At a pivotal moment for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other resource-rich regions, the Security Council is examining how transparent, inclusive and sustainable natural resource governance can transform minerals from drivers of instability into engines of peace, security and prosperity. As global demand for strategic minerals accelerates, this high-level debate explores how stronger traceability, accountability and regional cooperation can help disrupt the financing of armed groups, prevent conflict and ensure that mineral wealth benefits people and development rather than war. Watch the debate live.

A single pair of jeans carries a surprisingly large environmental footprint, consuming thousands of litres of water, generating greenhouse gas emissions, and contributing to chemical pollution and textile waste throughout its life cycle. As demand for fast fashion grows, these impacts are placing increasing pressure on natural resources and ecosystems. In a new UNEP documentary, supermodel and UNEP Goodwill Ambassador Amber Valletta travels to Tunisia to explore the hidden environmental cost of making jeans—and the innovations helping transform the denim industry. Valletta highlights how sustainable production, greater transparency, and informed consumer choices can help reshape fashion into a more responsible and circular industry.

In Peru's Oxapampa–Asháninka–Yánesha Biosphere Reserve, Indigenous and rural women are protecting native stingless bees while strengthening biodiversity, food security, and local livelihoods. Through UNESCO and Guerlain's Women for Bees project, participants receive training and resources to practice sustainable meliponiculture, combining traditional knowledge with modern techniques. The initiative empowers women with new skills, income opportunities, and leadership roles while helping conserve vital pollinators threatened by habitat loss, pesticides, and climate change. 

The tropics are among the planet’s most vital regions. They are home to around 80% of global biodiversity, nearly half of the world’s forests, and a rapidly growing young population. Yet this extraordinary richness is accompanied by significant challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and water stress. Combined with the heightened risk of extreme weather events associated with El Niño, these pressures make tropical regions particularly vulnerable without timely anticipatory action. Learn more about the potential and challenges of the tropics.

Rangelands cover more than half of the Earth’s land surface and support nearly two billion people, yet they are often overlooked as barren or unproductive landscapes. These ecosystems sustain biodiversity, store around 30 per cent of the world’s terrestrial carbon and underpin the livelihoods of 500 million pastoralists. Across countries including Kenya, Mongolia, India, Brazil, Armenia, Sudan and Tajikistan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is working with communities to restore degraded land, strengthen climate resilience and support sustainable livelihoods. From community-led conservation and climate-smart grazing to women’s leadership and innovative financial tools, these initiatives show that healthy rangelands and thriving communities go hand in hand. Investing in these landscapes is essential for biodiversity, food security and climate action.

Land is essential to life, providing food, water and raw materials, yet more than 2 billion hectares worldwide are degraded, affecting over 3 billion people. As droughts intensify and temperatures rise, restoring ecosystems is critical to protecting biodiversity, food security and freshwater resources. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), everyone has a role to play. Key actions include promoting sustainable agriculture, protecting soil health and pollinators, restoring freshwater ecosystems, reviving coastal and marine habitats, bringing nature back into cities, and increasing investment in ecosystem restoration. These efforts are central to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), a global initiative to scale up action for a healthier, more resilient planet.

UNESCO’s biosphere reserves reverse the traditional conservation model by treating local communities as partners rather than obstacles. With more than 700 reserves in 142 countries, covering 7.5 million square kilometers, these “living laboratories” integrate biodiversity protection, scientific research, and sustainable livelihoods. Last week, 250 experts from 34 countries gathered in Paraguay for the Man and the Biosphere Programme’s International Coordinating Council. The host, Paraguay’s Itaipu Biosphere Reserve, protects the country’s largest remaining Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest corridor while supporting 250,000 residents. Through restoration efforts, nearly 4 million trees have been planted. The meeting also welcomed 14 new reserves, including the first in Montenegro and Timor-Leste.

The Earth is sending clear warnings: record-breaking heat, wildfires, extreme storms, and melting glaciers. Scientists warn we are dangerously close to exceeding 1.5°C of global warming, a threshold beyond which climate impacts become far more severe. But there is still hope. Communities are restoring ecosystems, young people are driving change, and clean energy is building a more sustainable future. This World Environment Day (5 June), remember there is still time to act. The Earth is sending us a signal—what message will we send back? Join UNEP’s global campaign and act #ForClimateNow.

Inclusion means fostering respect, dignity, and safe spaces where diverse identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences are valued so that everyone can fully participate in shaping a more sustainable future.

In the Solomon Islands, the Kira tribe has secured a landmark victory for Indigenous-led conservation after years of resisting destructive logging and fighting to protect their ancestral rainforest. Led by community leader Andrew Taraha, the tribe combined traditional knowledge, grassroots organizing, and scientific biodiversity research to establish the Kira Forest Biodiversity Conservation Area in 2023 — the first protected tribal land in Malaita province. Supported by the UNDP-backed Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, the initiative safeguards nearly 700 hectares of rainforest, endangered species, freshwater sources, and sacred cultural sites while inspiring neighboring communities to pursue their own conservation efforts

Across the high Andes, Indigenous communities protect vicuñas and fragile grasslands through chaku, preserving culture, biodiversity, and balance.

The International Day of Plant Health highlights the importance of protecting plants to improve food security, biodiversity and global economic growth. Healthy plants provide most of the world’s food and oxygen, making plant biosecurity essential for human survival.

Plant pests and diseases destroy up to 40 percent of global crops each year, causing billions of dollars in agricultural losses. Climate change and increasing trade are spreading pests faster, making stronger international plant health measures more important than ever.

One million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction. Nearly 75% of Earth’s land ecosystems and 66% of marine environments have already been profoundly altered by human activity. But biodiversity loss is not inevitable. To restore nature globally, action must begin locally, with communities, organizations, and governments working together to protect and regenerate the ecosystems we all depend on. This International Day for Biological Diversity (22 May) is a call for bold local action with global impact. The time to act is not someday. It is now.

In Andhra Pradesh, millions of farmers are restoring degraded land and improving livelihoods, which promotes natural farming practices that rebuild soil health, protect biodiversity, and reduce reliance on chemical inputs.

As global forest challenges take center stage, the 21st session of the United Nations Forum on Forests convenes from 11 to 15 May at UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting focuses on strengthening policies and speeding action to meet global forest commitments, including key goals related to protecting them and promoting their sustainable management. The session marks the launch of the Global Forest Goals Report 2026  to understand where the world stands on forest commitments, and a series of side events on primary forests, forest finance, and sustainable wood production. Follow the forum on UN WebTV.