Nature and the Environment: How Can the UN Improve Its Work on the Environment?

Treating the polycrisis as one undifferentiated agenda has never worked; treating them as three coherent families might. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPSOpinion by External Source (apex, north carolina / san francisco, california / vienna, austria / sheffield, united kingdom / geneva, switzerland)Tuesday, September 22, 2026Inter Press Service APEX, North Carolina / SAN FRANCISCO, California / VIENNA, Austria / SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom / GENEVA, Switzerland, September 22 (IPS) - In March 2025, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres launched “UN80”. Recognizing that the world is in a state of dramatic and rapid change at a time when funding for the UN is under threat from budget cuts, Guterres declared that, on the anniversary of the UN’s 80th birthday, a review of its work was long overdue. Now, UN80 is coming to a head with a set of recommendations that cover almost every aspect of the UN’s work. Some of the recommendations are focused on reducing budgets. With some major governments cutting their funding and heavily in arrears, the UN needs to cut its spending.The current target is a reduction of roughly 20%. This has already resulted in a decision to shift staff from high-c...