Tag: UNEP

New report finds tackling climate change and air pollution together could save trillions

Stuart Mitchell

While we often treat climate change and air pollution as separate issues, the reality is that they are tightly intertwined. Their causes overlap extensively, from the burning of fossil fuels to certain agricultural practices, and several pollutants contribute to both global warming and unsafe air. The two crises also have compounding, harmful effects on human health, ecosystems and economies. Hidden assets: The economic and health case for climate and clean air action, the new Global Economic Assessment of Integrated Climate and Clean Air Action by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)…

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Every US$1 invested in climate and clean-air action can return US$15

Stuart Mitchell

Every US$1 invested in tackling climate change and air pollution together can generate around US$15 in economic benefits, according to a report published today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC). This is higher than tackling climate and clean air separately, and it includes both market and non-market economic gains.  Released on the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, Hidden assets: The economic and health case for climate and clean air action is the first comprehensive global economic assessment of integrated…

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This new report paints a worrying picture about the future of coral reefs

Stuart Mitchell

Like an overmatched boxer, the world’s coral reefs are being pummeled by climate change, and the onslaught may soon prove debilitating. That was the main finding of a report released earlier this week by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, whose partners include the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The report found that a succession of marine heatwaves over the last three decades has triggered the loss of at least 9.5 per cent of the world’s corals. Those that remain face a daunting future of potentially deadly underwater heat. “This…

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Greening lands, feeding people: UN to announce three World Restoration Flagships at UNCCD COP17

Stuart Mitchell

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will announce three new World Restoration Flagships during a high-level event at the 17th UN Conference to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The three initiatives, in Brazil, the Sahel region, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are restoring degraded ecosystems in regions facing drought, desertification and climate change. Together, they aim to restore almost 5 million hectares by 2030 — an area equal to nearly 7 million football fields — while boosting…

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AI helping UN detect methane emissions and spark real reductions in climate-warming gas

Stuart Mitchell

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is helping turn satellite observations into methane mitigation action in the oil and gas sector. These mitigation efforts have delivered a climate benefit comparable to removing the annual emissions of almost 24 million gasoline-powered passenger cars, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The report, Spotlighting Opportunity: How Artificial Intelligence is Accelerating Methane Action, highlights how UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) is using AI, through its Methane Alert and Response System (MARS), to identify major methane emissions and rapidly notify governments and…

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