Antonio Guterres Message for 2025
Speaking on the year ahead, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres amplified the huge opportunity to reverse damage to the environment and build on #ClimateAction through renewable energy growth, a commitment to net zero and national plans to cut emissions.
The next round of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions to Climate Action (NDCs), due in early 2025, is a chance for concrete actions to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/video/why-next-round-climate-pledges-marks-crucial-moment-planet
Resilience: The Global Adaptation Podcast - Inger Andersen
Is there a pathway to unlock the billions in financing needed to adapt to escalating #ClimateCrisis?
In episode 5 of Resilience: The Global Adaptation Podcast, UNEP’s Executive Director Inger Andersen discusses the key findings from the latest #AdaptationGap Report, highlighting innovative financing solutions and demonstrating why investing in climate adaptation isn’t just necessary, it’s smart economics. Listen here: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/audio/resilience-global-adaptation-podcast
Happy New Year from the UNEP Family
Happy new year from the UNEP family! Here's to a year of continuous efforts for restoration & #ForNature. Let’s make 2025 the year we take bold steps toward a healthier, greener world.
Throughout the year, UNEP’s Goodwill Ambassadors have reminded us that change begins with each of us.
As we move into 2025, let’s keep that momentum alive.
The time to act #ForNature is now — we are #GenerationRestoration!
The Global Biodiversity Framework and the Global Goals
Nature sustains all life on our planet. On the 2nd anniversary of the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework, the world’s blueprint to halt & reverse nature loss, discover how it connects to the achievement of the #GlobalGoals. Check out UNEP's new tool: https://www.unep.org/interactives/biodiversity-sdgs-tool/index.html
A legacy rooted in science, empathy, and people.
For six decades, Madhav Gadgil has championed community-driven conservation in India. From India’s first biosphere reserve to the Forest Rights Act, he’s demonstrated that empowering people is key to preserving nature.
In his early 80s now, Gadgil plans to keep pushing for the conservation of India’s most fragile ecosystems.
“I have the satisfaction that as a scientist, empathetic to the people, I have been able to do various things which have helped in changing the direction of what is happening. I’m a durable optimist – and hopeful that this progress will continue to gather pace,” says Gadgil, the 2024 United Nations #EarthChamps Lifetime Achievement laureate.
Learn more about his work: https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/madhav-gadgil
Lu Qi has spent three decades researching solutions, restoring degraded land, and helping communities adapt.
His work has transformed millions of hectares of barren land into thriving ecosystems, curbing soil erosion and boosting livelihoods.
“Combating desertification requires comprehensive participation throughout the entire process, across all dimensions and regions. Our work goes beyond policy suggestions; it includes providing technical support, data analysis and solutions, all of which are outcomes of our research team,” says Lu, a 2024 United Nations #EarthChamps laureate.
This is science in action. This is #GenerationRestoration: https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/lu-qi
SEKEM Group began with just a tent, a tractor and a piano in the Egyptian desert.
Today, they’ve restored thousands of hectares of degraded land, supported 15,000 farmers, and shown how biodynamic agriculture can help build resilient food systems and tackle climate change. Their goal includes extending biodynamic farming to Egypt’s 7 million farmers by 2057.
“A lot of people told us this is a mission impossible. But we are specialists in mission impossible. We love mission impossible,” says Helmy Abouleish, 2024 United Nations #EarthChamps laureate for Entrepreneurial Vision.
https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/sekem #GenerationRestoration
Against all odds, Agent Green's Gabriel Paun stands tall.
Paun has spent decades exposing illegal logging and defending Romania’s ancient forests, home to Europe’s last old-growth ecosystems. His work has saved tens of thousands of hectares—and he’s faced violence, threats, and relentless attacks in the process.
“I'm not fighting only for the trees, but for the entire forest ecosystem, including the thousands of species that live under and above ground,” says Paun, 2024 United Nations #EarthChamps Inspiration and Action laureate.
Discover his story: https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/gabriel-paun
Four dams down, a river restored, and a culture revived.
For decades, the Klamath River was strangled by dams. Salmon nearly disappeared, water quality plummeted, and an entire way of life was at risk.
This year, the river flows freely again thanks to the efforts of Ridges to Riffles Indigenous Conservation Group’s Amy Bowers Cordalis and the Yurok Tribe. Decades of advocacy, protests, and legal action led to the removal of four dams—restoring salmon populations, ecosystems, and Indigenous traditions.
“If we can do it on the Klamath, we can do it throughout the world,” she says. Cordalis, a 2024 United Nations #EarthChamps laureate for Inspiration & Action, envisions a future where “water will be clean and plentiful, and there will be big, healthy, and shiny fish in the river.”
This is the power of Indigenous leadership. This is #GenerationRestoration. https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2024/amy-bowers-cordalis
The Official page of the United Nations Environment Programme.
