United Nations Environment Programme launches new European-wide environmental information portal on the internet

Among the first group of environmental information portals available as part of the globally distributed UNEP.Net information network, UNEP’s European Portal is publicly accessible at http://europe.unep.net or through http://www.unep.net as of today.

The European portal aims to provide on-line authoritative information on the environmental situation throughout the pan-European geographic region, while highlighting key issues in specific problematic areas.

The UNEP.Net system was initiated in 2001 to support the integrated environment assessment process, most notably UNEP’s Global Environmental Outlook (GEO) series. The system is developing information portals for major environmental issues at global and regional levels, by linking and presenting vital graphics, core data sets and background material for efficient reporting and sound decision-making.

The European Portal benefits considerably from the work of the European Environment Agency (EEA) in Copenhagen, as well as from other partners in the region. EEA has long-standing experience in environment assessment, reporting and networking in (mostly western) Europe, as witnessed by numerous authoritative publications and information systems which cover the European environmental situation.

The major other partners for the European Portal are UNEP’s Regional Office for Europe (ROE), the Regional Environment Centre (REC) for Central and Eastern Europe in Budapest, and GRID-Arendal in Norway. The development of UNEP’s European Portal has been led by UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva, which will continue to maintain, expand and improve this key information resource on the European Environment.

For more information, please contact:

Jaap van Woerden
GEO & Earthwatch Data Coordinator
UNEP/DEWA/GRID-Geneva
Tel +41.22.9178169 / 8294
Fax +41.22.9178029
Email woerden@grid.unep.ch