The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is stepping up its work on mapping zoonotic threat and protecting the environment to reduce the risk of future pandemics, such as the COVID-19 crisis currently sweeping the globe.
In Working With the Environment to Protect People, released today, UNEP lays out how it is adjusting its work in response to COVID-19 through supporting nations and partners to "build back better" - through stronger science, policies that back a healthier planet and more green investments.
UNEP's response covers four areas: helping nations manage COVID-19 waste, delivering a transformational change for nature and people, working to ensure economic recovery packages create resilience to future crises, and modernizing global environmental governance.
To support nations in their efforts to address the socio-economic and environmental impacts of COVID-19, UNEP will coordinate its work with the rest of the UN system.
Promoting expanded opportunities for investing in nature and sustainability as part of the response to the COVID-19 crisis - including through existing funds UNEP manages and economic stimulus packages that countries are planning.