Agreement
focuses on facilitating international collaboration
and knowledge sharing.
NAIROBI (Kenya), 17
February 2009 -Today the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and Microsoft
Corp signed a memorandum of understanding
to work together on leveraging information
and communication technology (ICT) solutions
to help address today's complex environmental
challenges. The signing took place during
UNEP's 25th session of the Governing Council
and Global Ministerial Environment Forum
on the theme "Globalization and the
Environment", held at UNEP headquarters
in Nairobi, Kenya, and attended by more
than 100 environment ministers.
he partnership focuses
on helping environmental stakeholders -including
UNEP and other international organisations,
governments, nongovernmental organisations
and researchers - work more effectively
by making use of new technologies. UNEP
and Microsoft are cooperating to support
UNEP's mandate of promoting environmental
understanding and increasing public knowledge
about environmental factors and the problems
facing future generations. Areas of cooperation
include the following:
Providing access to
research and scientific information on the
environment
Building integrated
knowledge platforms to enable better cooperation
between different actors
Supporting the development
of applications for environmental sustainability
management
"We view our partnership
with Microsoft as key to delivering solutions
on a scalable level to a community of more
than 190 nations and the UN system as a
whole," said Achim Steiner, UNEP executive
director. "UNEP's ability to mobilise
information technology and the platforms
for sharing environmental information is
a precondition for working together as an
international community to tackle environmental
issues."
"Without equitable
access to information and the capacity for
developing countries to engage on an equal
level in negotiating key agreements like
the climate change treaty or the biodiversity
convention, we will not make much progress,"
he said.
Access to Research and
Scientific Information
UNEP and Microsoft have
been collaborating since 2006 on Research4Life,
a public-private partnership that includes
the Online Access to Research in the Environment
(OARE) consortium. Research4Life provides
access to the latest scientific research
through an online library of more than 7,500
peer-reviewed scientific journals, books
and databases, made available by 130 publishers
at low or no cost to developing countries.
OARE focuses on environmental information,
providing scientists, practitioners and
policy-makers in participating countries
with the information they need to implement
targeted programmes and make environmentally
sound decisions.
The platform is already
having an important impact on communities,
such as in Kenya's Rift Valley, where researchers
used OARE resources to address pollution
of the Njoro River watershed through a series
of programmes, resulting in a reduction
of waterborne diseases among the local population
and cleaner use of the river.
Also, Microsoft Research's
Computational Science Lab in Cambridge,
UK, is partnering with the UNEP World Conservation
Monitoring Centre (WCMC) to advance environmental
and ecosystem science, prioritising areas
of urgent concern in environmental policy,
at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity,
human activity and sustainability.
WCMC is the world's
authoritative institution for monitoring
biodiversity and ecosystems for conservation
purposes and collecting data globally on
important biodiversity indicators. Microsoft
Research's Computational Science Lab is
one of the world's leading research laboratories
pioneering new computational approaches
to tackle fundamental challenges in the
science of complex natural systems.
Integrated Knowledge
Platforms for Information Sharing and Collaboration
The public-private partnership
is underscored by UNEP and Microsoft's shared
recognition that addressing the impact of
climate change is a serious challenge that
requires a comprehensive and global response
from all sectors of society.
"If the world is
to address the challenges of climate and
environmental sustainability at scale, there
will need to be many more partnerships between
companies, governments and nongovernmental
organisations," said Rob Bernard, chief
environmental strategist at Microsoft. "We
are honoured to work with UNEP to help accelerate
leveraging science and ICT to enable people
around the globe to both manage and reduce
their impact on the environment. By collaborating
with UNEP, we will use technology to work
more effectively towards meaningful environmental
change."
UNEP and Microsoft are
developing knowledge platforms for enhanced
information sharing and collaboration between
environmental groups and governments. For
example, the UNEP Global View for the Environment
platform will use the Microsoft Single View
Platform and Microsoft Virtual Earth to
visually represent key environment projects,
statistics and polices and to track progress
towards reaching the environmental objectives
of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This online mapping service relies mainly
on inputs from UNEP, the UN Development
Programme (UNDP), the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other environment
data sources, creating the leading One UN
portal for access to international environment
information.
Another project is the
update of the World Database on Protected
Areas (WDPA), an online platform maintained
by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring
Centre. WDPA allows the world's major oil
and mining companies to access the information
they need to avoid infringing on protected
areas.
Microsoft is also participating
in UNEP's Climate Neutral Network (CN Net)
initiative to promote global "buy-in"
to climate neutrality. CN Net provides a
platform for countries, cities, major international
corporations, UN agencies and nongovernmental
organisations that have set the most ambitious
greenhouse gas reduction targets in the
world to present their strategies in climate
neutrality, providing visibility and inspiration
to others. The programme serves as a network
for sharing information and experiences,
making the best available knowledge on climate
neutrality widely available to all.
Applications That Help
Measure and Monitor Environmental Sustainability
A current challenge
in measuring, monitoring and managing environmental
sustainability is the lack of standardised
methodologies and supporting systems within
organisations to gather the data. Microsoft
is addressing this through the development
of specialised software.
In collaboration with
the William J Clinton Foundation, Microsoft
is delivering a free tool called Project
2°, an emissions tracker for cities
to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The application enables city officials to
calculate the carbon footprint of both municipal
operations and their communities uniformly,
and use this information to enhance planning
and decision-making for meaningful climate
action and savings. It also helps users
reduce and manage their energy consumption.
The Environmental Sustainability
Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX helps
businesses deal with one of their biggest
challenges: reducing their impact on the
environment. The application streamlines
the collection of data on four of the Global
Reporting Initiative G3 Environmental Performance
Indicators related to energy consumption
and greenhouse gas emissions, thus helping
businesses measure consumption, monitor
the impact of changes and ultimately reduce
their carbon footprint.
About UNEP
UNEP's mission is to
provide leadership and encourage partnership
in caring for the environment by inspiring,
informing, and enabling nations and peoples
to improve their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.
UNEP is an advocate, educator, catalyst
and facilitator, promoting the wise use
of the planet's natural assets for sustainable
development. With its headquarters in Nairobi,
Kenya, UNEP has a first-hand understanding
of the environmental issues facing developing
countries. (www.unep.org)
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft
(Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
leader in software, services and solutions
that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.
About Microsoft EMEA
(Europe, Middle East and Africa)
Microsoft has operated
in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft
employs more than 16,000 people in over
64 subsidiaries, delivering products and
services in more than 139 countries and
territories.
This material is for
informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp
disclaims all warranties and conditions
with regard to use of the material for other
purposes. Microsoft Corp shall not, at any
time, be liable for any special, direct,
indirect or consequential damages, whether
in an action of contract, negligence or
other action arising out of or in connection
with the use or performance of the material.
Nothing herein should be construed as constituting
any kind of warranty.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media
John Mandeville, Microsoft EMEA Press Centre
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