The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
This paper briefly synthesizes recent research illustrating how smartphones, sometimes in conjunction with other sensors, present a nexus point method for citizen scientists to engage with and use sophisticated modern technology for water quality monitoring. This paper also presents a brief, non-exhaustive research synthesis of some examples of current technological …
A mounting global water crisis threatens $58 trillion in economic value, food security and sustainability, according to this new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Water, the world's most precious yet undervalued resource, lies at the heart of a mounting global crisis that threatens both human and …
Today at the half-way point for the SDGs, UNEP is preparing to provide important intelligence on the progress we are making on the environmental dimension. The latest available data and estimates for 92 environment relevant SDG indicators tell us that the world is not on track to achieve the environmental …
The Asia-Pacific region has made considerable progress on improving economic and social welfare over the last decade. Water resources have contributed greatly to this transformation through water and sanitation hygiene (WASH), provision of basic services, agricultural expansion, food security and nutrition, and ecosystem services. This was most notable during COVID-19 …
Maintaining the state or health of rivers is a vital part of sustainable development. Healthy rivers are able to support and maintain key ecological processes and thus ecosystem services on which society depends. The monitoring and reporting of river health is well documented at a local scale, but at national, …
Western Africa is rich in freshwater biodiversity and regional endemicity, supporting the entire global populations of many threatened freshwater species including fishes, molluscs, dragonflies, crabs, shrimps and aquatic plants. This report builds on a regional baseline assessment completed in 2009 as well as an assessment of freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas …
Target 6.6 is: “By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.” Indicator 6.6.1 tracks changes over time in water-related ecosystems. Earth observations are used to determine changes to surface water bodies, such as lakes, large rivers, flooded wetlands and reservoirs. Recent advances in …
Use of coastal, estuarine and freshwater recreational environments has significant benefits for health and well-being, including rest, relaxation, exercise, cultural and religious practices, and aesthetic pleasure, while also providing substantial local, regional and national economic benefits. These guidelines focus on water quality management for coastal and freshwater environments to protect …
More than 8,000 million metric tons of plastic have been made since the beginning of large-scale plastic production in the 1950s. As a consequence, plastic debris is present in all ecosystems, including remote locations such as mountain lakes and polar sea ice. Oceans are the most prominent example of widespread …
To launch the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, UNEP has released this synthesis report as a call to action for anyone and everyone to join the #GenerationRestoration movement to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Becoming #Generation Restoration: Ecosystem Restoration for People, Nature and Climate synthesizes evidence …
This policy brief was prepared following the momentous UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP25) outcome in which Parties adopted a two-year workplan for the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP). The adoption of the workplan recognizes the important role and contribution of indigenous peoples as partners and agents for …
Freshwater ecosystems host exceptional biodiversity: covering less than 1% of the Earth's surface, they harbour more than 10% of all species. Despite their critical importance, the biodiversity crisis impacts freshwater ecosystems most significantly out of all ecosystems. More than 50% of all wetlands globally have been lost since 1900 with …
Freshwater ecosystems cover only 0.8% of the earth’s surface, but they are amongst the most diverse systems in the world. They are vital for the life and well-being of billions of people as they provide different direct and indirect services. Present focus of the study, the Koshi River basin (KRB), …
Tanzania's ecological conservation watchdog said on Saturday plans were afoot to protect the Great Ruaha River from further environmental degradation. The river is located in south-central Tanzania flowing through the Usangu wetlands and the Ruaha National Park east into the Rufiji River. Christopher Timbuka, the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) …
Collapsing hippo numbers – and the loss of dung they produce – poses a threat to the species that thrive in eastern Africa’s rivers and great lakes, and the humans who rely on them. Hippos‘ graze the grassy savannah at night, then spend their days lazing and defecating in rivers …
A large mineral sands mine in southeastern Madagascar has trespassed into a “sensitive zone,” violating national law and raising the possibility that radionuclide-enriched tailings could enter a lake that local people use for drinking water. There is no evidence that radioactive elements or mine tailings have entered the lake so …
The South African Department of Water and Sanitation has set aside R341 million for the resuscitation of all wastewater treatment infrastructures in the Vaal Triangle. Untreated sewerage from three water treatment plants has continued to flow into the Vaal River, causing blocked drains and flowing into the local community's homes …
Chinese authorities have banned fishing in the Ertix River, the only river originating in China that flows north into the Arctic Ocean. According to the fishery management center in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's Altay prefecture, fishing will be banned year-round in all natural rivers in the Altay region, including …
Over the past three years, Hubei Xingfa Chemicals Group Co Ltd has shut down about one-third of its production capacity and four chemical waste discharge flues along the Yangtze River. The moves are in line with government calls for improving ecological protection and cleaning up China's "mother river", which has …
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has drawn up an action plan to improve the water quality of the Yangtze River over the next two years, it announced on Thursday. The ministry aims to finish the overhaul of sewage outlets and eliminate nearly all water below Grade V - the …
