Following severe flooding across the Balkan Peninsula in May 2014, a UN Disaster Assistance and Coordination (UNDAC) team was deployed to support emergency response work in flood-affected areas in Serbia. The Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU) mobilised environmental and landslide experts through UNDAC to identify risks and recommend mitigation measures to minimize damages.

Building on UNDAC’s initial findings, UNEP (under the lead of the Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch) deployed an environmental expert in June to support the Serbian Government in carrying out a Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) intended to inform recovery needs and assist in resource mobilization. The UNEP expert attended a two-day workshop to establish a common approach to the RNA, and led a session on environmental needs assessment. UNEP also carried out a series of field visits to priority environmental sites of concern including areas affected by landslides, the collapsed Stolice antimony tailing dam, and affected industrial and hazardous waste facilities.

In collaboration with experts from the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, UNEP evaluated the cost of the environmental damages and losses caused by the floods. UNEP proposed an environmental recovery and reconstruction plan estimated at EUR 41.5 million aimed at implementing remediation measures in the short to medium terms. The RNA report was presented at a donor conference hosted by the European Commission on 16 July in Brussels, Belgium, where generous pledges were made.

On 14 August, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende met in Arendal, Norway to sign a new Programme Cooperation Agreement, through which Norway renewed its contribution to UNEP's Programme of Work for 2014.

The Agreement allocates funds to support the action on emerging environmental issues in follow-up of the resolution taken on marine plastic debris and marine microplastics at the first United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in June, and to a UNEP/Food and Agriculture Organization project to improve fish food security in West Africa.

During the bilateral meeting, the Minister and the Executive Director discussed the opportunities arising from the strengthening and upgrading of UNEP following the first-ever session of UNEA. They also addressed plans taking shape in the lead-up to the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit in September.

In that context, Mr Steiner and Minister Brende reviewed the progress of the UNEP-hosted Climate Technology Centre and Network and welcomed the new partnership with the leading Norwegian company DNV GL, focused on facilitating the transfer of climate technologies and fostering collaboration among climate technology stakeholders globally.

Mr Steiner also thanked Norway for its many fruit-bearing contributions to UNEP, including the partnerships under UN-REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) programme.

Other topics of discussion with the Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as with the Minister of Climate and Environment Tine Sundtoft, included the UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, which was launched early this year to develop new policy options for guiding the global financial system to invest in the transition to a Green Economy. They agreed that the Inquiry had a potential to trigger the next level of cooperation with the financial and capital markets, and that such projects would help to build the foundation for a successful transition to an inclusive Green Economy.

With record numbers in attendance, the conservation and management priorities for wild plants and animals took centre stage at the 65th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), from 7 to 11 July, in Geneva.

“The Committee has focused on those specific areas where further action is needed now to combat the illegal wildlife trade and to enhance effective conservation. Action-oriented and time bound national plans to combat illegal ivory trade have proven to be effective and successful. For this reason the Committee has widened the net to apply this tool to a broader range of countries and species,” said John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES.

What came to the fore during this meeting included specific concerns over: illegal trade in precious rosewoods and ebonies from Madagascar to Asia through East Africa; illegal ivory trade within Thailand; rhino horn trafficking through Mozambique; illegal cheetah trade from eastern Africa to the Gulf region; increasing levels of illegal trade in tigers and their parts and derivatives in South and South East Asia, and large scale illegal trade in the little known nocturnal scaly mammal Pangolin, throughout Africa and Asia.

Progress was made on management and identification of sharks in international trade; regulating the global trade in snake skins; and setting up innovative technologies to track and label wildlife in trade. The trade ban on Nile crocodiles from Madagascar was lifted after it was reported that better management standards had been met.

“There is now real progress and traction. This is also the first time there were so many practical, pragmatic and targeted decisions taken, from improving e-permitting and stockpile registration; to helping countries to implement shark listings. We are also seeing greater donor interest, such as through the announcement of MIKES at this meeting, and increasing opportunities to address livelihood issues,” said Oystein Størkersen, CITES Standing Committee Chair.

More information: juan.vasquez@cites.org

From 24 to 29 August, more than 1,000 risk and disaster experts, practitioners and government officials from over 100 countries convened in Davos, Switzerland for the 5th Annual International Disaster Risk Conference (IDRC). During the conference, UNEP unveiled its latest effort to build resilience to the growing challenge of disaster risk with the introduction of the first-ever Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on ecosystem-based disaster risk.

The MOOC aims to broaden awareness on the different tools available beyond concrete or engineered solutions by demonstrating how climate change, disasters, and the environment are linked. Featuring 20 hours of video lectures, guest lectures from world leaders and real-life case studies, it targets policymakers and decision makers, practitioners, experts, as well as the wider public. The MOOC was made possible by UNEP, through its Global Universities Partnership on Environment for Sustainability (GUPES), and Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS), Germany. It is an outcome of the longstanding collaboration between UNEP and the Centre for Natural Resources and Development, a consortium of 11 universities from around the world that is coordinated by the Cologne University of Applied Sciences (CUAS) in Germany.

On 26 August, UNEP and the Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) also hosted an interactive panel discussion on “Bridging disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation through ecosystem management” at a side event during the conference. The aimed to demonstrate through field projects how ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction and adaptation are building resilience in communities worldwide.

More information: here