Reports from
- United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – FAO
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization – UNIDO
- UN-Habitat
- International Labour Organization- ILO
- World Bank
- United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
- OECD
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Green Economy Synthesis report The Green Economy Report’s key message is that the challenges facing the world today in the form of food, fuel and financial crises are also unique opportunities for a reform of the world economy that refocuses investment, growth and employment towards green sectors, for fairer and more sustainable economic growth. The report explains the core principles and concepts underlying a green economy. |
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Why a Green Economy Matters for Least Developed Countries This joint report, issued by UNEP, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), points to the economic and human development opportunities of a green economy transition for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). |
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Decoupling: natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth With the growth of both population and prosperity, especially in developing countries, the prospect of much higher resource consumption levels is far beyond what is likely sustainable if realized at all given finite world resources, warns this report by UNEPs International Resource Panel. |
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Recycling Rates of Metals: A status report According to this report, recycling rates of metals are in many cases far lower than their potential for reuse. Less than one-third of some 60 metals studied have an end-of-life recycling rate above 50 per cent and 34 elements are below 1 per cent recycling, yet many of them are crucial to clean technologies such as batteries for hybrid cars to the magnets in wind turbines, says the study. “In spite of significant efforts in a number of countries and regions, many metal recycling rates are discouragingly low, and a ‘recycling society’ appears no more than a distant hope,” states the Recycling Rates of Metals: A Status Report, compiled by UNEP” International Resource Panel. |
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Towards the sustainable use of natural resources: Assessing Biofuels This report was produced by the Working Group on biofuels of the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Managemet. It provides an overview of the key problems and perspectives toward sustainable production and use of biofuels. It is based on an extensive literature study, taking into account recent major reviews. |
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Here and Now! Education for Sustainable Consumption. Recommendations and Guidelines This publication provides recommendations and guidelines aimed at policy-makers and educators on how to best integrate and implement Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC) in the formal education sector. It contains two main chapters: |
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From creating mass markets for solar water heaters, improving vehicle efficiency, using waste for energy or installing energy-efficient cooking stoves or planting trees and protecting forests, UNEP’s 30 case studies prove that solutions to combat Climate Change are available, accessible and replicable. |
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By greening their meetings organisations can achieve substantial cost savings, impress their participants and deliver a very concrete and tangible sustainability message. Greening your meeting will reduce the direct environmental impact of your meeting, but will also leave a positive and lasting legacy to the local community and to the participants. This guide is designed to assist organisers and hosts of small to medium-sized meetings in including green considerations as early as possible in the preparation of the event. It describes the issues to consider in the planning phase and provides a very simple and concrete check list to pick and choose concrete actions to carry out. |
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Promoting Resource Efficiency in Small & Medium size Enterprises – Industrial training handbook The PRE-SME Resource Kit builds upon the lessons and experiences from the cleaner production activities and presents a comprehensive technical resource kit that could serve as a basis for the development and implementation of an integrated and continuous Resource Efficiency programme in SMEs. The Resource Kit is primarily targeted to NCPCs and Technical Support Institutions involved in promoting Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) in Developing and Transition Economies. The Kit also provides SMEs’ executive level management with the rational for implementing more resource efficient operations as well as a management tool for setting-up an industrial Resource Efficient implementation plan. Furthermore, a detailed step-by-step guide is included for SME’s production and technical managers, focusing on key areas for the development and implementation of a Resource Efficiency improvement programme. |
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Recycling: from e-waste to resources appropriate handling of electronic waste (e-waste) can both prevent serious environmental damage but also recover valuable materials, especially different types of metals such as aluminium, copper, palladium and gold. This publication focuses on the significance and possibilities of getting resources back out of e-waste trough a sustainable technology transfer in the field of recycling. It provides an analysis of the transfer potential of relevant technologies in the recycling sector in selected developing countries. Hazardous elements present in e-waste are duly considered, and their proper handling and treatment is addressed to prevent environmental or health impacts. |
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Life Cycle Management – A Business Guide to Sustainability Life Cycle Management is not a single tool or methodology but a management system that collects, structures and disseminates productrelated information form various programmes, concepts and tools. It incorporates environmental, economic, and social aspects of products, and is applied in every part of the product’s life cycle. The organization must “go beyond its facility boundaries” and be willing to expand its scope of collaboration and communication to all stakeholders in the value chain. LCM can be specifically adapted and gradually introduced into any organization, including SMEs. This Guide contains many examples illustrating how business organizations are putting life cycle thinking into practice all over the world. |
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Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products These Guidelines present the Social and socio-economic Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA), a power ful technique to assess and report about these impacts and benefits of product life cycle from the extraction of the natural resources to the final disposal. It provides an adequate technical framework from which a larger group of stakeholders can engage to move towards social responsibility when assessing the life cycle of goods and services. |
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Design for Sustainability (D4S), improving products while taking environmental and social concerns as key strategic elements into consideration, is one of the most useful innovation approaches available to entreprises today. Design for Sustainablity provides an overview of D4S and explain how to apply the D4S methodology. The publication, a compilation of efforts from global leaders in the field, explores not onle incremental redesign, but also radical innovation, new product design, and the concept of Product-Service-Systems. Clear reference information and supporting case studies are also provided. The publication targets designers and other professionals working in the area of industrial product development. It is useful to those new to ecodesign as well as those interested in breakthrough innovation for sustainability. |
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Assessing the environmental impacts of consumption and production: Priority products and materials This report prepared by the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management assesses best available science on the environmental and resource impacts of production and consumption. The assessment report identifies priorities amongst global consumption activities, industrial sectors and materials from primary industries in terms of their environmental impacts and their resource use. This can play a role in directing environmental and resource policy to those areas that really matter. |
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The publication aims to clarify the main terms and concepts related to Sustainable Consumption and Production, and other terms related to Sustainable Development. The main objective is to facilitate dialogue and cooperation on SCP between all stakeholders. This is a joint effort from SCP experts, policy makers, researchers and NGOs, compiling definitions from various sources. This publication does not pretend to present globally agreed definitions, but rather in most cases offers working definitions that may continue to evolve. |
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SCP indicators for developing countries This document has been developed to provide guidance to policymakers in developing countries on the development of indicators that measure progress towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production (SCP), a critical means for achieving sustainable development. |
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Paving the Way to SCP: The Marrakech Process Progress Report This report presents the activities and outcomes of the Marrakech Process and provides some highlights and lessons learned. It examines the key outcomes of the Process from three main perspectives: |
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Marrakech Process The Marrakech Process is a dynamic multi-stakeholder platform that supports: 1) the implementation of projects and programmes on SCP at the regional and national levels, and 2) the elaboration of a Global Framework for Action on SCP. The publication describes this vibrant and complex Process. It defines the concept of SCP and provides brief answers and overviews of each of the activities of the Marrakech Process (international and regional meetings, Task Forces, Forums with business and civil society, etc), and highlights the outcomes and progress achieved. It also explains SCP contributions to poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation. Through a series of examples and collection of best practices, these FAQ highlight the global efforts to build capacity, implement SCP programmes and design enabling policy frameworks on SCP. |
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Resource Efficiency for Development This brochure presents the way the Marrakech Process promotes Ressource efficiency and Sustainable Consumption and Production in Developing Countries. |
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DTIE brochure
It is the corporate brochure of the Division of Technology, Industry and Economics |
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Unchaining Value: Innovative approaches to sustainable supply Unchaining Value aims to spur the pursuit of greater environmental and social sustainability within corporate global supply chains. |
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This publication was developed to provide countries with support in integrating SCP approaches and tools into policies and strategies, thereby ensuring SCP is considered at all levels of development planning. The publication complements two other publications, Planning for Change, a set of guidelines on how to plan, develop and monitor national SCP programmes, and the UNDP-UNEP handbook for practitioners, Mainstreaming Poverty-Environment Linkages into Development Planning. |
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Metal Stocks in Society – Scientific Synthesis key question that relates to the very broad and intensive use of metals is whether society needs to be concerned about long-term supplies of any or many of them. This is a many-faceted question that cannot be answered quickly or unequivocally. To address it, the Resource Panel’s Working Group on Global Metal Flows envisions a series of six reports, of which this is the first one addressing metal stocks in society. The continued increase in the use of metals over the twentieth century has led to a substantial shift from geological resource base to metal stocks in society. This report reviews the relevant literature on this topic. |
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Critical Metals and their Recycling Potential The focus of this study lies on future sustainable technologies (FST), such as renewable energies and energy efficient technologies, which will make use of indium (In), germanium (Ge), tantalum (Ta), PGM [platinum group metals, such as ruthenium (Ru), platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd)], tellurium (Te), cobalt (Co), lithium (Li), gallium (Ga) and RE (rare earths)1. These are also classified as ‘green minor metals’, which are the basis for cleaner technology innovation. Other interesting metals like titanium or magnesium (used for light weight applications) are not addressed by this study but should be also an issue for further UNEP investigations and activities in the future. |
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FAO’s new publication on the contribution of urban and peri-urban horticulture to food and nutrition security, sustainable livelihoods, environmental protection, good governance and community development. |
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Greening Economy with Agriculture: |
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The State of the World’s Forests reports on the status of forests, recent major policy and institutional developments and key issues concerning the forest sector. |
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Power Point Presentation on Greening the economy with agriculture |
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UNIDO and Energy Efficiency: A low Carbon path for industry The UNIDO Industrial Energy Efficiency programme builds on more than three decades of experience and unique expertise in the field of sustainable industrial development. Combining the provision of policy development support services and capacity-building for all market players, UNIDO aims at removing the key barriers to continuous improvement of energy efficiency in industries and ultimately transforming the market for industrial energy efficiency. (June 2009) |
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UNIDO and Renewable Energy: Greening the Industrial Agenda UNIDO is a leading provider of services for improved industrial energy efficiency, enhanced use of renewable sources of energy and promotion of cleaner technologies. The report describes UNIDO’s activities to promote renewable energy. (2009) |
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Environmental Resources and Their Management |
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Environmental Management Guía para la Gestión Integral de los Residuos Sólidos Urbanos, 2007 (152 pages/3.7MB) |
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Manual de Producción Más Limpia para el Sector Industrial Citrícola, 2007 (132 pages/2.9MB) |
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Ratifying and Implementing the Stockholm Convention in Africa: Summary of Proceedings of a Skillshare and Workshop, 2004 (64 pages/607KB) |
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Montreal Protocol Greening of Industry under the Montreal Protocol. Background Paper, 2009 (30 pages/1.5MB) |
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Preparing for HCFC Phase-Out: Fundamentals of Uses, Alternatives, Implications and Funding for Article 5 Countries, 2009 (244 pages/3.1MB) |
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Manual on Operations under Multilateral Environmental Agreements, 2009 (196 pages/2.6MB) |
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Chiller Replacements: Linking the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol: Modalities for Implementation and Avenues of Financing, 2008 (94 pages/2.0MB) |
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Energy and Climate Change Policies and Measures to realise Industrial Energy Efficiency and mitigate Climate Change, 2009 (45 pages) |
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Navigating bioenergy: Contributing to informed decision making on bioenergy issues, 2009 (90 pages) |
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UNIDO and Energy Efficiency: A Low-Carbon Path for Industry, 2009 (26 pages/3.5MB) |
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UNIDO and Renewable Energy – Greening the Industrial Agenda, 2009 (32 pages/2.2MB) |
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Training Manual on Sustainable Energy Regulation and Policymaking for Africa, 2009 (1646 pages/9.4MB) |
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Energy, Development and Security: Energy Issues in the Current Macroeconomic Context, 2008 (16 pages/233KB) |
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Policies for Promoting Industrial Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries and Transition Economies Background Paper for the UNIDO Side Event on Sustainable Industrial Development on 8 May 2007.
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Industrial Energy Efficiency and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): Proceedings, 2007 (486 pages/8.9MB)
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Industrial Biotechnology and Biomass Utilization: Prospects and Challenges for the Developing World, 2007 (196 pages/2.9MB) |
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UN-HABITAT: What Does the Green Economy Mean for Sustainable Urban Development? |
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ILO/UNEP: Green Jobs: Towards Decent Work in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World |
WORLD BANK |
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World Bank: Changing Wealth of Nations |
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UNESCAP: Green Growth – Capacity Development Programme |
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OECD: Interim Report of the Green Growth Strategy: Implementing our Commitment for a Sustainable Future |