United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

THE UN ENVIRONMENT Programme (UNEP) coordinates all United Nations (UN) global and regional environmental activities, assists developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies, encourages sustainable development through sound environmental practices, reviews the status of the global environment, seeks consensus in environmental policy, and alerts the global community and governments of new and emerging threats to the biosphere. The UNEP officially divides its responsibilities into seven divisions: Early Warning and Assessment; Environmental Policy Implementation; Technology, Industry, and Economics; Regional Cooperation; Environmental Law and Conventions; Global Environment Facility Coordination; and Communications and Public Information.

The UNEP grew out of the June 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment, but its mandates and objectives are derived from UN General Assembly resolution 2997 (27) (December 15, 1972), as amended at the UN's 1992 Conference on Environment and Development, the 1997 Nairobi Declaration on the Role and Mandate of UNEP, and the Malmö Ministerial Declaration of May 31, 2000. The UNEP is headquartered in Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya, and has six regional offices and a number of country offices all under the governance of UNEP's Governing Council. Fifty-eight member states allocated according to geographical regions and serving three-year terms make up the council. The council has the primary responsibility for the developing UN policies and programs on environmental issues. The council attempts to mediate differences and promote cooperation between UN member states. The UNEP secretariat employs 890 global staff members and is funded by UN member states. The UNEP's executive director, as of June 2006, was Achim Steiner. Steiner was preceded in the position by Dr. Klaus Töpfer, who followed Dr. Mostafa Kamal Tolba, who held the position from 1975 to 1992.