United Nations Environment Grid Geneva

GRID-Geneva is part of the Science Division of the UN Environment's global group of environmental information centres, known as the Global Resource Information Database (GRID) network. GRIDs-Geneva and Nairobi were the first centres to be launched in mid-1985.
GRID centres not only facilitate access to but directly provide environmental data and information for decision-making and policy setting; underpin UN Environment's ongoing review of environmental state and trends; and provide early warnings about emerging environmental problems and threats.

Since its establishment as an office in UN Environment's Science Division, GRID-Geneva has received considerable support from Swiss and local authorities and institutions. This support and collaboration was significantly reinforced with the signing of a "Partnership Agreement" between UN Environment, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the University of Geneva in June 1998. The Partnership Agreement has since been renewed four times (in 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2013), the current partnership is running until end of 2018.

Mission

As an internationally-recognized centre for applied research, transform data into scientifically validated information to support environmental early warnings and assessments for sustainable development, from local to global scales. 

Vision

Serve UN Environment and its partners as a source of “actionable”, popular and timely early warnings of emerging issues and environmental change, and related multi-scale assessments, based on scientific data, indicators and real-time information, and help to catalyse “evidence-based” responses.
 

Office Statement and Key Activities

GRID-Geneva is a unique platform providing analyses and solutions for a wide range of environmental issues.  GRID-Geneva serves primarily the needs of its three institutional partners - UN Environment, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the University of Geneva (UniGe) - which are linked by an ongoing, multi-year “Partnership Agreement”, along with other local-to-global stakeholders.

GRID-Geneva is also a bilingual English and French centre and the key francophone link within the global GRID network of centres. GRID-Geneva is a key centre of geo-spatial know-how, with strengths in GIS, IP/remote sensing and statistical analyses, integrated through modern spatial data infrastructures and web applications.  Working at the interface between scientific information and policy/decision-making, GRID-Geneva also helps to develop capacities in these fields of expertise among target audiences, countries and other groups..