UNEP Research Articles

Building back better: Granular energy technologies in green recovery funding programs

Building back better: Granular energy technologies in green recovery funding programs

Preface

SBE23-Thessaloniki “Sustainable built environments: Paving the way for achieving the targets of 2030 and beyond” is an international onsite conference, part of the SBE Series international conferences.The conference was held in Thessaloniki, Greece, from March 22 to March 24, 2023. It follows the SBE16 and SBE19-Thessaloniki conferences, and this time attempts to investigate sustainability in the built environment as a means of achieving climate change mitigation and adaptation targets.The conference was organized by the Laboratory of Building Construction and Building Physics, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. As part of the SBE conference series, the conference was supported by international organizations by the International Initiative for a Sustainable Built Environment (iiSBE), the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB), the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (Fidic) and the United Nations Environment Programme.4 distinguished in their field, keynote speakers have supported the conference with their valuable multi-year experience and their deep knowledge of different sustainability issues. Jeffrey Sachs, Andrea Moro, Isaac A. Meir, and Anders Persson have covered different aspects, scales and perceptions, highly contributing to integrating the topics discussed during the conference.130 participants from 28 countries, 4 continents have contributed with onsite oral presentations covering a wide range of topics relevant to sustainability in the built environment.The scientific knowledge shared by the 200+ participants revealed the axes and new paths that not only the research community, but all stakeholders, should pursue to adopt and implement new and established ideas on how to successfully reach 2030 and accelerate progress toward a sustainable built environment.The Editors,List of Organizing Committee, Scientific Committee, Advisory board are available in this pdf.

Disagreements and tempers surge ahead of UN plastics meeting

Tensions are running high as representatives from the plastics industry, advocacy groups, and governmental organizations from around the world head to Paris for a meeting of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution. The meeting, INC-2, takes place May 29–June 2. It is the second of five meetings organized to hammer out an international, legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution. Negotiators aim to reach consensus by the end of 2024. Ahead of the meeting, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report on addressing the causes of plastic pollution. The report , called Turning off the Tap , is a starting point for negotiations at INC-2. In the document, UNEP proposes moving away from single-use plastics, pumping up plastics recycling, and using alternative materials to plastics. Advocacy groups are criticizing the report for including two controversial options to get rid of plastic waste: chemical recycling, which

The Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment and the Triple Planetary Crisis: Reflections for Ocean Governance

Abstract According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the world is fac-ing a triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature loss, and pollution and waste, with grave implications for human well-being. While the triple plan-etary crisis affects both marine and terrestrial ecosystems, understanding of human rights in the ocean governance context is less well developed than that of human rights on land. This is slowly changing, even as the relation-ship between human rights and the environment more generally is being clarified in international law. On July 28, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment with 161 States voting in favor and none against. This reflection will contemplate the implications of this recent development in international human rights law for ocean govern-ance at a time of triple planetary crisis. Might UNGA recognition of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment contribute necessary tools to overcome the challenges of triple planetary crisis and ultimately help restore planetary, including ocean, health?

Passive house: a practice of low carbon and sustainable development in china

The construction field plays an essential role in addressing global environmental issues regarding contaminants, natural resources, and energy efficiency. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the building industry produce a huge amount of global carbon emission with a percentage of 38 and this figure is growing each year. Previous studies have analyzed many factors that have a significant influence on the sustainable performance of building. Passive house is a promising type of construction project with superior energy efficiency and less emissions. The main objective of this study is to analyze the environmental sustainability of passive house compared with conventional buildings and present the development of passive house in China. This paper analyzes the characteristics of passive house in different regions according to the climate zoning of China. Results show that the passive house, as a sustainable building, has a promising trend. The outcome also indicates that China needs more mature technology and professional personnel to further promote the development of passive house.

The gold standard for Australian oil and gas corporations to report credible methane emissions

Reducing oil and gas (O&G) methane emissions is the most immediate and impactful thing humanity can do to slow the rate of global warming. Initiatives such as the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) have been introduced, which aim to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) also launched the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS), which combines information from multiple sources to alert governments, companies, and operators of large emissions sources. The IMEO is intending to use MARS to educate governments and companies on emissions management. In response to global action for O&G emission reductions, Australia has reformed their Safeguard Mechanism for O&G facilities. The reform details a credit trading scheme that will incentivise facilities to progressively reduce emissions by 2030. Socially responsible Australian O&G corporations need to embrace best practices for measuring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) methane emissions, introducing a top-down, bottom-up approach of both satellite and on-site measurements. IMEO’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership, OGMP 2.0, provides a method for corporations to MRV their methane emissions from both operated and non-operated assets. The OGMP 2.0 is considered the gold standard of methane emissions MRV and should be embraced alongside the Safeguard Mechanisms reform to generate a roadmap of emissions reduction by 2030. This paper describes the global pressures and advancements in satellite technology for transparent methane emissions MRV, including the gold standard, OGMP 2.0, required of Australian O&G corporations to comply with this.

Initial search for low grade clay in Pakistan for producing LC3 ecofriendly cement

Industrialization has though brought comfort to our daily lives, but it has placed a lot of pressure on the planet’s natural resources, subsequently, it has adversely affected the environment. As the need for cement in the construction sector has grown, it has climbed dramatically globally. Around the world, more than 10 billion cubic meters of concrete are produced each year; it is doubtful that this volume will decrease. A significant expected rise in CO2 emissions is caused by increased cement demand. According to the UN Environment Program, buildings are responsible for up to 41% of global anthropogenic carbon emissions. The primary source of greenhouse gases utilized in the manufacturing of cement is clinker. Due to the unsustainable supply of fly ash, calcined clay appears to be a better Supplemental Cementitious Material (SCMs). Kaolin clay is widely available in Pakistan. The purpose of this investigation is to describe the mineral and thermal characteristics of Pakistani clays by examining their geographic distribution. Clay samples were gathered from 39 different places throughout Pakistan during a field investigation program. X-ray diffraction, X-ray Fluorescence, Reactivity, and thermogravimetric analyses were used to analyze the clay samples’ mineral content and thermal characteristics. This study demonstrates that Pakistan has a substantial amount of kaolin clay reserves close to existing groups of cement plants. Pakistani clays can be utilized as SCM in the production of limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) due to the country’s vast kaolin clay reserves. This study further supports the viability of producing LC3 in the nation by providing a thorough analysis of the cement business, known deposits of qualifying clay, and the country’s cement production process.

National-Scale Assessment of Total Gaseous Mercury Isotopes Across the United States.

With the 2011 promulgation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the successful negotiation by the United Nations Environment Program of the Minamata Convention, emissions of mercury (Hg) have declined in the United States. While the declines in atmospheric Hg concentrations in North America are encouraging, linking the declines to changing domestic and global source portfolios remains challenging. To address these research gaps, the U.S. Geological Survey initiated the first national-scale effort to establish a baseline of total gaseous mercury stable isotope values at 31 sites distributed across the United States. Results indicated that unique Hg sources, such as Hg evasion from an elemental Hg contaminated site or free tropospheric intrusions in high altitude sites, were distinguishable from background atmospheric values. Minor gradients were observed across the nation, with regions of heavy industrial activity demonstrating lower , but no consistent changes in other isotopes such as and were observed. Furthermore, was impacted by foliar uptake and senescence but trends varied between forested regions in the northeastern and midwestern United States. These data demonstrate regional emission sources and other environmental variables can impact total gaseous Hg (TGM) isotope values, highlighting the need to characterize atmospheric Hg isotopes over larger geographical areas to evaluate changes related to national and international Hg regulations.

The modern concept of public forest functions

Forest, as one of the most complex and most important natural ecosystems, is characterized by numerous and very important characteristics that have permanently or current significance for human society, for life on earth and therefore we consider forest complexes as spatial functional components. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have jointly published a report entitled The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO 2020). From the functional aspect, forests have been defined as: areas of certain way and type of use, as well as roles in providing appropriate ecological conditions, primarly that forests supply the planet with water, that they are the key to combating climate change and biodiversity conservation, to provide more than 86 million jobs and support the existence of 880 million people worldwide. The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), a top-level policy initiative for the development of processes for the protection and sustainable management of forests since 1993, places urgent demands on forestry theory and practice and sector related to forestry planning. The explicit view (MCPFE) was that when planning and setting priorities, imponderable values of forests are given equal importance as values that produce financial effects. Therefore, when adopting planning settings related to forest valuation, cost-benefit analysis is necessary, where the benefits of forest complexes are an important input, especially in the closer zones of urban areas when it comes to social functions. Then in the process of planning forest management as an urban resource, the participation and influence of the local population is very important, because the goal is to recognize their participation and needs as primary, to harmonize with other plans, policies and finally with specific activities in the forest management process. The forest rarely has a single function. There are several, the same or different functional values. In that case, they can be either parallel functions, when the needs are stimulated by the same forest management measures, or opposite fonctions, when different procedures of harmonization with the goals and methods of forest management are required for their performance.

Introduction for One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026)

Four organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, WHO, and the World Organization for Animal Health, recently launched a new One Health Joint Plan of Action (2022-2026) which was the first time that the Quadripartite had issued a joint action plan on One Health. The action plan aimed to address the health challenges in the human, animal, plant, and environment, focusing on improving capabilities in six action tracks including One Health capacities, emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases, neglected tropical and vector-borne diseases, food safety, antimicrobial resistance and environment. This introduction will give an overview and brief translation of the background, content, and the plan's value, to help readers understand the joint action plan quickly.

MAPPING INDIA’S POSITION IN UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCES (UNFCCC) – WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO COP-26

One of the crucial challenges of the 21s century is Climate Change that has severe impact all over the world. It is a universal phenomenon with local effects. So, the issue should be determined by collective efforts. The United Nations voiced concern about this in the 1970s and called for an international summit in Stockholm, which caused in the establishment of global environmental governance in 1972 and the creation of the United Nations Environment Program (UNDP).Later, The First Global Climate Conference was planned for in 1979. From October 29 to November 7, 1990, Geneva hosted the Second International Climate Conference. Its primary duty was to evaluate the WCP (World Climate Program) that WCC-1 had established. It was an important phase towards a inclusive climate accord. The WCC-2 called for the establishment of a climate convention along with foster international efforts to address climate change that led to the establishment of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992 that implemented in 1994 by singing of 154 countries. Since then from 1995 onwards Parties to the Convention, i.e, called Conference of Parties (COP), the ultimate body have met annually to access and review in dealing with climate change. Significantly, from the starting, India has been very concern in the environmental degradation and took part every global environmental conferences with binding coomitments. However, this paper seeks to study India’s Response in United Nations Climate Change Conferences in General and trying to analyse India’s stance in COP – 26 that was held in Glasgow, Scotland in particular.

IoT cloud based noise intensity monitoring system

According to a survey published by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) last month, Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital, is the world’s noisiest metropolis. Dhaka is consistently ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a noise intensity limit of 55 decibels for a certain region. Dhaka, on the other hand, was determined to be twice as loud, at 110 to 132 decibels. As many as 66 percent of traffic cops work on the road to control traffic, and this high noise intensity noise is causing them hearing and sleeping problems on a daily basis. Furthermore, loud noises can increase blood pressure and pulse rates, produce mental stress, and interfere with amusement and personal interactions. Keeping all of this in mind, we designed a real-time noise pollution monitoring system that will assist in conducting experiments in this type of environment by evaluating noise intensity and automatically sending data to a IoT cloud-based platform.

Significance of Microplastics in Agricultural Soil

Microplastics (MPs) can effect terrestrial ecosystems (approximately 20% of the pollution rate), but it also strongly effect aquatic ecosystems, with an estimate of 80% of the marine pollution. In the present time, we are facing the fact that more and more agricultural land has been contaminated with MPs. Underground transport of MPs in the soil occurs through bioturbation with the help of plant roots and soil fauna, as well as plowing, soil cultivation, crop harvesting, water infiltration, etc. Literature data stated that the concentration of MPs in terrestrial ecosystems is multiple times higher than in the ocean, and due to this fact, the United Nations Environment Programme appealed for more research studies on the assumed effects.

What Will Win the Wide-Bandgap Wars?

The answer is a resounding yes. Such a change is actually well underway. Starting around 2001, the compound semiconductor gallium nitride fomented a revolution in lighting that has been, by some measures, the fastest technology shift in human history. In just two decades, the share of the global lighting market held by gallium-nitride-based light-emitting diodes has gone from zero to more than 50 percent, according to a study by the International Energy Agency. The research firm Mordor Intelligence recently predicted that, worldwide, LED lighting will be responsible for cutting the electricity used for lighting by 30 to 40 percent over the next seven years. Globally, lighting accounts for about 20 percent of electricity use and 6 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Performance of constructed floating wetlands in a cold climate waste stabilization pond

Effectiveness of constructed floating wetlands (CFWs) is largely unknown for wastewater treatment in cold climates. An operational-scale CFW system was retrofitted into a municipal waste stabilization pond in Alberta, Canada. During the first year (Study I), insignificant performance was recorded for water quality parameters, although phyto-uptake of elements was evident. In Study II, doubling of the CFW area and addition of underneath aeration promoted plant uptake of elements, including nutrients and metals, following significant pollutant reduction in the water; 83 % of chemical oxygen demand, 80 % of carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand, 67 % of total suspended solids, and 48 % of total Kjeldhal nitrogen. A mesocosm study, conducted in parallel to the pilot scale field study, confirmed the impact of both vegetation and aeration on water quality improvement. The phytoremediation potential was linked to accumulation within plant shoot and root biomass and was confirmed by mass balance. Bacterial community analyses reflected that heterotrophic nitrification, aerobic denitrification, complete denitrification, organic matter decomposition, and methylotrophy were dominant mechanisms in the CFW, likely resulting in successful transformation of organics and nutrients. CFWs appear to be a viable ecotechnology to treat municipal wastewater in Alberta; however, larger and aerated CFW systems are recommended to achieve maximum remediation. The study aligns with the United Nations Environment Program to scale up restoration of degraded ecosystems, and to improve conditions for water supply and biodiversity following recognition of 2021–2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Explaining Climate Change Induced Human Mobility: Revisiting Traditional and Emerging Migration Theories in the Wake of Regularising Climate Change Induced Human Mobility under International Law

The term “environmental refugees” was used by the United Nations Environmental Program in 1985, drawing the international community’s attention to environmentally induced human mobility for the first time. Almost 40 years on, migration experts, lawyers as well as the international community struggle to define and to conceptualise an imminent phenomenon. Migration studies as such are still struggling for their own emancipation among other fields of social sciences, and now migration experts are challenged with a novel social phenomenon, climate change induced human mobility. In fact, environmentally induced human mobility is not a new phenomenon, it is merely a novel research area. In this article, I will collect and summarise traditional and emerging migration theories and concepts, in order to establish whether climate change induced human mobility may be interpreted by any of these theories at all, or if not, how could these be adapted to understand climate change induced human mobility.

CRIMINALITY OF ECOCIDE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS: A CASE OF LEGISLATIVE INTERVENTIONS

More than the previous century, the destruction caused on environment potentially has been the highest in last decade or so. A report by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) places it as the fourth-largest criminal operation in the world, just after counterfeiting, human trafficking, and drug smuggling. It is very recent that environmental damage is treated at par with a criminal activity, and with the looming crisis of climate change, it is now, more than ever that criminality of ecocide should be looked into. But it is not an easy process since the contrast between crime and damage highlights a persistent dilemma for criminology, whether to limit its focus just on legally recognized offences or delve into activities that are legal but its effects are negative and needs to forbidden. For the longest time, violations of law are dealt with but lawful degradation is brushed off with moral derangement but it derails the future whose basis is in environment. With the support of an internationally enforceable legal framework, these crimes and harms need to be addressed through both informal and official modes of settlement and restitution. This paper explores ecocide as a new challenge for the existing regulatory framework and recommends new legislative interventions.

Environmental surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), perspectives from a national environmental regulator in 2023.

The development, and in some cases increasing prevalence, of resistance to antimicrobials used in clinical and veterinary settings has long been recognised. In recent years, the concept of 'One Health' has added recognition of the role that the environment plays in health protection along with the need for protection of the health of the environment itself. Organisations including the World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, and national governments have identified a need for surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in the environment to sit alongside the surveillance carried out in clinical, veterinary and food sectors. However, having recognised the need for environmental surveillance there are multiple challenges in deciding what this should entail. For example, what pathogens or genes to monitor, who or what we wish to protect and what measures we wish to enable to decrease infection risks. That might include sampling near a source of resistant organisms entering the environment or conversely sampling where the exposure actually occurs. Choices need to be made at both policy and technical levels based on the detailed purposes of surveillance. This paper discusses these issues from the perspective of a national environmental regulator.

Dioxin-like POPs in national samples from global monitoring plan projects (2017–2019)

The global monitoring plan (GMP) established under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) had defined ambient air, human milk or blood, and water as core matrices to be analyzed and assessed for spatial and temporal distribution. Within projects coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), developing countries were offered to have other matrices analyzed for dioxin-like POPs (dl-POPs) in experienced laboratories. Subsequently, 185 samples from 27 countries located in Africa, Asia, and Latin America were collected during 2018–2019 and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD), dibenzofurans (PCDF), and biphenyls (PCB). Using the WHO2005 toxic equivalency approach (TEQ), the amounts of dl-POPs found were low (<1 pg TEQ/g); however, singular samples had higher values; e.g., egg from Morocco, fish from Argentina or Tunisia; soil and sediment samples. Results showed that the matrix, abiotic or biota, had more impact on the TEQ pattern than the geographic location. Independent of the location and across all samples, dl-PCB in (shell)fish and beef samples had a contribution of 75% to the total TEQ; milk (63%), chicken (52%), and butter (50.2%) more than 50%. Sediment (57% and 32%) and soil (40% and 36%)) samples were dominated by PCDD and PCDF, respectively; therein, dl-PCB had shares of 11% and 24%. Egg samples (N = 27) did not follow the general biota pattern and had 21% of the TEQ from the PCDD, 45% from PCDF, and 34% from dl-PCB; thus, indicating that abiotic matrices such as soil or other material may have an impact.

Bioengineered microbial strains for detoxification of toxic environmental pollutants

Industrialization and other anthropogenic human activities pose significant environmental risks. As a result of the hazardous pollution, numerous living organisms may suffer from undesirable diseases in their separate habitats. Bioremediation, which removes hazardous compounds from the environment using microbes or their biologically active metabolites, is one of the most successful remediation approaches. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), deteriorating soil health negatively impacts food security and human health over time. Soil health restoration is critical right now. Microbes are widely known for their importance in cleaning up toxins present in the soil, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and hydrocarbons. However, the capacity of local bacteria to digest these pollutants is limited, and the process takes an extended time. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), whose altered metabolic pathways promote the over-secretion of a variety of proteins favorable to the bioremediation process, can speed up the breakdown process. The need for remediation procedures, degrees of soil contamination, site circumstances, broad adoptions, and numerous possibilities occurring at various cleaning stages are all studied in detail. Massive efforts to restore contaminated soils have also resulted in severe issues. This review focuses on the enzymatic removal of hazardous pollutants from the environment, such as pesticides, heavy metals, dyes, and plastics. There are also in-depth assessments of present discoveries and future plans for efficient enzymatic degradation of hazardous pollutants.