UN Environemnt March Newsletter

 

Your March Briefing   With escalating conflicts and economic challenges in focus, work to push for solutions to environmental crises continues. This month's newsletter focuses on the search for champions taking bold action for people and the planet, the fight against food waste, and looks back at progress made in 2025. In depth     Environmental action is resulting in substantial economic and public health benefits. Even amid geopolitical uncertainty, 2025 saw meaningful environmental progress through global cooperation, including, but not limited to, 170,000 km² of nature protected, reductions in climate-warming methane emissions and the establishment of a new panel to confront the increasing threat of pollution and waste. See also: video featuring UNEP personnel.    For this month's International Women's Day, UNEP head Inger Andersen reflects on women taking bold action, the path to a gender-equal and sustainable future, and what inspires her in her work for people and planet.    Young Champions of the Earth    Calling all entrepreneurs, scientists, economists, artists, and communicators ages 18 to 30 pushing ambitious ideas for people and the planet. Apply to become a Young Champion! Those selected will benefit from seed funding, mentorship, access to an expert network, the opportunity to participate in selected United Nations events, and compete in a pitch competition for additional funding.      Nominate a Champion of the Earth    Help honour individuals and organizations whose work delivers solutions in the areas of pollution prevention, ecosystem protection and restoration, sustainable blue economies and science, data, and cooperation. Submit your nomination.    Zero Waste Day (30 March)   This year’s observance focuses on food waste. Accumulating at an alarming scale, such wastage is undermining food security and slowing progress toward a zero-waste, circular future.     Take part:   Plan and record your events & see what’s happening near you  Download assets for sharing on your digital channels   Join the conversation on social media using #ZeroWasteDay and #BeatWastePollution  By the numbers   While 783 million people went hungry, 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted in 2022 – 19% of all food available to consumers. An additional 13% was lost post-harvest and before retail. Worth a watch     This month's World Water Day is a reminder that responsible management is necessary to create a resilient, water-secure future for all. Take action   Get answers to key environmental topics through EnvironmentGPT, UNEP's public chatbot (in beta stage)    Check out the redesigned UNEP Knowledge Repository to get access to UNEP scientific and policy resources  Worth a read   Eight years in, the global Restoration Initiative is seeing communities move from scarcity to resilience  Why the world should care about a glacier in Kenya  How “miracle plant” spekboom is helping revive South Africa’s Eastern Cape  Lunar Year of the Horse: Four environmental lessons we can learn from equines     Newly constructed wetland in Thi Qar benefits 30,000 people, supports climate adaptation  Publication shelf   The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Business and Biodiversity Assessment shows that the growth of the global economy has been at the cost of immense biodiversity loss, which now poses a critical and pervasive systemic risk to the economy, financial stability and human wellbeing.    The State of the World’s Migratory Species Report – Interim Report (2026) warns that 49% of migratory species populations conserved by the global UN treaty are declining, and 24% of species face extinction.  Mark your calendars   24 February – 28 August: Webinar Series: Every Loss Matters  21 March: International Day of Forests   21 March: World Day for Glaciers   22 March: World Water Day   23 to 29 March: Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals in Campo Grande, Brazil  25 to 27 March: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC-64) session in Bangkok, Thailand    Seen online      An expert explains the behavior of a penguin who recently went viral online: the little bird broke away from the colony and stole the internet’s heart without saying a word. Funding partner spotlgiht   UNEP is deeply appreciative to the Member States that contributed to UNEP’s core fund, the Environment Fund, during the period of 15 January to 28 February: Egypt, Georgia, Iceland, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Norway, Palau, South Africa, Swaziland, Sweden, Tunisia and Uganda.   For more of the latest updates, visit the funding partner spotlight. Work with us   Today's global environmental challenges can be overcome, but only with the best and the brightest on our team. Check out job vacancies, consultancy opportunities and more.    IMPORTANT: UNEP does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training) or other fee, or request information on applicants’ bank accounts.   UN Environment Programme, 2026 www.unep.org Our mailing address is: unep-info@un.org     UN Environment Programme does NOT share your information with others.   Please do not print this email unless it is necessary.

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