The Greeniacs movement, like all grassroots movements, promotes small, piecemeal actions.  In our case, we promote actions that can improve the state of the planet.  I, as a grassroots activist, am very enthusiastic about encouraging people to help the environment in small, unintimidating ways.  This is something important that we Greeniacs tend to have in common! 

However, even a grassroots activist sometimes gets curious about what's going on way up there at the top of the ladder, far from the grassroots... Specifically, I've recently become curious about the UN and what their role is in the development of environmentalism around the world.  

The division of the UN that deals with green issues is called the United Nations Environment Programme, or UNEP.  One early landmark for UNEP was the Stockholm Conference of 1972, where UN members first acknowledged and agreed that there is no way to separate global development from the state of the environment.  Since then, UNEP has held many conferences around the world, of which the most famous outcomes have been the Millenium Development Goals of 2000 and the Kyoto Protocol, which came into effect in 2005.  

The UN may seem elusive and far off, but, in at least certain ways, the UN has allowed itself to be influenced by voices coming from the grassroots.  For example, the Green Belt Movement in Kenya, headed by activist Wangari Maathai, has inspired UNEP members to launch the Billion Tree Campaign, which urges communities to plant trees to stop erosion, mitigate climate change, and boost the economy.  

But how much effect does UNEP actually have on people's lives and conditions on earth?   How many people around the world have been influenced by UNEP?  These questions are hard to answer.  It has always seemed to me that small-scale, grassroots activism is the most motivating to people and therefore is the most effective.  However, perhaps small-scale movements have been influenced in important ways by the large-scale bureaucracy.  Who makes the most difference and where should donation dollars go???  

To read more about UNEP, you can check out its comprehensive Organization Profile at 

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