Resource efficiency
Disasters
Environmental governance
Harmful substances
Ecosystems management 
Global
Eastern Europe
Caucasus
Central Asia
Balkans
Mediterranean 
THINK!
TELL!
ACT!
TEACH! 
Since 1989, long before Zoï existed as Zoï, we are engaged in the global combat against climate change. The early warning studies of the Nile Delta and the Uganda coffee crop have since then become milestones in the international community and are well documented on the cartographic blog of Le Monde Diplomatique.
Since then, Zoï Environment has been working on a wide range of global change related topics, helping to explain climate change in theoretical and practical ways, as well as guiding different groups, such as companies, individuals or cities towards climate neutrality. Increasing importance in our work is to analyze and communicate linkages between climate change and security.
Milestones in this work are visualized syntheses of scientific findings at the Global as well as regional level (“Climate in Peril”, “Climate Change in Central Asia”, “Climate Change in Eastern Europe” “Climate Change in the Caucasus”), the UN ‘cookbook’ on how to become climate neutral (“Kick the habit – A UN guide to Climate Neutrality”), published in all UN langauges (English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Russian). Zoï is continuing to support the UN on its way to become climate neutral through the SUN (Sustainable United Nations) platform. Linkages between the protection of the ozone layer and climate change are analyzed in “Vital Ozone Graphics 2.0 – the climate link” and with “Zoïtopia” we have produced a more radical and very visual input to the climate change debate.
Zoï Books are produced for the United Nations, the European Union, regions, countries and a growing community of readers world-wide. We closely cooperate with GRID-Arendal in providing environmental information for decision-making.
Our digital library is available here.
Image + Click = e-book
The present report identifies and prioritises climate-related risks and opportunities for Switzerland until 2060. The Switzerland-wide synthesis, compiled by the Federal Office for the Environment, is based on inputs from the cantonal authorities and numerous experts in science and industry. Zoï contributed to the visual profile, in partiular the easily understandable iconography.
The adaptation strategy for Belarus agriculture, prepared under the EU-funded Clima East project, is based on multi-stakeholder consultations in Minsk and several focussed studies. Zoi contributed to the content of the strategy as well as to one of the studies, for which the maps of changing argo-climatic zones have been made.
The Global Programme of Climate Change and Environment of the Swiss Agency for Developmet and Cooperation SDC has published their Strategic Framework 2017-2020; Zoï has done the design and layout of the document, including creative infographics about how things are connected.
Zoï has supported the OSCE-led assessment under the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) initiative.The goal is to identify and explain how climate change may exacerbate threats to security, and to propose effective measures in response for Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus.
Full reports by region:
Central Asia
Eastern Europe
South Caucasus
Regional summaries:
Central Asia
Eastern Europe
South Caucasus
The Swiss NGO DRR Platform is a network of Swiss NGO’s working on disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). Developed by several organizations including Zoï, this e-learning course collects experience-based learning and training material from various years and events. The e-course is available online for free as a self-study tool for practitioners.
Course modules (PowerPoint presentations):
In a project implemented for EU DG Clima, Zoï has analysed climate policies in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, summarised in a series of climate scorecards per each country.
Sample deliverables: pdf ebook
| Armenia scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Azerbaijan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Belarus scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Georgia scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Kazakhstan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Kyrgyzstan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Moldova scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Russia scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Tajikistan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Turkmenistan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Ukraine scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook | ||
| Uzbekistan scorecard: | ENG | ebook | |
| RUS | ebook |
The Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Neman River Basin has been developed in the course of implementation of the International Project “River Basin Management and Climate Change Adaptation in the Neman River Basin”. The main goal of the Project is to improve the integrated management of water resources using the basin approach in the climate change context, on the example of the Neman River.
PDF: English Lithuanian Russian
Ebook: Russian Lithuanian
A collection of cartoons on climate change, focussing on EU policies and agreements, as well as the situation in Central Asia countries.
The Strategic Framework for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Dniester River Basin is the result of joint efforts by international experts and organizations – the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – and experts and organizations from Moldova and Ukraine with an interest in the protection and sustainable use of natural resources in the transboundary Dniester River basin under the conditions of a changing global climate. On the basis of research and extensive consultations, the Strategic Framework for Adaptation offers a set of measures, the joint and coordinated implementation of which will make it possible to respond to the coming changes in a timely manner and even to get out ahead of the process.
Implementation plan: ebook PDF ebook Russian PDF Russian
Two posters in Russian which describe climate change and its impacts in Belarus.
Surface water in Central Asia is a vital resource, and is particularly sensitive to climate change. The Chu River (in Kazakhstan it is called the Shu) and the Talas River flow through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. These rivers support the livelihoods of more than 3 million people, and are the major sources of water used in agriculture. The interests of the two countries in the sharing of these rivers calls for cooperation – a common approach to management, a rational use of water resources and in the face of future climate change, the development of joint actions on adaptation.
The project, “Strengthening cooperation on adaptation to climate change in transboundary basins of the Chu and Talas Rivers”, has made an attempt to combine the joint management of transboundary water resources and the development of recommendations on adaptation to climate change.
What are the results of Swiss climate change cooperation over the past 12 years, and how efficient have Swiss climate projects been? Zoï was tasked, together with its partners Gaia Consulting Oy and Creatura Ltd, to assess the effectiveness of Switzerland’s international cooperation in climate change and reviewed more than 500 projects by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. The focus of Zoï’s work was to distil the key findings of the assessment into a report for policy-makers and a short animated film for a larger public. The report was launched at the SDC/SECO Annual conference in Geneva on August 29, 2014.
The project aims at reinforcing dialogue and cooperation on climate change between the European Union and the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries; supporting the transition of partner countries towards low carbon development and climate resilience. Zoi has supported ClimaSouth outreach work, such as handbooks on climate issues and other communication products.
Handbook 1 pdf Handbook 1 ebook
Handbook 2 pdf Handbook 2 ebook
flyer English flyer French flyer Arabic
While mitigation seeks to limit climate change by reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and by enhancing opportunities for carbon sequestration, adaptation aims at reducing the vulnerability of natural and human systems against actual or expected climate change effects. Adaptation entails an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects. The goal of adaptation is to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. From the sustainable development perspective, the response to climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation. The purpose of this report is to consider the adaptation challenges in the South Eastern Europe (SEE) region.
This third, revised edition of Vital Ozone Graphics sheds a light onto the decisions taken by the Parties to the Montreal Protocol to accelerate the phase out of HCFCs and the implications this has on the use of replacement chemicals. It focuses on the links to climate both physically up in the air and on the institutional ground of international treaty negotiations and discusses the remaining challenges posed by the large amounts of banks of ozone depleting substances still present in equipment in use and stocked away, only safe for the atmosphere once entirely destroyed. The third edition is lauched for the 25th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol.It updates the previous edition with data and information available up to 2011.
The United Nations Environment Programme 2011–2013 strategy focuses on six thematic priorities – climate change; resource efficiency; disasters and conflicts; environmental governance; harmful substances and hazardous waste; and ecosystem management. As part of its effort to come to terms with these priorities, UNEP engaged Zoï to create thematic maps for use as objective tools for priority setting in the European region.
This report forms part of an awareness-raising campaign by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Environment and Security initiative on the effects of climate change. Representatives of governments, international organizations, civil society organizations and research institutions and other experts from the region have compiled this booklet with the objective of revealing and explaining the linkages between people and the environment in the Balkans. We hope that this report will be of some assistance to those who develop climate change policies and programmes in the region and that it will stimulate concrete actions that eventually can be reported back to the world at one of the future global meetings on climate change.
With this publication, Zoï Environment Network aims to communicate the known facts of climate change in a well illustrated, easily understandable manner, accessible to everyone. For this we could rely on the rich Caucasian tradition of geographic analysis, map making and visual arts. Unfortunately, the format did not allow the use of other Caucasian specialities, such as music, film, cuisine or toasts, it will be up to the reader to accompany his or her lecture with some of this. We do however want to make the point that also in the Caucasus, climate change is no more myth.
More than two billion people depend on the world’s arid and semi-arid lands. Preventing land degradation and supporting sustainable development in drylands has major implications for food security, climate change and human settlement. This report, issued at the beginning of the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification, sets out a shared strategy by UN agencies to rise to the challenge of addressing the special needs of these vital zones. This report illustrates the many ways in which the UN system is identifying opportunities to mainstream the drylands agenda into the policy-making process.
The publication prepared by Zoi in cooperation with GRID-Arendal and the Environment and Security initiative explores the impacts of climate change on Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The three countries of Eastern Europe will not be affected as strongly as many other parts of Eurasia, yet they will see more of severe floods and forest fires, decreasing water reserves in the south, and gradual changes in biodiversity, agriculture and food security. The countries have only started to address these challenges: national policies remain week and the general public is hardly aware of the problem. Meanwhile the industrialized Eastern Europe contributes to the global emissions of greenhouse gases, thus affecting more vulnerable parts of the world. The report was launched at the 7th Ministerial conference "Environment for Europe" in Astana in September 2011.
This book is intended as a basic information kit that tells "the story" of desertification, land degradation and drought at the global scale, together with a comprehensive set of graphics. The book indicates trends as they have taken place over the last decades, combining and connecting issues, and present priorities. It also provides information on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and how it works to forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.
This guide shows how various levels of society can work towards climate neutrality. Written and reviewed by experts from many disciplines and various countries, the book is aimed at individuals, small and large businesses, NGOs, international organizations, cities and countries.
A Resource Kit for journalists, which provides the essential visuals, facts, links and contacts to develop ozone story ideas. This publication is intended to serve as an interesting reference for those who wish to learn more about the Montreal Protocol and ozone layer depletion.
This booklet provides a synthesis of what climate change may mean for Central Asia. It builds upon the latest series of the official national communications on climate change by the Central Asian states under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This highly visual format seeks to communicate to decision makers and to serve education purposes alike.
