World Environment Day (June 5, 2021) is the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. The Czech-UNDP Partnership for SDGs works to contribute to the protection of the environment and improving the situation in the six priority countries.

The Czech-UNDP Partnership for the SDGs supports projects which have a positive impact on the environment and living conditions of local communities. From Circular economy, Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Agriculture to Disaster Risk Reduction, the Czech-UNDP Partnership’s Challenge Fund contributes to environmentally conscious solutions. This year’s World Environment Day is a good opportunity to look back at our past accomplishments that were carried out under the Challenge Fund and Expertise on Demand components.

Circular economy: The fashion industry produces 10% of global carbon emissions. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, CUP introduced modern approaches to sustainable design and production of garments to young fashion designers in Sarajevo. As part of the Upcycling Challenge Project, Aarhus Centar u Sarajevu – Udruženje Aarhus Centar u BIH and Nadace Veronica cooperated on introducing the concept of Upcycling which transforms unwanted clothes and fabrics into fresh garments.

Food Waste: The Czech-UNDP Partnership for the SDGs supports ecologically friendly initiatives whose goal is turning waste into a resource. In Moldova, the modern approaches to valorisation of winery waste by briquetting anaerobic digestion gave use to waste produced during winemaking. In Georgia, two feasibility studies explored the potential of transforming construction and demolition waste and the alluvial gravel to new building materials.

Sustainable agriculture: The use of satellite data and artificial intelligence in agriculture contributes to combatting the negative impacts of the climate change on food production. The CUP supported the introduction of the modern Data Analytical Platform for Agriculture has been implemented in Moldova.

Energy Efficiency: Many households in rural areas of Georgia depend on the heat generated by wood burning. Development and production of affordable high-efficiency stoves that use biomass help to reduce the damage to local forests. The Czech-UNDP’s Partnership’s Challenge Fund supported two projects focused on improving the efficiency of traditional stoves in Georgia.

Disaster Risk Reduction: Increasing temperatures caused by the climate change brought water scarcity and forest fires to Moldovan countryside. Local population and countryside is being threatened by fires more than before. As a response, the Government of Moldova with the support of Czech expertise, had established 5 rescue and firefighting units to protect local citizens and the environment. The Expertise on Demand project was financially supported by the Czech-UNDP Partnership for the SDGs.

A call for applications for the CUP’s Challenge Fund 2021 is now open!

Above mentioned projects were received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, the Czech-UNDP Partnership brings innovative solutions from the Czech Republic’s private sector, NGOs, universities, state institutions, research centres and individuals to tackle specific developmental challenges in the priority countries.

The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, or of the United Nations, including UNDP, or UN Member States.