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Indigenous peoples and local communities often depend on natural resources and biodiversity to meet their subsistence needs and sustain their livelihoods. They have demonstrated their ability to be highly effective natural resource managers under the right conditions, but are also vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change.

Reaffirm that the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) and the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation (MSI) remain the essential blueprints for addressing the sustainable development needs of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). In this regard, SIDS remain fully committed to ensuring the full and effective implementation of the BPOA and the MSI and we urge our development partners to provide, in a timely and predictable manner, financial and technical support to ensure the successful implementation of the BPOA and MSI. (agreed)

The decade and-a-half since the 1992 Earth Summit has seen a vast expansion in the number and scope of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). There are now more than 700 environmental conventions, charters, agreements, accords, protocols and treaties in force, from global to regional to bilaterallyapplicable agreements. They cover areas as narrowly-focused as the Biosafety Protocol in the Convention on Biological Diversity and as widely encompassing as the recently activated Kyoto Protocol of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. And there are still dozens of conferences, commissions, and ad hoc expert groups negotiating additional agreements, often on intensely complex intersectoral issue areas.

One of the fundamental questions in the global climate negotiations is: what level of “ambition”, in terms of collective emission reductions, is needed to protect global climate? To help answer this question UNEP and the scientific community have published a series of reports on the “emissions gap1 ” since 2010. Of particular interest to the ambition question is the gap in 2020 between emission levels consistent with the 2o C climate target and emissions levels projected if country reduction pledges are fulfilled. If there is a gap, then there is doubt that the ambition of countries is great enough to meet the agreed-upon 2o C climate target

That confidence was given a boost when countries under the Montreal Protocol decided to take quick and early action down the path to ending HCFC consumption and production. These actions, however, must be taken in the spirit of a new era in which the world embraces the absolute need for ‘green growth’ – growth that casts off the ‘business as usual’ approach and accelerates us down the path to lowcarbon, resource-efficient economies with an intelligent management of natural and nature-based assets. Indeed, the accelerated action on HCFCs will achieve maximum benefits in terms of ozone and climate if the phase-out is accompanied by improvements in areas such as energy efficiency and the adoption of alternate technologies. The world has an unparalleled opportunity to simultaneously eliminate ozone depleting substances, reap climate benefits, and improve energy efficiency and stimulate growth in green jobs.

At a global scale, the waste management sector makes a relatively minor contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, estimated at approximately 3-5% of total anthropogenic emissions in 2005. However, the waste sector is in a unique position to move from being a minor source of global emissions to becoming a major saver of emissions. Although minor levels of emissions are released through waste treatment and disposal, the prevention and recovery of wastes (i.e. as secondary materials or energy) avoids emissions in all other sectors of the economy. A holistic approach to waste management has positive consequences for GHG emissions from the energy, forestry, agriculture, mining, transport, and manufacturing sectors.

The Copenhagen Accord declared that deep cuts in global emissions are required “so as to hold the increase in global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius”. The Accord called for an assessment that would consider strengthening the long-term goal including “temperature rises of 1.5 degrees”. Since December 2009, 140 countries1 have associated themselves with the Copenhagen Accord. Of these, 85 countries have pledged to reduce their emissions or constrain their growth up to 2020.

The rational for this Policy Brief is to make clear the vital benefits of integrating biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management by taking the Ecosystemsbased Adaptation approach along with the Green Economy Initiative to achieve equitable multiple ‘win-win’ objectives to ensure the continued well-being of human society in the future.

This report presents the initial action undertaken by UNEP immediately following the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip in January 2009, and summarizes the scientific findings of the complex assessment process carried out by UNEP during the spring and early summer of 2009. Recommendations are provided for the remediation of environmental damage caused by the recent escalation of hostilities, as well as for longer-term improvement of the environment in the Gaza Strip.

Warming of the climate system is beyond argument, as shown by observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, the widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea levels.