Displaying 181 - 190 of 211
19 February 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Climate change is recognized as a major challenge for the 21st century. New awareness, knowledge and competencies are needed across societies to be able to effectively address associated issues and negative effects. In order to enhance the knowledge and practical skills of Kenyan diplomats, government officials and civil society representatives, the Foreign Service Academy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Climate Change Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNI...
14 October 2022, Geneva, Switzerland - UNITAR scientist in cooperation with the WEEE Forum expect roughly 5.3 billion mobile / smartphones will drop out of use this year. Stacked flat atop one another at an average depth of 9 mm that many disused phones would rise roughly 50,000 km – 120 times higher than the International Space Station: one-eighth of the way to the moon.
And, despite their valuable gold, copper, silver, palladium and other recyclable components, experts expect a majority will disappear into drawers, closets, cupboards or garages, or be to...
27 November 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - Human-driven climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year from 2030 to 2050 – linked to issues ranging from malnutrition to heat stress. This is forecast to amount to U$ 2 – 4 billion of extra costs to countries throughout the globe by 2030.
Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important interlinkages between human health and the state of our environment and economies. As societies expand and develop, addressing human health and climate change as two intertwined topics have never been so import...
24 June 2019, Lagos, Nigeria - The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Total E&P Nigeria Limited have signed an agreement to promote plastic recycling in Nigeria. This is in view of the present challenges of plastic wastes pollution in Nigeria.
The agreement, which was recently signed in Lagos, includes the setting up of a pilot plastic recycling plant which will be operated by indigenous plastics recyclers selected from Total E&P host communities, with grants provided by Total E&P as part of the company’s corporate social respo...
Stakeholder workshop on strengthening governance for the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020
From national to global: Learning from experience, exploring options
To help address this issue and other relevant questions, and as a contribution to support the intersessional process and the broader discussion on the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020, UNITAR organized a workshop on governance topics. The workshop was co-sponsored by the Governments of Germany and Switzerland and took place at the ILO offices in Geneva, Switzerland, from 28 Febr...
The Division for Planet has been engaged in the development of a series of e-learning courses through the ONE UN Partnership for Climate Change Learning (UN CC:Learn). The courses are developed with a wide range of partners such as other UN agencies, public institutions, international organisations and private sector companies. Some of the upcoming e-courses include:
1) Introduction to Sustainable Finance (with GIZ)
2) Carbon Tax (with the World Bank)
3) Sustainable Diet (with Danone)
4) Integrating Climate Risk Information into National Adaptation Planning (with WMO)...
4 April 2019, Geneva, Switzerland - UN CC:Learn global members and key partners met in Bern, Switzerland for the 9th UN CC:Learn Steering Group Meeting. Representatives from FAO, IMO, UNDP, UNECA, UN Climate Change, UNITAR, UNSSC, WFP, the World Bank, WMO, as well as MIET-Africa, the NDC Partnership and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) participated in the event.
The day started with welcoming remarks from Ms. Tatjana von Steiger Weber, Deputy Assistant Director General at SDC and Mr. Angus Mackay, Head, UN CC:Learn Secretariat.
The meeting then focu...
13 December 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - The “Introduction to Sustainable Finance Taxonomies” affiliated e-course is available in French and Spanish.
The course has been developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and in cooperation with the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN), and it helps policymakers set up and develop sustainable finance taxonomies
By answering important questions, such as “What qualifies as...
19 January 2016, Geneva, Switzerland - It is with great sadness that we learned that our highly respected and beloved colleague, Mr. Jean Gazarian, UNITAR full-time Senior Fellow, passed away yesterday at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, United States. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family.
Mr. Gazarian joined the United Nations in 1946 as a translator, and during his career worked closely with several Secretaries-Generals. He was Director of the Division of General Assembly Affairs for 18 years and served in many other capacities. Even afte...
Paulo José Porta Bedón, Director, Dirección de Control de la Contaminación y Sustancias Químicas Lima, Peru Paulo Porta, Director of the Pollution and Chemical Substances Control Directorate at the Ministry of Environment, Peru, and his team have played a key role in the formulation of the Ley de Gestión Integral de Sustancias Químicas in Peru, as well as its regulation. His unit deals with two main branches: pollution control and chemicals management. It is in relation to this second area that Paulo has participated in UNITAR training courses and has worked...