an update of global climate change litigation trends. It shows that people are increasingly turning to the courts to combat the climate crisis—especially youth, women, and Indigenous and local communities (<https://www.unep.org/resources/global-climate-litigation-report-2023-status-review.pdf>). In association with UNEP, the fifth Montevideo Environmental Law Programme Regional Conference in Latin America and Caribbean took place, with the aim to combat three planetary crises and to provide legal solutions to address climate change and biodiversity loss in the region (<https://www.unep.org/events/conference/fifth-montevideo-environmental-law-programme-regional-conference-latin-america.html>).

(E) Environment under Review

UNEP, along with the Faith for Earth Coalition, prepared Faith for Earth Coalition: Achievement Report 2023, which underscores the pivotal role of faith in fostering sustainability and ecological harmony through dialogue and action in the areas of climate action, nature action, and pollution action (<https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/45187.pdf>). UNEP also assisted the UrbanShift program in preparing its Annual Report, 2023: Transforming Cities for People and Planet, which promotes an integrated approach to urban development with best practices as used in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Morocco, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, India, China, and Indonesia (<https://www.unep.org/resources/annual-report/urbanshift-annual-report-2022-2023>). It also assisted in the publication of Renewable 2023: Global Status Report, which highlights ongoing developments and emerging trends that shape the future of renewable energy (<https://www.unep.org/resources/report/renewables-2023-global-status-report-collection-energy-demand.pdf>). This year, UNEP also launched the second phase of the EmPower Project, which helps women from Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Viet Nam to purchase small-scale renewable energy equipment. In Rwanda, Togo, and Uganda, UNEP and its partners launched a program for grants to electric mobility start-ups for women. It also launched an e-learning initiative, ‘Digital4Sustainbaility,’ to raise awareness towards technology-driven solutions to advance environmental goals (<https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>).

(4) UNEP Programme for Work and Budget 2022–23: For People and Planet

On 15 August, UNEP published its programme of work and associated budget for the biennium 2022–23, which set out the strategies, works, and resources to be utilized in the three strategic objectives of medium-term strategy (2022–25), such as climate stability, living in harmony with nature, and moving towards a pollution-free planet (<https://www.unep.org/resources/unep-programme-work-and-budget-2022-2023-pow-annex-1-people-and-planet.html>). The overall budget for this period was US $872.9 million, comprising the environment fund, earmarked funding, global trust funds, program support costs, and the regular budget of the UN (<https://www.wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/ 20.500.11822/38040/MTS_ PoW2022.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y/eng.pdf>).

(5) Other Developments

UNEP awarded its annual ‘Champions of Earth Award, 2023’ to individuals, groups and organizations for making transformational change in environment. This year’s laureates were responsible for implementing solutions and policies to eliminate plastic pollution: Josefina Belmonte (Philippines), Jose Manuel Moller (Chile), the Ellen Macarthur Foundation (United Kingdom), Blue Circle (China), and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa) (<https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2023.html>). In addition, UNEP contributed to deciding the 2023 Asia Environmental Enforcement Awards for government agencies and officials for their efforts to combat transboundary environmental crime. Awards were received by Philippines, Thailand, China, India, and Tanzania (<https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/asia-enforcement-awards-winners-tackling-scourge-transboundary.html>). UNEP celebrated World Environment Day on 5 June, which was hosted by Cote d’lvoire in partnership with the Netherlands and focused on solutions to plastic pollution under the theme #BeatPlasticPollution (<https://www.worldenvironmentday.global/about/history/2023.html>). In addition to this, UNEP celebrated International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies by spreading the message for combating air pollution. Christopher Kemper was appointed this year as the new UNEP Advocate for Partnership (<https://www.wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/11822/44777/UNEP_Annual_Report_2023.pdf>).