
Matthew Emslie-Smith as the Centre’s Senior Specialist, Wetlands and Climate Policy Advisor
UNEP-DHI is pleased to welcome Matthew Emslie-Smith as Senior Specialist, Wetlands and Climate Policy Advisor at the UNEP-DHI Centre.
Photo: Marisa04/Pixabay

UNEP-DHI is pleased to welcome Matthew Emslie-Smith as Senior Specialist, Wetlands and Climate Policy Advisor at the UNEP-DHI Centre.

From 15–19 September 2025, UNEP-DHI conducted a workshop hosted by the Volta Basin authority (VBA) and GWP-WA in Lomé, Togo. This workshop was organised as part of the ReWARD project, to train stakeholders from the six countries of the Volta River Basin.

The Gender Snapshot 2025, produced by UN Women and UN DESA, highlights alarming setbacks in achieving gender equality by 2030, including under SDG 6. It warns about persistent inequalities and inadequate funding and provides both case studies about services gaps and success stories.

Water sustains life and ecosystems, playing a vital role in the Congo Basin’s carbon-rich peatlands. UNEP-DHI has been developing a tool that helps simulate how development and climate change affect these fragile landscapes. By making scientific data accessible, the Hydrological Decision Support System tool supports informed decisions that balance environmental protection with community needs.

UNEP marks World Lake Day by spotlighting climate change, over-abstraction, and pollution as major threats to lakes, while promoting integrated water management, basin-level approaches and data-driven monitoring as solutions to reverse their decline.

The World Lake Day highlights the importance of lakes, which hold over 90% of the planet’s surface freshwater. They are also vital for climate resilience. However, lakes face increasing threats. UNEP-DHI supports sustainable lake management through integrated water resources approaches, combining policy advice, project support, and advanced tools for monitoring and data analysis.

The World Water Week 2025 focuses on addressing the linked emergencies of climate change, environment degradation and biodiversity loss, emphasizing both mitigation and adaptation alongside the broader goal of enhancing resilience. UNEP-DHI will be present and contribute to sessions at World Water Week 2025. You can see the programme here.

Cambodia and Lao PDR have launched Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Action Plans for 2026–2030, marking a significant step toward sustainable and climate-resilient water governance.

The new 2024 Progress Report on the Implementation of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Arab Region highlights the critical need for effective water resource management to achieve sustainable development goals. It serves as a comprehensive guide for policymakers, practitioners, and stakeholders, presenting key challenges and showcasing successful case studies from the region.

UNEP-DHI Centre is currently looking for a part time Student Assistant with a strong communications profile. The successful candidate will lead the implementation of our communication plan, working as a core member of the UNEP-DHI team in Denmark. Application deadline is the 22nd of June 2025.

As part of the ongoing efforts under the Global Wetland Watch (GWW) initiative, a national consultation and coordination visit across Australia was conducted. The purpose of this trip was to engage directly with key stakeholders involved in wetland monitoring, policy, and conservation.

This year, twelve countries are undertaking multi-stakeholder processes to answer that question as they embark on national action planning, assisted by the SDG 6 IWRM Support Programme, implemented by GWP in coordination with the UNEP-DHI Centre, under the leadership of UNEP.
The goal: to design actionable, investment-ready action plans that mobilise resources from a range of funding sources — including national budgets, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and bilateral funders.
UNEP DHI Partnership – Centre on Water and Environment
Agern Allé 5, 2970 Denmark
Tel: +45 45169200