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Towards a pollution free planet

John Crump

By GRID-Arendal

November 30^th, 2017

Pollution contributes to millions of deaths every year and threatens ecosystems around the world.

Since it’s a problem we all share, and everyone has a responsibility to act – that’s the message at this year’s UN Environment Assembly taking place next week in Nairobi, Kenya.

Once again, GRID-Arendal is taking part in the assembly and featuring its work on plastic pollution in the oceans, mining waste on land and garbage in the world’s mountain regions.

The extraction of oil, gas, metals and minerals is important to the economies of many countries. At the same time, it is associated with a range of serious environmental challenges, including land clearance and degradation, the use of dangerous chemicals, the loss of biodiversity and pollution from poorly disposed waste, among other things. To highlight these urgent issues UN Environment and the Canadian International Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) will hold an event, facilitated by GRID-Arendal, called Taking Action to Reduce Pollution in the Extractive Sector.

The UNEA session will explore a number of important questions, such as how to reduce pollution in the extractive sector, and what good practices and technologies can reduce the sector’s footprint?

Graphic by Kristina Thygesen/GRID-Arendal

A dialogue called Beat #marinelitter - does international governance get it? will help guide the future direction of UNEA’s work to combat marine litter and microplastics. Key actors from business, policy-making, academia and international bodies will focus on strengthening existing international governance structures and consider new international governance frameworks to combat marine litter and microplastics. This breakfast meeting is being organized by GRID-Arendal and the Global Partnership of Marine Litter and hosted by the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment.

Vidar Helgesen, Norway’s Minister of Climate and Environment, will deliver the opening keynote address.

Graphic by: Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni

Another area where human activities are generating massive amounts of waste and pollution is in the world’s mountain regions. No time to waste for mountains will focus on the problems and causes of this waste, its far-reaching effects and the links between mountain waste, climate change and biodiversity loss. The session is being organized by UN Environment, the Environment Ministry of Austria, the Government of Luxembourg and International Climbing, Mountaineering Federeation (UIAA) and GRID-Arendal.

Graphic by Hisham Ashkar

The UN Environment Assembly, the world's highest-level decision-making body on the environment, will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, from 4-6 December 2017. Established at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, this is the third UNEA gathering.

The UN Environment Assembly is made up of all 193 UN Member States. UN organizations, specialized agencies, inter-governmental organizations, civil society, Indigenous Peoples Organizations and the private sector are also fully engaged. In bringing together these varied communities, the Assembly provides an important platform for leadership on global environmental policy.

Want to learn more about the Assembly? Here is a video explaining UNEA in less than 2 minutes:

Footnotes

Header photo by Rob Barnes/ GRID-Arendal

FootNotes

Header photo by Rob Barnes/ GRID-Arendal

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