un on environmental issues

8/18/2019 UN on EnvironmentaL Issues

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Established in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations, the General Assembly occupies a central position as the chief deliberative,policymain! and representative or!an of the United Nations" Comprisin! all 19# $embers of the United Nations, it provides a uni%ue forumfor multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter" &t also plays a si!ni'cant role in the process ofstandard(settin! and the codi'cation of international la)" *he Assembly meets in re!ular session intensively from +eptember to ecembereach year, and thereafter as re%uired"

-ecause of the !reat number of %uestions it is called upon to consider, the Assembly allocates items relevant to its )or amon! its si. $ain

Committees, )hich discuss them, seein! )here possible to harmoni/e the various approaches of +tates, and then present to a plenarymeetin! of the Assembly draft resolutions and decisions for consideration"

&n #01#, UNE senior sta2 participated in several informal thematic debates of the General Assembly dealin! )ith3

isaster is eduction, 1# Apriload to io#0 and -eyond, ## $ay

+econd Committee

*he United Nations Environment ro!ramme is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly" *he UNE Governin! Council6Global$inisterial Environment 7orum 8GC6G$E7 every year submits its report in )hich it hi!hli!hts diverse environmental issues for theconsideration of the General Assembly"

+U+*A&NA-:E E;E:uman Environment the reach of sustainable development !overnance has e.panded considerably atlocal, national, re!ional and international levels" *he need for the inte!ration of economic development, natural resources mana!ement and protection, social e%uity and inclusion )asintroduced for the 'rst time by the 19?= -rundtland eport 8


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development a!enda" &n the lead(up to this process, the +ecretary(General or!ani/ed a >i!h(level anel on Global +ustainability, )hichpublished its 'ndin!s and ideas in the report,esilient eople, esilient lanet3 A 7uture orth Choosin!"An


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*he )or of the Commission covers a broad spectrum of economic, social and environmental issues" UNE contributes to the )or of theCommission, participatin! in its annual sessions on diverse thematic issues" *he Ne) Jor a!ue since 194" *he &CB is locatedin the eace alace and acts as a )orld court, replacin! the ermanent Court of &nternational Bustice" &t has a dual role3 settlin! the le!aldisputes submitted to it by states in accordance )ith international la) and providin! advisory opinions on le!al %uestions referred to it by dulyauthori/ed international or!ans and a!encies" &t )as set up in 1945 under the Charter of the United Nations in order to be the principal udicialor!an of the


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O Nuclear *ests 8Ne) ealand v" 7rance&CB Bud!ment #0 ecember 19=4, 9#(1(0=040(1Althou!h the case )as not oint to the previous one, it )as decided on the same day )ith the identical outcome"

O Case concernin! the Gabciovo(Na!ymaros roect 8>un!ary v" +lovaia

&CB Bud!ement #5 +eptember 199=, nyr&n 19== >un!ary and C/echoslovaia concluded in -udapest a *reaty Qconcernin! the construction and operation of the Gabciovo(Na!ymaros+ystem of :ocsQ" *he treaty provided for the construction of a maor hydroelectric dam proect on the anube as a Qoint investmentQ, aimedat the production of hydroelectricity, the improvement of navi!ation on the relevant section of the anube and the protection of the areasalon! the bans a!ainst Moodin!" *he contractin! parties )ere on e%ual footin! in respect of the 'nancin!, construction and operation of the)ors" *he Court )as ased to determine )hether >un!ary )as entitled to suspend and subse%uently abandon its part of the roectF )hetherthe then C/ech and +lova 7ederal epublic )as entitled to proceed )ith a Qprovisional solutionQ involvin! dammin! the river at anotherlocationF and )hich )ere the le!al e2ects of the noti'cation by >un!ary in 199# of the termination of the *reaty" *he Court found that both>un!ary and +lovaia had breached their le!al obli!ations" >un!ary )as not entitled to suspend and subse%uently abandon, in 19?9, the)ors on the Na!ymaros ( Gabciovo roect" C/echoslovaia )as entitled to proceed, in November 1991, to the Qprovisional solutionQ asdescribed in the terms of the +pecial A!reement but )as not entitled to put it into operation, from un!ary had to compensate +lovaia for the dama!e sustained byC/echoslovaia on account of the suspension and abandonment of )ors for )hich it )as responsible by >un!ary" 7urthermore, +lovaia hadto compensate >un!ary for the dama!e it had sustained on account of puttin! into operation of the Qprovisional solutionQ by C/echoslovaiaand its maintenance in service by +lovaia"

O 7isheries Burisdiction case 8+pain v" Canada&CB Bud!ement 4 ecember 199?, nyr


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Greenin t!e ILO *he &:< is fully committed to improvin! its environmental performance by measurin! and reportin! its !reenhouse !as emissions and reducin!the environmental impacts of its operations" *his commitment is a response to the #00= UN +ecretary(General -an Ri(moon call on all UNa!encies, funds and pro!rammes to !o !reenV and become climate neutral"

*he &:< is actively involved in several UN system()ide initiatives" *he or!anisation is a member of the Environmental $ana!ement Group8E$G, a UN intera!ency coordination body on environment and human settlements, and participates in its technical meetin!s, &ssue$ana!ement Groups 8&$G and tas forces" 7or instance, the &:< participates in the &$G on environmental sustainability mana!ement, and

)as part of a tas force on )aste mana!ement practices in UN entities located in developin! countries in #014"

Greenhouse Gas emissions

*he &:< has been reportin! its !reenhouse !as emissions since #00?" &n #014, &:< buildin!s and operations of head%uarters and forty ei!ht'eld oIces produced a total amount of 14,?# tCead%uarters located in Geneva is a maor undertain! that )ill result in si!ni'cantly improvin! ener!yperformance and reducin! carbon emissions from the &:< premises" *o reduce the buildin!Vs carbon footprint, the buildin! )ill be insulated tocurrent local standards 8includin! triple !la/in!, instead of the current double !la/in! and the XGenYve(:ac(NationsZ proect )ill be used forheatin! the buildin!"


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*he &:< has adopted a Xapersmart olicyZ for the production and distribution of paper documents in support of its oIcial meetin!s" *heGovernin! -ody approved the 'rst tar!et of a #0W decrease in pre(session and in(session oIcial meetin!s documentation distributed for the#01#(1@ bud!etary e.ercise" orin! to)ards this obective had already started in the precedin! biennium tar!etin! more speci'cally the pre(session documentation for Governin! -ody sessions" Alon! )ith &:


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&:


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related activities, but produces a much lar!er share of even more harmful !reenhouse !ases" &t !enerates 5 percent of human(related nitrouso.ide, )hich has #9 times the Global armin! otential 8G of C


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livestoc sector !ro)th as, increasin!ly, animal diseases also a2ect humansF rapid livestoc sector !ro)th can also lead to the e.clusion ofsmallholders from !ro)in! marets"

EnvironmentAll life depends on a healthy planet, but the inter)oven systems of atmosphere, oceans, )atercourses, land, icecover and biosphere, )hich form the natural environmentare threatened by human activities" $oreover, )hile a fra!ile environment becomes more vulnerable to natural disasters,

the natural disasters also de!rade the environment in a pernicious circle of causes and e2ects" *he observational data of )eather, climate and theatmosphere that are collected throu!h $


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$< participates in the )or of subsidiary bodies on scienti'c and technical advice )ith the follo)in! or!ani/ations3&nternational Convention to Combat eserti'cation,the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on :on!(ran!e *ransboundary Air ollution,the Convention on -iolo!ical iversity, andthe Convention for the rotection of $arine Environment and the Coastal e!ion of the $editerranean"

&nternational Conference on Advancin! the Global &mplementation of ecommissionin! and Environmental emediation ro!rammes

E" *ar!et Audience

*he conference is tar!eted at policy and decision maers and technical e.perts D in particular from national and local !overnments, fundin!or!ani/ations, re!ulatory authorities, public health authorities, facility operators, )aste mana!ement bodies and international or!ani/ations Dconcerned )ith plannin! and implementin! decommissionin! and remediation pro!rammes and proects"

Unite& Nations Institute for rainin Researc! * UNIAR

*he $ission of UN&*A is to develop capacities to enhance !lobal decision(main! and to support country level action for shapin! a betterfuture in the thematic areas of +tren!then $ultilateralismF romote Economic evelopment and +ocial &nclusionF Advance Environmental+ustainability and Green evelopmentF romote +ustainable eaceF and esearch and *echnolo!y Applications"

UN in&ustrial &e"elo+$ent orani,ation

+afe!uardin! the environment

ollution, climate chan!e, habitat destruction and over(e.ploitation of natural resources such as fresh )ater and 'sheries are doin! !reat harmto human health, )ellbein! and livelihoods, especially amon! poorer re!ions, and is underminin! the prospects for a lon!(term resilient and

robust economy"


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