United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• United Nations Environment Programme Information on international activities in relation to global climate change, desertification, biological diversity, endangered species, hazardous wastes, migratory species, ozone, trade and the environment, and other information. Full text of international conventions and many reports, press releases, and other materials available online.
  • State of the Environment Reports (UNEP)
  • United Nations Environment Program Global State of the Environment 1997 (GEO-1) The complete report includes global overview, regional status and trends, regional policy responses, forecasts for the environmental future of the earth in the absence of significant change, and summaries of actions which should be taken to alleviate environmental degradation. Executive summary and complete report versions available online. Mirrored at several sites internationally.
  • United Nations Environment Program Global Environmental Outlook 2000 (GEO2000) The overview includes global perspectives, global trends, summaries of regional issues, future perspectives, and outlook and recommendations.
  • Global Environmental Outlook This page links to all the Global Environmental Outlook reports from GEO-1 to GEO-3.
  • UNEP.Net Environment Network provides an extensive amount of information, including national and regional environmental profiles, an atlas of protected areas, world soil maps, information on greenhouse gases and the Kyoto protocol, and other information. Access the information by topic (news, applications, emerging issues, water, land, climate, and biodiversity). Access to the environmental profiles and atlas of protect areas is provided by pull-down menus. The site provides extensive maps and interactive mapping features.
• ECOLEX--a gateway to international environmental law. "Users can search using subject area, keyword, country, or date. The list of subjects includes, for example: climate/atmosphere; fresh water; marine environment; soils; forests; biodiversity; energy; protected areas; hazardous substances; and wastes. ECOLEX includes information on multilateral treaties; national legislation; European Union instruments; international "soft law" and related documents; law and policy literature; and judicial decisions." Provided by UNEP, IUCN, and the Dutch government.
• EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal A cooperative project of the World Resources Institute, the World Bank, the UN Environment Programme, the UN Development Programme and others that provides a wide array of environmental data and information. The material is grouped into broad topics: coastal and marine ecosystems; water resources and freshwater ecosystems; climate and atmosphere; population, health and human well-being; economics, business and the environment; energy and resources; biodiversity and protected areas; agriculture and food; forests and grasslands; and environmental institutions and governance. After selecting a broad topic, the user has access to databases, datatables, country profiles, maps, and feature articles. The databases provide extensive data for onscreen viewing or download. Years of coverage vary. The data tables provide comparative data for countries of the world. The country profiles provide data, tables, and a brief narrative for individual countries. Requires registration. No fees.
• New Zealand Virtual Library provides full-text publications from many international intergovernmental and non governmental organizations. The site groups publications from the United Nations, the United Nations University Press, UNESCO, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and other important organizations into thematic collections on health, environment, development, food and nutrition, and other topics. All collections are searchable by words in a title, chapter, or paragraph. Advanced search features are available in the "Preferences" menu. Selected collections are browsable by title, subject, or organization.