October 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP)-UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) has published the October issue of its quarterly newsletter. The newsletter includes sections describing global and regional programme activities.

The newsletter highlights three PEI global activities. A side event held on 21 June 2012, at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) presented PEI achievements and experiences from Bhutan, Rwanda and Uruguay. The fourth Donor Steering Group meeting of the joint UNDP-UNEP PEI, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 4 October 2012, reviewed progress and developed plans for PEI’s next phase, from 2013-2017. Discussions focused on climate change, chemicals, ecosystem valuation, environmental and social safeguards, gender mainstreaming, green economy, human rights-based approaches, and sustainable consumption and production.

The African section includes updates on natural capital accounting in Botswana, a new national policy on sustainable development in Burkina Faso, the National Environmental and Climate Change Communication Strategy (NECCCS) in Malawi, and an environment expenditure review in Mozambique. The NECCCS aims to raise awareness on climate change and sustainable environment and natural resource management among stakeholders. The PEI, the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Malawi National Climate Change Programme collaborated to develop the Strategy.

Asia-Pacific highlights include: regional workshops on green and inclusive development held in Bhutan; a model contract for agricultural concessions in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; a climate change budget code system in Nepal that tracks public expenditure on climate change; and efforts to promote transparency in the Philippines’ mining sector under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

PEI activities in Central Asia include: monitoring green development in Kyrgyzstan; and a study on the economic cost of agricultural land degradation in Tajikistan. The section on Latin America and the Caribbean showcases an ecosystem and human well-being assessment in Guatemala.

The newsletter also includes a message from the PEI co-Directors, a description of recent publications and resources, a staff news section, and an introduction to “Teamworks,” a platform to exchange knowledge among UN agencies and external partners. The UNDP-UNEP PEI is a global programme that supports country-led efforts to integrate poverty-environment linkages into national development planning. [Publication: PEI Newsletter, October 2012]