UNEP

UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, is the UN system’s lead authority on the global environment, established in 1972 after the Stockholm Conference and headquartered in Nairobi. It sets the environmental agenda, develops international law, and coordinates assessment and monitoring. For the marine domain it runs the Regional Seas Programme, launched in 1974, covering eighteen regions through conventions and action plans such as the Barcelona Convention and Mediterranean Action Plan, the Cartagena Convention with its SPAW Protocol, and OSPAR-linked arrangements. UNEP co-sponsors GESAMP, hosts the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), and serves as the secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity and CITES. It drives the global biodiversity and pollution agendas.