UN Policies about Environment and their Impact

Even in times of economic crisis, conflict, and seemingly insurmountable societal issues, the environment remains a critical concern. To put it another way, it matters because Earth is the only place we have to call home and provides us with everything we need to survive.

People, in return, have a moral obligation to conserve the environment and support the sustainable development of the globe for the sake of future generations. The long-term health and well-being of animals, plants, and humans are in jeopardy due to environmental deterioration.

Consequently, there has been an increase in recent years in the number of UN peace operations addressing environmental issues relating to their own effect and the circumstances under which they operate. Large deployments, especially in dry, land-locked nations, take huge resources and may inflict significant if unintentional, environmental harm to countries the United Nations is trying to help.

United Nations Environment Assembly

All 193 countries of the United Nations are represented in the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the world's highest-level decision-making body on the environment. Every two years, the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) convenes to determine global environmental policy goals and draft new international environmental legislation.

United Nations Environment Programme

It is the United Nations Environment Assembly, which has universal membership, that determines the UNEP agenda and governs the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Within the United Nations system, the most authoritative voice on all things environmental is the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). At the local, regional and global levels, UNEP helps countries meet their environmental duties via its expertise. UNEP's objective is to inspire, enlighten, and empower countries and people to enhance their quality of life without sacrificing that of future generations by providing leadership and encouraging collaboration in environmental protection.

In order to respond to environmental concerns across the globe, UNEP organized six areas of concentration for its mission.

Six Areas of Concentration

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has restructured its work program into six priority areas as part of a shift toward results-based management. The selection of six areas of focus was influenced by scientific data, the UNEP mission, and priorities arising from global and regional forums.

1. Climate Change

By providing leadership in adaptation, mitigation, technology, and financing, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) helps nations better integrate climate change solutions. UNEP is working on assisting the transition to a low-carbon society, enhancing public knowledge of climate science, and encouraging the growth of renewable energy.

UNEP's goal of keeping global temperatures from rising over 1.5°C requires the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 gigatonnes per year by 2030. We need more than just transportation and manufacturing. It is imperative that we reduce our carbon footprint through improving land and resource management, especially via the development of smart cities and the reduction of deforestation and food waste.

2. Post-Conflict and Disaster Management

It is UNEP's job to carry out evaluations of environmental conditions in crisis-hit nations and to provide advice on how to put in place legal and institutional frameworks to enhance environmental management. The Post-Conflict & Disaster Management Branch (PCDMB) of UNEP conducts post-conflict environmental assessments in Afghanistan, Côte d'Ivoire, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Sudan, among other locations.

Some of the core services that UNEP offer under this category are Post-Crisis Environmental Assessments, Post-Crisis Environmental Recovery, Environmental Cooperation for Peacebuilding, and Disaster Risk Reduction.

3. Ecosystem Management

Ecosystems may be managed and restored in a way that is compatible with sustainable development and the use of ecosystem services can be encouraged. An example of this is the Global Programme of Action or GPA. Through this, we can protect the marine environment from land-based activities.

In order to combat the rapid deterioration of the oceans and coastal regions throughout the globe, this initiative involves adjacent nations in coordinated and targeted efforts to save their common marine environment.

4. Environmental Governance

Sustainable development along with environmental sustainability is a goal of the UNEP, which helps national governments, especially developing countries, in building the required procedures and institutions as well as laws, policies, and programs to accomplish it at the national, regional, and global levels.

Some of the missions made by UNEP related to this are providing countries with support in strengthening and implementing environmental legislation and global environmental accords via technical assistance as well as an early warning system for environmental threats that includes rapid detection and evaluation of potential vulnerabilities in the human environment and the civil society.

5. Harmful Substances

UNEP is dedicated to reducing the damage that hazardous chemicals and wastes inflict on the environment and to human health. A worldwide agreement on mercury has been started by UNEP, and it is implementing initiatives on mercury and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) to decrease health and environmental challenges.

Through this core focus, UNEP was able to continually conduct scientific evaluations of the environmental consequences of hazardous material discharge, transport, and disposal. They were also able to establish effective management of chemicals and hazardous waste as well as develop and implement internationally agreed chemical management regimes.

6. Resource Efficiency / Sustainable Consumption and Production

Regional and worldwide efforts are made to guarantee that natural resources are generated, processed, and utilized in an ecologically sustainable manner by UNEP. An example of this is their Marrakesh Process which is a plan to help promote the development of a 10-year framework for programs on sustainable consumption and production throughout the globe.

Aside from this, it also aims to promote the adoption of sustainable practices and the inclusion of sustainability information into the reporting cycle by corporations, particularly big and international corporations.

Environmental management can help solve air pollution but will require cooperation of enabling nations.

Environmental problems are truly the most challenging global issue we need to resolve. This is the reason why environmental education and global efforts, as well as international cooperation, are crucial in order to achieve sustainable development goals in the environmental field.

Voluntary approaches from the private sector can also go a long way in environmental impact and capacity building. In the Philippines, one of the top leading community providers, Lumina Homes, is exerting efforts in finding solutions for issues related to the environment.

In fact, one of its most recent development inside the community is eSpacio which includes eco-facilities specialized structures that accept and sort through the resident's segregated wastes. These segregated wastes will then be up for donation to Villar SIPAG Foundation and NGOs alike who makes compost fertilizer or recycles plastic waste into plastic chairs.

Aside from this, Lumina Homes also encourage its homeowners to a healthier and greener lifestyle through its community garden in which residents are welcome to grow edible plants to create a space for powerful neighborhood-level social change. This community garden uses rainwater harvesting system to maintain the landscaped gardens. This can also be used for the cleanliness of the community which homeowners can also access for their needs.

Lumina Homes is more than an innovative subdivision for Filipinos but also a community that values environmental policies for future generations.

Let's help the environment in every way that we can and be part of Lumina Homes' healthier and greener lifestyle.