Why UNEP-DHI Centre is an increasingly key UNEP freshwater partner

20.500.12592/06kqqp

Why UNEP-DHI Centre is an increasingly key UNEP freshwater partner

20 Jun 2022

The world is not on track to meet any of its water-related Sustainable Development Goals. To turn this situation around, countries need more finance to accelerate action on freshwater ecosystems, but also more comprehensive data, forecasting and modelling to guide action and make it effective.The UNEP-DHI Centre, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a long-term partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) providing direct support to the implementation of UNEP’s freshwater work, and the water-related elements within UNEP’s Medium-term Strategy, 2022-2025. More specifically, it provides cutting-edge technical expertise to help promote the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6 on water, as well as other water-related goals.Making best use of rapidly improving technology and data crunching methods – for instance, for using the latest satellite Earth observations and applying machine learning algorithms to measure the extent of wetlands globally – is becoming increasingly critical for accurate assessment of, and reporting on, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. UNEP-DHI has proven experience in this area.We asked Gareth Lloyd, the centre’s Deputy Chief Manager, about how UNEP-DHI came into being, what it contributes to UNEP’s work on freshwater ecosystems, and why its work is critical for UNEP.UNEP: What does DHI stand for?Gareth Lloyd (GL): DHI stands for Danish Hydraulic Institute, founded in 1964 by the Technical University of Denmark as The Institute of Water Production. After merging with The Institute for Water Quality in 2000 and the Danish Toxicology Centre in 2005, the organization simplified its name to DHI. The UNEP-DHI Centre is hosted by DHI, an independent, not-for-profit, international advisory and research organization. UNEP-DHI was formed as a partnership centre between UNEP and DHI in 1996.
sustainable development agriculture sustainable development goals technology biodiversity pollution water land climate action
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Kenya

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