About Us
Safeguarding the environment for future generations
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations’ leading global authority on the environment, driving transformational change on the triple planetary crisis: the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature, land and biodiversity loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste.
Since its founding in 1972, UNEP has served as a neutral convener of Member States, civil society, the private sector and UN agencies to address humanity’s most pressing environmental challenges. From protecting species to restoring the ozone layer, UNEP-facilitated international agreements have made global environmental action possible throughout the years. Today, UNEP hosts the United Nations Environment Assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, with a universal membership of all 193 United Nations’ Member States.
Through robust science, global coordination and powerful advocacy, UNEP continues to support all UN Member States – and all of society – to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and forge a future where people and planet live in harmony.
With a workforce of nearly 3,000 people across 41 countries and territories, UNEP’s mission is to inform, enable, and inspirenations and peoples to improve their quality of life while safeguarding the environment for future generations.
-
Inform
Science is fundamental in providing answers to the most pressing sustainability challenges and ensuring evidence-based decision-making – and it is at the heart of the work of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). UNEP keeps the global environment under review and improves access to information and knowledge-sharing, in pursuit of transforming humanity’s relationship with the environment.
-
Enable
With UNEP support, countries integrate environmental sustainability into development and investment planning, while governments turn to UNEP for guidance, solutions, and support in building their environmental capacity. Thanks to UNEP support, many countries have built stronger environmental institutions, introduced sound legislation, enhanced technical capacity, gained greater knowledge, made greener investments and improved cross-border collaboration.
-
Inspire
UNEP raises awareness and advocates for effective action on pressing environmental challenges. UNEP communicates directly with decisionmakers and people worldwide – both within and beyond the environmental community – to inspire positive change in households, businesses, cities and countries around the globe.
What we do
UNEP works tirelessly to address the root causes of the triple planetary crisis while responding to emerging environmental challenges.
