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Farmer carrying produce with two kids in Southeast Asia.

The second course in our two-part learning series is out!

Advancing Sustainable Development in Practice teaches you how to apply in practice an integrated approach to sustainable development throughout the various stages of the policy and project cycles.

Read on to learn more about the course.

In July 2023, UN CC:Learn and UNDP/UNEP’s Poverty-Environment Action for Sustainable Development (UNDP-UNEP PEA) released a new two-part learning series on the integration of sustainable development approaches in poverty and environment issues.

The “Intro to Sustainable Development in Practice” e-course, the first course in this learning series, has been a great success with more than 8,500 sign-ups and over 2,500 certificates delivered in a bit over three months.

Following this successful launch, the 7-module “Advancing to Sustainable Development in Practice” e-course has been made available on UN CC:e-Learn.

The course is the final part of the learning series and takes an in-depth look at how to apply in practice an integrated approach to sustainable development throughout the various stages of the policy and project cycle, including analysis, dialogue, planning, financing, communicating, monitoring, and evaluation.

It is based on Chapter 2 to Chapter 8 of the publication “Sustainable Development in Practice: A Handbook for Integrating Environment, Climate and Poverty Reduction” (Bass et al., 2023) and explores a number of tools, tips and methods that can aid practitioners put in place interventions related to the environment, climate action, and poverty reduction, at the national and sub-national levels.

The learning series aims to bring poverty, environment, and climate objectives into the heart of development plans, policies, budgets, public and private finance in partner countries. Both the Intro and Advanced coursesare based on years of experience, lessons, case studies, and practical guidance distilled by the PEI/PEA project and synthesized in the PEA Handbook.

Learn more about “Advancing Sustainable Development in Practice” below!

What will you learn?

After completing the course, learners will be able to:

Examine and promote evidence-based approaches to poverty and environment issues.
Set up effective sustainable development dialogue process with key stakeholders.
Develop strategies for embedding poverty and environment issues into policy processes and plans.
Demonstrate the integration of poverty and environment issues into public and private finance, including fiscal policy.
Design an effective communication strategy supporting poverty and environment issues integration.
Formulate approaches for effective monitoring & evaluation of poverty and environment actions.
Discuss institutional change approaches to enabling integrated sustainable development.

Who is this course for?

The course is open to everyone, but the following groups may find it particularly useful:

Technical and policy planning staff at the national, regional, and local levels;
Development practitioners;
Change agents from civil society and the private sector, including youth;
Citizens interested in sustainable development in practice.

Will you get a certificate?

Once you complete all videos, lessons, and activities in each module, you will need to complete the final quiz at the end of the course before the certificate becomes automatically available for download.

Take the course!

In September 2023, UN CC:Learn organised a “Fireside Chat on E-Waste Prevention” for all its alumni who had completed the “E-Waste Prevention” e-course.

The hour-long discussion with a UNITAR e-waste expert touched on several solutions for this growing global problem.

Read on to find out more!

Did you know that e-waste is fastest growing waste stream in the world?

By 2030, e-waste is projected to reach a staggering 50-70 million tons globally, with great negative consequences for both people and the environment.

As technology evolves and the world gets even more interconnected, devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops have become mainstream, but the way in which countries deal and manage the waste stemming from their use and disposal is still falling short of the minimum necessary.

To help UN CC:Learn alumni unpack the complex e-waste issue, we invited Ms. Giulia Iattoni, Assistant Programme Officer at UNITAR’s Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) programme to a one-hour Fireside Chat on “How to Prevent E-Waste”.

During the exchange, moderated by Ms. Andrea Biswas, a Researcher and Development Professional, Ms. Iattoni shed light on what electronic waste is, its far-reaching human and environmental impacts, and how we can all be part of the solution by taking responsibility for this problem and supporting circular economy initiatives and preventing e-waste in the first place.

Ms. Iattoni stressed the importance of having good and reliable data that can inform policymakers in the different e-waste management and prevention strategies and policies. In this context, she highlighted the role SCYCLE is playing in this area through several insightful publications, such as the Global E-Waste Monitor.

In addition, she spoke about the importance and urgency of introducing legislation that holds electronic producers accountable throughout the whole value chain of the devices they make. Moreover, Ms. Iattoni highlighted how waste prevention is paramount to dealing with this problem. For instance, she brought up the importance of integrating the informal sector in e-waste management, especially in developing countries, and the success and effectiveness of “repair cafés”, gathering where people get together to repair their used electronic devices together.

The three main takeaways of the Fireside Chat were:

The best e-waste is the one that does not exist: as consumers, we hold immense power in making sustainable choices that favour products with longer lifespans, better warranties, and repair-friendly designs.
Data, awareness, and research are our allies: understanding the scale of the e-waste problem is the first step. Reliable data, research, and raising awareness are our allies in addressing this challenge.
Shared responsibility for a sustainable future: the responsibility to tackle e-waste doesn’t fall on any single entity – it’s a shared effort involving governments, producers, recyclers, and consumers.

This Fireside Chat are part of UN CC:Learn’s alumni engagement initiatives and was organized for everyone who had completed the ‘’E-Waste Prevention” e-course.

The Fireside Chats provide exclusive, direct access to the personal/professional insights of UN and other thought leaders/experts on climate change topics. They consist of short (45-60 minutes), informal interviews with engaging specialists followed by an interactive Q&A with participants able to submit questions to the experts in advance.

Fireside Chat Promotional Flyer.

The “Plastic Waste and the Basel Convention” e-course , originally launched in English in 2022, is now available in French and Spanish. The course unpacks the role of the Basel Convention in addressing plastic waste and how it can support countries in dealing with this growing global issue.

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 and is available in three languages: English, French and Spanish.

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 in English, French or Spanish.

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 and SCYCLE partnered up to develop a brand new course on “How to Prevent E-Waste”.

Read on to find out what you can do to start addressing this growing and pressing problem.

What do you usually do with that old phone that has been replaced and doesn’t have any use for you anymore?

If you have answered “nothing”, you are not alone. Most people don’t actually properly dispose of their old phones – or any other electronic device – and instead toss them into drawers not to be used again. In the worst cases, these old devices end up in regular waste bins, mixing up with regular trash, fueling a growing environmental problem called “e-waste”.

As technology developed, e-waste has increased bringing along a range of environmental, social, and economic problems. E-waste has become the fastest growing waste stream in the world, and in 2019 alone, 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste were generated globally, and only a tiny fraction of it is being properly disposed of or recycled. The demand for more raw materials has enormous consequences for the environment, contributing to, among other things, climate change.

To help tackle this problem, UN CC:Learn partnered up with UNITAR’s Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) Programme to develop the “How to Prevent E-Waste” e-course. This 2-hour, free and self-paced e-learning course aims to provide individuals with practical solutions to tackle the e-waste crisis. In 4 modules, learners will discover how e-waste can be a source of valuable components that can be recycled, reused, or repaired, and what they can do to support the shift from the currently linear production and consumption model towards circular economy and society.

By the end of the course, learners will be able to:

Discuss what electronic waste is and the diverse impacts it has
Describe the role individuals, companies, and authorities play in reducing e-waste
Identify ways for consumers to support circularity, including by influencing industry players and lawmakers
Highlight individual and community actions to tackle and prevent e-waste.

The course aims to inspire, as much as educate. It dares learners to co-create a better tomorrow through individual and joint action.

Upon completion of all the activities of the course, learners are awarded an official UN CC:Learn certificate.

Take the course here!

In June 2022, UNITAR and the One Ocean Hub launched a new platform – One Ocean Learn – to help transform the way ocean knowledge is produced and shared.

Read on to find out more!

It is time to reimagine and transform the way that we govern our oceans.

The ocean covers a bit more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, hosting a myriad of animals, plants, bacteria, minerals and much more, that are vital for sustaining life on our planet. Moreover, the ocean has extremely important environmental and economic roles, absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and providing jobs and food for billions of people across all continents.

In this context, the use and production of ocean knowledge and resources are key to transforming ocean governance and to informing decision-making. However, both need to be more inclusive and accessible in order for all relevant actors and stakeholders directly and indirectly involved in ocean governance to have access to reliable, up-to-date and information on ocean-related topics. Towards this aim, One Ocean Learn (OO:Learn) came to life in June 2022 at the UN Ocean Conference, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Launch of the One Ocean Learn platform at the UN Ocean Conference, in Lisbon.

“It (OO:Learn) immerses users in a sea of resources where they can experience beauty and awe. The platform nourishes learning through curiosity and wonder. It inspires and challenges learners by navigating across scientific resources, different disciplines, art, and opportunities for partnerships.” – Elisa Margera, One Ocean Hub

This new platform is designed for activists, communities, development practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to share resources on how global, national and local communities depend on and relate to our oceans, coastal areas and marine life.

OO:Learn’s focuses on connecting knowledge across different sources and enhancing capacities to use integrated knowledge to address real-world questions and to understand experiences, with a view to contributing toward more sustainable decisions on the ocean. The central idea is greater inclusivity and to significantly improve the way that knowledge on the ocean is shared among the many communities and individuals that have a stake in ocean governance, which means most of us.

To do this, One Ocean Learn features Learning Pathways where different change-makers on the ocean, from activists to researchers, can embark on a learning journey to build their capacity through curated resources and quizzes. In addition, the platform has a dedicated exhibition space that hosts artworks related to the ocean, with its first exhibition on the “Traditions and tales from the sea” by artist Julia Granillo Tostada.

Illustration part of the “Traditions and tales from the sea” by Julia Granillo Tostada.

One Ocean Learn is a joint undertaking between the One Ocean Hub, a collaborative research programme for sustainable development funded by UK Research and Innovation through the Global Challenges Research Fund, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

Interested in partnering up or have any feedback on the platform? Reach out to us at [email protected].

Get first-hand updates on OO:Learn on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

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!

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 ?

Course Completion and Certification

Take the course!

Approximately one-third of all food produced globally never gets eaten and is thrown away! Food waste has grave negative consequences that can be traced to poverty, inequality, and climate change.

UN CC:Learn and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency have joined forces to make available the new “Food Waste Prevention” e-course, your go-to source of information, tips, and ideas on how to prevent food waste.

Read on to find out more!

Did you know that if food waste was a country, it would be the third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter on the planet, just after China and the United States? This dramatic example shows the scale of the problem and the urgent need for action. Governments, companies, and individuals have to dramatically accelerate efforts to meet target SDG 12.3 aimed at halving food loss and waste by 2030. Against this backdrop, UN CC:Learn and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency have developed the Food Waste Prevention e-course to help everyone – from individual consumers to food producers – save food at all stages of the food chain.

This newly crafted, video-based, interactive e-learning course has 5 modules. Each module focuses on a specific stage of the food chain, including food manufacturing and retailing, food services, and household consumption. At each stage of the food chain, steps can be taken to target, measure, and act to stop food wasted. Practical tools and case studies help learners turn knowledge into actions in their everyday lives and business practices.

This e-course is open to everyone – from beginners to an expert – but it is particularly geared toward learners from emerging economies, such as China, Brazil, South Africa, and India, where consumption habits are quickly changing and setting up food waste prevention systems can have a great impact in the short and long run. Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Define the role key stakeholders play in food waste prevention.
Identify ways to measure and account for food waste at various stages of the food chain.
Describe effective measures to prevent food waste throughout the food chain.
Outline measures to minimize food waste wherever prevention is not possible.

After going through all five modules, learners will be asked to take a quiz and participate in a role-playing game to assess their knowledge. An official UN CC:Learn certificate will be granted to those who complete the course.

Take the course in English and Portuguese!

Climate change is increasingly affecting peace and security across the globe, and factors, such as gender and social inequalities, are catalysing the effects of this dire trend. How can one help prevent climate change from further disrupting peace and security? The answer is unveiled in this new e-course, for which users can register and learn from all three modules.

Read on and find out more about “Climate Change, Peace and Security: Understanding Climate-Related Security Risks Through an Integrated Lens”.

Climate change has been called “the defining issue of our time.” We know that global temperatures are increasing – melting glaciers, raising sea levels, and causing more severe and frequent extreme weather events. But how are these changes impacting peace and security? And how do social factors, such as gender and other inequalities, also affect this nexus?

That’s what the online course on “Climate Change, Peace and Security: Understanding Climate-Related Security Risks Through an Integrated Lens” aims to unravel. This e-course has been jointly developed by UN CC:Learn, UNEP, UN Women, UNDPPA, UNDP and Adelphi, and presents a new and engaging opportunity to explore and unpack these complex interactions.

This free and interactive learning experience, comprising a dynamic interface with videos, infographics, quizzes and more, provides the knowledge and tools needed to analyse and identify opportunities for promoting inclusive climate, conflict prevention and peacebuilding interventions. It is divided into three modules, with a progressively in-depth focus:

M1: Climate Change, Peace and Security
M2: Conducting Integrated Analysis
M3: Entry Points for Policymaking and Programme Design

This course is primarily designed to empower policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. However, anyone that has a background or is interested in these topics can also benefit from it.

Overall, the course will take around 4,5h to be completed, enabling participants to:

Identify climate-related security risks and their impacts on different groups of people
Conduct integrated conflict and climate analysis, including by using a gender and social inclusion lens
Design policies, strategies, and programmatic interventions that integrate climate change, conflict prevention, peacebuilding, and gender equality objectives

Users completing each module will receive a badge, while participants successfully finalizing the entire course will be awarded a UN certificate.

Take the course here.

The second course is our new learning series is out! Learn more about Advancing Sustainable Development in Practice.

What will you learn?

Who is this course for?

Will you get a certificate?

We are all part of the solution: Fireside Chat puts e-waste in the spotlight.

The Plastic Waste and the Basel Convention e-course is now available in Spanish and French

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

Affiliation programme

UN CC:Learn and SCYCLE Step Up Action on Electronic Waste through a New E-Course on How to Prevent E-Waste

New Platform to Revolutionize the Way Oceans Knowledge is Shared and Used

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 e-Course Gives You the Tools to Start Addressing Food Waste!

New e-Course Unravels the Interlinkages between Climate Change, Peace and Security