Health – Knowledge Sharing Platform

Picture of a forest in the shape of a set of lungs.

The Climate Change Negotiations and Health e-course has been updated ahead of COP28.

The course unpacks the interlinkages between climate change and health and aims to answer important questions, such as the current state of climate change negotiations at the international level with regard to health, and how climate change is impacting human health.

Human-driven climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year from 2030 to 2050 – linked to issues ranging from malnutrition to heat stress. This is forecast to amount to U$ 2 – 4 billion of extra costs to countries throughout the globe by 2030.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important interlinkages between human health and the state of our environment and economies. As societies expand and develop, addressing human health and climate change as two intertwined topics have never been so important.

In light of these challenges and aiming at supporting delegates participating in the upcoming UN climate change negotiations (COP28), the Change Negotiations and Health e-course, jointly developed by UN CC:Learn, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Climate Tracker has been updated.

The newly updated e-course is entirely self-paced, has 6 lessons and takes an average of 3 hours to be completed. It unveils the interlinkages between climate change and health and sheds light on how international treaties on climate change address health issue. Additionally, complementary online sessions will be organized for selected participants.

Upon completion of the course, users will be able to:

Explain how climate change affects health;
Recognize the international climate change policy framework;
Identify the Parties and groups of Parties to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, including their respective commitments and negotiation positions;
Describe the outcomes of past negotiation sessions;
Discuss the key issues in the ongoing international climate change negotiations, particularly in relation to the promotion of health priorities and the integration of health in all policies.

The course is open to anybody interested. However, it should be of particular interest to the following audiences:

Health sector professionals participating in international climate change negotiations and in national climate change-related processes;
Environmental sector professionals participating in international and national climate change processes as well as climate change negotiators;
Other interested government officials and practitioners;
Academics and university students;
Other individuals interested in learning about the promotion of health priorities in the context of climate change and climate change negotiations.

Upon satisfactory completion of the course, which means scoring 70% or more in the final quiz within 3 attempts, users will get an official UN CC:Learn certificate.

Take the course here.

Indigenous people hold invaluable knowledge for biodiversity and environmental conservation but are often overlooked. Suryakanta Acharya completed the ” An Introduction to Climate Change and Human Rights” e-course and is now helping indigenous communities in India face up to environmental, social and health challenges. Read on to get inspired!

As nature’s stewards, indigenous people play a vital role in managing and preserving the environment. However, their interests are often overlooked. Suryakanta Acharya, an oncologist from India, is making sure indigenous people are getting their voices heard. Suryakanta has always had an interest in protecting health and safeguarding human rights and traditional knowledge of indigenous people. He founded PAY-W Clinic to work towards these goals and, eventually, came across the affiliated “An Introduction to Human Rights and Climate Change” e-course on UN CC:e-Learn. He completed the course and learned about the correlations between human rights and climate change, which was new to him.

He set out to integrate this newly acquired knowledge into the work being done by his organization. In 2021, for instance, he and his organization helped an indigenous community in Assam, India, to get rid of a municipal garbage dumping site that was negatively affecting the community’s health and environment. People were experiencing breathing and skin issues due to the high levels of chemicals being released from the dumping site and agricultural fields were made infertile due to the leakage of these chemicals into the soil.

His activism, along with the engagement of other NGOs, helped bring about judiciary intervention that compelled the municipality to shift the dumping site elsewhere. After a few months, the community was back in good health and the soil was recovering.

Suryakanta at COP13 in Cancun, Mexico. (Personal archive)

Suryakanta is now engaging with the local indigenous community to raise awareness of climate change and other environmental issues. He encouraged two of the community’s literate members to act as a bridge and spread knowledge among the other members. They have completed UN CC:Learn courses and are passing what they learned on to other members of their community.

His story has already travelled far and got the attention of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

“I am quite positive about the UN CC:e-Learn platform. It offers the required knowledge free-of-charge to enable me and many others to perform our fundamental duties as well as safeguard our environment.” – Suryakanta Acharya, 2022 UN CC:Learn Champion

Addressing air pollution is crucial to tackling climate change and improving people’s health. Against this backdrop, the new “How to Report Emissions under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution” affiliated e-course is now available on UN CC:e-Learn.

Read on to find out more about this new course!

Air pollution is a complex issue that impacts people’s health, the environment, and the world economy. Air pollution can originate from a broad range of sources so addressing this challenge is not always evident and straightforward. However, understanding how to properly report emissions inventories is one of the key steps that countries must take to tackle air pollution.

In this context, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) member States have been working successfully for cleaner air in Europe since 1979 through the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. As signatories to the convention, they have a basic obligation to report their emissions inventories, which quantifies air pollutants and/or greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere in a defined geographical area and time span.

To support UNECE member states, the newly affiliated “How to Report Emissions under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution” e-course, developed by UNECE, explains the importance of emission inventories for clean air policy development, the requirements for emission inventory reporting and methods for emission estimation. This e-course is currently available in English, with a Russian version in the pipeline, and builds on the “Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution” affiliated e-course, available since 2022 on UN CC:e-Learnin English and Russian.

Who should take this course?

The course will be particularly useful for Ministries and technical institutes dealing with the Convention, academics, and NGOs and anyone else wishing to learn more about emission reporting under the Convention.

Learning Objectives

The course features three distinct modules that aim to equip learners with the knowledge and resource materials to understand the purpose of emission inventories, to follow the reporting process under the Convention and to contribute to emission inventory development.

Upon completing the course, participants will be able to:

Explain what an emission inventory is
Identify substances that are released into the atmosphere from various human activities
Describe how emission inventories contribute to the development of clean air policy at national and international levels
Outline the objectives, scope and principles of the Guidelines for reporting developed under the Convention
List different source categories covered by reporting obligations
Outline the principles of completing the reporting templates
Describe different emission estimation methods used under the Convention

Certification and Evaluation

To successfully complete the course and gain a Certificate of Completion, participants can take an end-of-course assessment. Once the certification criteria have been met (passing score 70%), and after completing a course evaluation form, participants will be able to download their certificate from the course’s webpage.

Affiliation programme

The UN CC:Learn affiliation programme highlights high-quality e-learning products on climate change developed by recognized institutions outside the framework of the UN CC:Learn programme / without support from the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, in accordance with specific affiliation criteria. The objective of the UN CC:Learn affiliation programme is to enhance global climate literacy through dissemination of high-level learning products that complement UN CC:Learn resources.

Take the course!

UN CC:Learn promoted climate change education during COP27.

As in previous editions, the programme collaborated with several partners to deliver the flagship Climate Classroom initiative.

Read on to find out more!

During the 27th Conferences of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 06 November to 18 November 2022, UN CC:Learn organised another edition of the Climate Classroom, the series of 45-minute lessons which have become the programme’s flagship initiative during COP.

Following the successful format of 2021, most classes were held online and open to the broad public. In total, 20 classes were held fully online, one was delivered in-person at COP27 and another one was organized in a hybrid setting. This year’s edition of the Climate Classroom covered a broad range of topics – from climate change and human rights to e-waste – and received a high number of registrations, with over 28,000 registrations received for the 22 classes, a new record for the initiative.

Class on Climate Change and Health at the WHO Health Pavilion at COP27.

The preparation and delivery of the Climate Classroom relies on the engagement of all partners involved and, thanks to them, the Climate Classroom’s format has grown to become a well-established and successful one. The classes during COP27 were organized in partnership with UN partners, such as FAO, ILO, ITU, UN Women, UNEP, UNITAR, WHO and WMO, and other institutions and organizations, like FFI, CYNP, MEECE, WRI and YOUNGO. With content carefully developed by our partners’ experts, the classes kept over 5,000 people, among delegates and the general public, up-to-speed on climate change issues.

In addition to the Climate Classroom, UN CC:Learn also attended a series of the several side-events being supported by UNITAR in Egypt.

PAGE side-event at COP27 supported by UNITAR.

As in previous years, UN CC:Learn made all the information on its activities at COP available on a dedicated page, which also included a link to the program’s library full of UN resources.

The Climate Change Negotiations and Health e-course has been updated ahead of COP27. The course unpacks the interlinkages between climate change and health and aims to answer important questions, such as the current state of climate change negotiations at the international level with regards to health, and how climate change is impacting human health.

Human-driven climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year from 2030 to 2050, as well as billions of extra costs to countries throughout the globe. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important interlinkages between human health and the state of our environment and economies. As societies expand and develop, addressing human health and climate change as two intertwined topics has never been so important.

In light of these challenges and aiming at supporting delegates participating in the upcoming UN climate change negotiations (COP27), the Change Negotiations and Health e-course, jointly developed by UN CC:Learn, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Climate Tracker has been updated.

Upon completion of the course, users will be able to:

Explain how climate change affects health.
Recognize the international climate change policy framework.
Identify the Parties and groups of Parties to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, including their respective commitments and negotiation positions.
Describe the outcomes of past negotiation sessions.
Discuss the key issues in the ongoing international climate change negotiations, particularly in relation to the promotion of health priorities and the integration of health in all policies.

The course is open to anybody interested. However, it should be of particular interest to the following audiences:

Health sector professionals participating in international climate change negotiations and in national climate change-related processes;
Environmental sector professionals participating in international and national climate change processes as well as climate change negotiators;
Other interested government officials and practitioners;
Academics and university students;
Other individuals interested in learning about the promotion of health priorities in the context of climate change and climate change negotiations.

Upon satisfactory completion of the course, which means scoring 70% or more in the final quiz within 3 attempts, users will get an official UN CC:Learn certificate.

Take the course here.

What are persistent organic pollutants (POPs)? Where can they be found? Why are they hazardous?

These are just a few questions that our new course will unpack for you.

Keep reading to find out more it!

Have you ever heard of the “Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants”? The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods and are harmful to both humans and the environment. The Convention was adopted in 2001 building on the principles of the Rio Declaration and aims to support countries in addressing these through a series of mechanisms and processes.

Against this backdrop, UN CC:Learn , UNITAR and the BRS Secretariat teamed up to develop the “National Implementation Plans (NIPs) and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)” e-course. This three-module learning experience takes an average of three hours to be completed and will help you understand POPs by explaining what they are, where they can be found and why they are harmful to humans and the environment. This course is geared towards everyone who wishes to learn more about POPs, as well as experts who deal with the topic day-to-day.

Learning Objectives

Each module has specific learning objectives. However, after completing the course, learners will be able to:

Describe the important contribution of National Implementation Plans (NIPs) towards meeting obligations of the Stockholm Convention
Explain steps required to prepare, review and update NIPs
Identify the challenges in the process of undertaking POPs inventories
Describe how POPs inventories are used in planning exercises
Discuss strategies to strengthen NIPs
Explain the importance of putting in place the means of regularly reviewing and updating NIPs

Target Audience

While the groups below will find it particularly useful, this course is open to everyone, and we encourage you to take it. The knowledge you will gain can help you in everyday life.

Official Contact Points and National Focal Points of Parties for the Stockholm Convention.
Members of national steering committees or coordinating bodies for developing and updating NIPs (coordination units) and their different task teams; and
Stakeholders, from government, the private sector, civil society, and the public, participating in any of the phases of NIPs preparation, review and updating.

Certification

Participants who score 70% or higher in each one of the three quizzes will be awarded an official UN CC:Learn certificate.

Take the course today!

How can countries address the growing plastic waste problem? This is the question that the new “Plastic Waste and the Basel Convention” unpacks in three content-rich and interactive modules.

Read on to learn more about the course!

Plastic waste is a global environmental problem which affects countries and people in several ways. From health issues to the destruction of ecosystems, the plastic waste problem brings about a myriad of negative consequences that disrupt both livelihoods and economies, seriously disturbing the lives of regular citizens, especially the most vulnerable. For instance, improper plastic disposal is leading to increasingly dangerous levels of marine litter, including plastic litter and microplastics, that harm marine life and end up in the global food chain.

In 2019, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)emphasized the role the Basel Convention has in addressing the high and rapidly increasing levels of marine plastic litter and microplastics by preventing plastic waste from entering the marine environment. In a landmark decision, the COP adopted amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX (the Plastic Waste Amendments), making the Basel Convention the only global legally binding instrument that currently specifically addresses plastic waste.

Currently, there is no consolidated ‘one-stop-shop’ that Basel Convention Focal Points, Competent Authorities and other stakeholders can rely on to gain a comprehensive understanding of the steps needed and the tools and guidance available to ensure prevention and minimization, environmentally sound management and control of transboundary movement of plastic waste. Considering this, the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions in cooperation with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and funded through the European Union (EU) Global Public Goods and Challenges programme (GPGC) developed the “Plastic Waste and the Basel Convention” e-course, which aims to fill this gap.

Learning objectives

After completing the course, learners will be able to:

Summarize the key trends, challenges and opportunities related to plastic waste management at global and national level;
Discuss the Basel Convention and its key provisions and annexes as well as the role of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies with respect to plastic waste;
Explain how different types of plastic waste are classified and must be managed under the Basel Convention

Who should take this course ?

While the course is primarily targeted at the Focal Points and Competent Authorities of the Basel Convention, it is suited for learners irrespective of their level of pre-existing knowledge of the Basel Convention and plastic waste. It may also be useful for other government stakeholders, civil society, the private sector and the general public with some waste management or environment knowledge.

Course Completion and Certification

The successful completion of the course rewards the learner with a certificate. To complete the course, the learner must complete all three modules and pass each associated quiz with a minimum grade of 70% from no more than three attempts. The completion of each module also rewards the learner with a badge.

Take the course!

Air pollution has been damaging people’s health and contributing to environmental degradation. This newly launched affiliated e-course unpacks the Air Convention and its Protocols and lays out the current efforts by UNECE and its member states to address this issue.

Read on to find out more!

Have you ever wondered what causes air pollution? Are you interested in learning about the effects of air pollution on your health and the environment? Do you want to learn how we can jointly work on cleaner air? If you replied yes to any of these questions, then you are encouraged to take the e-learning course on the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (Air Convention) and its protocols, which has been launched by UNECE and recently affiliated in both English and Russian by UN CC:Learn .

Air pollution impacts our health, environment and economy. Air pollutants come from multiple sources, such as traffic, industry and agriculture, and are transported over large distances and across borders. It is therefore paramount that we take action together — across sectors and national boundaries.

To improve air quality, UNECE Member States have been working successfully since 1979 to reduce air pollution in the region through the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. This cooperation has led to emission reductions, cleaner air, healthier forests and prevented premature deaths.

However, more needs to be done to achieve cleaner air within the UNECE region and beyond. The Convention has engaged in fostering cooperation between regional initiatives around the world and shared the Convention’s experience and lessons learnt with a view to advancing a shared response to addressing air pollution globally.

To assist countries in effectively addressing air pollution and improve air quality management, the new affiliated e-learning course aims to raise awareness about air pollution and its effects, ways to prevent and reduce harmful emissions, and the Convention and its protocols as an international framework for cooperation on cleaner air. The course was developed with contributions from the European Union, Germany, and Sweden.

Who should take this course?

The course is primarily designed to build the capacities of policymakers, government officials, staff from intergovernmental/non-governmental organizations, private sector professionals, students/academia, and other stakeholders. In particular, this course will be useful for those who cooperate within the Convention framework or those who wish to do so. Taking this course should enable learners to contribute to, and ultimately drive forward, actions on cleaner air.

Learning objectives

The course features four distinct modules that aim to equip participants with the knowledge and resource materials to understand the main concepts in air pollution management, the basic principles of the Convention, and Parties’ obligations under the Convention and its protocols. The course is self-paced and can be completed according to the schedule of the learner. Each module uses a mix of learning tools and features engaging content with clear storylines, complemented by videos, interactive features, relevant tools, and links to additional resources.

After completing the course, learners will be able to:

Identify key air pollutants and their sources and effects
Recall measures to reduce and prevent air pollution
Recognize the value of the Convention as a framework for international cooperation to reduce air pollution
Define basic principles under the Convention and its protocols
Explain the basic obligations under the Convention’s protocols
Identify the key stakeholders and processes under the Convention and its protocols

Certification and evaluation

Affiliation programme

Take the course!

UN CC:Learn has partnered up with WHO, UNITAR and Climate Tracker to come up with a course that unpacks the interlinkages between climate change and health. In the lead-up to COP26 and amid a global pandemic, approaching these topics together has never been so important. Read on to find out more!

Human-driven climate change is expected to cause 250,000 additional deaths per year from 2030 to 2050, as well as billions of extra costs to countries throughout the globe. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the important interlinkages between human health and the state of our environment and economies. As societies expand and develop, addressing human health and climate change as two intertwined topics has never been so important.

In light of these challenge and aiming at supporting delegates participating in the upcoming UN climate change negotiations (COP26), UN CC:Learn, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Climate Tracker have developed a brand new e-course on Climate Change Negotiations and Health.

The newly launched e-course is entirely self-paced, has 6 lessons and takes an average of 3 hours to be completed. It unveils the interlinkages between climate change and health and sheds light on how international treaties on climate change address health issue. Additionally, the course is supported by two webinars on negotiation skills (webinar 1and webinar 2). Upon completion of the course, users will be able to:

Explain how climate change affects health.
Recognize the international climate change policy framework.
Identify the Parties and groups of Parties to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, including their respective commitments and negotiation positions.
Describe the outcomes of past negotiation sessions.
Discuss the key issues in the ongoing international climate change negotiations, particularly in relation to the promotion of health priorities and the integration of health in all policies.

The course is open to anybody interested. However, it should be of particular interest to the following audiences:

Health sector professionals participating in international climate change negotiations and in national climate change-related processes;
Environmental sector professionals participating in international and national climate change processes as well as climate change negotiators;
Other interested government officials and practitioners;
Academics and university students;
Other individuals interested in learning about the promotion of health priorities in the context of climate change and climate change negotiations.

Upon satisfactory completion of the course, which means scoring 70% or more in the final quiz within 3 attempts, users will get an official UN CC:Learn certificate.

Take the course here.

Hassan Mowlid is a public health professional and a UN CC:Learn champion from Somalia. He has co-founded the Somali Greenpeace Association and has trained more than 1,000 youth on climate change. He is inspired to keep training others on climate issues and biodiversity. Read his story and discover how powerful can be to lead education programmes on climate change at local level.

My name is Hassan Mowlid Yasin, and I am a public health and public administration professional from Somalia. I am also an environmental activist, co-founder and vice-chairperson of the Somali Greenpeace Association, and the National Chapter Lead for Somalia for the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC).

Photo: Hassan Mowlid Yasin

I took my first online course on the UN CC:Learn platform in 2017, and since then my life – in relation to the environment, and climate change issues – has changed completely. I have now taken ten different UN CC:Learn courses, including those on Gender and Environment, Human Health and Climate Change, and Children and Climate Change. These have helped me to begin advocating on climate change and environmental protection.

Through various initiatives, I have now trained more than 1,000 youth on what climate change is and how it is impacting our life. I have also co-founded the Somali Greenpeace Association (SOGPA), which aims to address climate change issues, food security and biodiversity loss in my country. Through the association, we have taken a number of different actions to raise awareness around climate change and environmental issues among different groups of people.

Photo: Hassan Mowlid Yasin

For instance, we have developed a number of tree-planting initiatives at different schools, youth centres and at the Somali National University. As part of these initiatives, we have conducted field training and education sessions on the importance of tree planting as a climate mitigation action, as well as awareness training on the negative impacts of deforestation, and sessions on plant protection.

We’ve also conducted different education programmes on climate change, and for World Environment Day 2020 trained more than 100 local youth on the importance of biodiversity for addressing climate issues. This including educating these on the interlinkages between climate, biodiversity, and peace and security. SOGPA also raised awareness on these linkages on World Peace Day, which we celebrated with the theme “Give Peace to the Environment”. As well as youth groups, we’ve also trained the Somali police on the issue of environmental protection.

Photo: Hassan Mowlid Yasin

Finally, developing this knowledge and understand has also allowed me to partner with like-minded youth groups who share similar climate and environmental goals. I’m now a representative on numerous youth organizations in both Africa and beyond, including the United Nations Environment Programme for Children and Youth (UNEP MGCY), Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN), African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), Plant for the Planet (PFP), Climate Change Educators Network (CE Educator’s Network), and African Union’s Youth, Peace and Security Network for the East African Region (AU-EA YPS Network).

Get Involved:

Are you involved in training your local community on climate change? How are you doing that and what results have you reached? Share your testimonial on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and tag UN CC:Learn. We are looking forward to getting in touch with you!

Start your learning journey:

Access our e-learning platform on unccelearng.org and take free courses on climate change and green economy. You may be interested in learning about:

The Climate Change Negotiations and Health course has been updated for COP28!

Empowering Indigenous Communities in India

New Affiliated Course on How to Report Emissions under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution

Affiliation programme

UN CC:Learn Brings Climate Change Education to Thousands of People during COP 27

The Climate Change Negotiations and Health course has been updated for COP27!

Tackling Persistent Organic Pollutants! Come learn more about the Stockholm Convention and its National Implementation Plans from our latest e-course

Learning Objectives

Target Audience

Certification

New e-Course Walks You through the Role of the Basel Convention in Addressing the Plastic Waste Problem

Learning objectives

Who should take this course ?

Course Completion and Certification

New Affiliated Course on the Air Convention and Its Protocols Is Available on UN CC:E-Learn

In the Lead Up to COP26, UN CC:Learn, WHO and UNITAR Unveil the Interlinkages Between Climate Change and Human Health through a Brand New Online Course.

Delivering educational programmes on climate issues to generate change in Somalia

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