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Nairobi, 7 December 2017 – As the world committed to a pollution-free planet at the close of the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, UN leadership welcomed the continued partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Environment to implement the Sustainable Development Goals through pro-poor environmental initiatives to benefit the poor and vulnerable communities in the developing world.

In 2018, UNDP and UN Environment will jointly launch a new joint project, Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals (2018-2022). The project will build upon and serve as the successor to the Poverty-Environment Initiative, which has been a flagship programme of UNDP and UN Environment since 2007.

In the view of UNDP and UN Environment, Poverty-Environment Initiative is a proven and effective partnership offering existing experience, networks and tools to expedite country capacity development support to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.

Through continued collaboration between the two agencies, Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development Goals, will serve as a UNDP–UN Environment delivery mechanism for equitable and pro-poor sustainable development in Least Developed Countries.   

The joint project will support governments to include environment and nature resource sustainability in investment management systems.  It will help ensure that governments’ legal and regulatory frameworks maximize national and local economic benefits, by applying the necessary social and environmental safeguards and enabling them to screen investment proposals and fully assess the economic, ecological and social of proposed investments.

The handshake between UNDP Associate Administrator Tegegnework Gettu and UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim (pictured above) took place during the United Nations Environment Assembly, attended by over 4,000 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, UN officials, civil society representatives, activists and celebrities gathered at the summit in Nairobi, held from 4 to 6 December.