UN Moving to Reduce Indoor Pollution in Afghanistan

With 95 percent of its 30million people burning wood and other solid fuels in their homes, Afghanistan is ranked among the top ten nations with the worst indoor pollution. Recently, the UN World Health Organization discovered that 5,400 Afghans die yearly from inhaling smoke due to indoor heating and cooking. Furthermore, the usage of dung and wood for fuel is placing pressure on already diminishing resources. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) revealed that 30 years from now, Afghani forests will no longer exist.

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a UN supported program, is pushing 100 million homes to adopt clean stoves and fuels by 2020. By bringing together local metal-smiths, engineers and environmental experts in Bamiyan province, this program has designed prototypes for clean cook stoves. These stoves will cut the estimated 1.6-1.8 million premature deaths each year caused by indoor emissions.

This year is the UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. Initiatives such as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstove contribute to the universal achievement of access to modern energy services and renewable energy. By pursuing projects that focus on sustainable energy services, we may see these goals reached.

-Akshika Patel


SOURCE: UN News Centre

New EU-UNEP Strategic Cooperation Agreement

A new agreement was signed yesterday between the European Union and the United Nations Environmental Program. This document means a step further into an already existing partnership that over the past three years has allowed the implementation of more than 50 different projects wolrd-wide, with a value of 50 million euros (69 million US$).

This agreement establishes bases and guidelines for funding and cooperation between the two organizations up to 2013, and identifies areas for joint activities and strengthens links shared by both parts. It also reflects the similarities between EU's strategies on smart sustainable development and UNEP's work in that same way. The new Strategic Cooperation Agreement will improve the coordination, and thus the effectiveness of the actions taken by the signatories.

The precise projects in which the new funds will be invested are still to be discussed, but they will range from biodiversity to chemical pollution. Cooperation between UNEP and EU is not new at all: EU has funded several Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) sponsored by the UNEP in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, and a multi-million dollar project to assist the restoration of Mau forest in Kenya.

- David Nebreda

SOURCE: EUROPA Press Releases

Moving Towards A Green Economy Can Increase Economic Development And Reduce Poverty

A new report launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) states that investing $1.3 trillion, which amounts to about 2% of global GDP, can help produce healthy, "green' economies and significantly reduce poverty. The critical sectors of investment are identified as agriculture, buildings, energy supply, fisheries, forestry, industry including energy efficiency, tourism, transport, waste management, and water. Due to a growing world population where 2.5 billion people survive on less than $2 a day, UNEP argues that it's imperative to sustainably develop global economies and put a greater emphasis on poverty reduction. The "greening" of economies will provide the means of sustainable environmental and economic development, and be a catalyst for ending poverty in poor countries.

UNEP emphasizes that currently, governments worldwide continue to support subsidies that perpetuate "unsustainable resource use" in key areas such as fossil fuels, agriculture and pesticides, water, and fisheries. Areas like these are playing a large role in environmental degradation and global economic inefficiencies, so focusing less on them and more on green economies will provide sustainable growth and increased welfare for people suffering from severe poverty.

These themes of a green economy, which includes sustainable development and poverty reduction, and international environment governance are the two main topics of UNEP's Governing Council session and upcoming 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro. This implies that these issues will continue to be very relevant and important in the near future when talking of international development and poverty eradication.

- Brock McNairy

SOURCE: UN News Centre