Ranking #1 on Amazon for new releases on environmental and natural resource law, is a new book providing rare insight into the past, present and possible future of the UN agency designed to act as “the world’s environmental conscience.”
The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty, marking the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environment Programme, is written by Maria Ivanova, Associate Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and member of the UNEP-SPBF High-Level Advisory Board.
In this book, Ivanova offers a detailed account of UNEP’s origin and history and a vision for its future. Ivanova counters the common criticism that UNEP was deficient by design, arguing that UNEP has in fact delivered on much of its mandate.
Drawing on extensive interviews she conducted with UNEP’s past and present Executive Directors, staff, and two former UN Secretary-Generals, Ivanova provides unparalleled insight into the organization’s functioning. She shows that UNEP was able to resolve problems and launch important processes when it had financial and political support. Its failures and limitations came when the environment slipped as a priority, leadership faltered, and connectivity was challenged. UNEP’s fiftieth anniversary, Ivanova argues, presents an opportunity for reinvention.
During the recent UNEP-SPBF Third Global Session, Ivanova spoke to the current Executive Director of UNEP, Inger Andersen, and multiple environment ministers and business leaders, of the imperative for greater solidarity in multilateral environmental governance to empower all sectors and make peace with nature.
The book’s author speaks with environmental leaders during the UNEP-SPBF Third Global Session on 20 February 2021
She envisions a future UNEP that is the go-to institution for information on the state of the planet, a normative vision of global environmental governance, and support for domestic environmental agendas.
“Ivanova’s book, by far the most profound and insightful analysis of UNEP, combines the author’s research rigor with her heartfelt humanity,” Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (2010–2016)
“Ivanova’s in-depth, down-to-earth analysis of the evolution of UNEP offers lessons learned and forward-looking perspective and creates the cornerstone for enhancing global environmental governance. Genuinely captivating!” Ado Lōhmus, Permanent Representative of Estonia to UNEP, Vice President of UNEA-5
The official launch event for the book takes place on 3 March with a conversation about environmental governance scholarship and action with two of Ivanova’s mentors; Gus Speth, UNDP Administrator (1993-1999) and Dean, Yale School of the Environment (1999-2009), and Daniel Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale School of the Environment and Director, Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy.
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Image by MIT Press