UNEP operates through its global headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, an Industry and Environment Centre in France, an International Environmental Technology Centre in Japan and six regional offices: North America (New York), Africa (Nairobi), Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok), Europe (Geneva), Latin America and the Caribbean (Mexico City) and West Asia (Bahrain). UNEP is strengthening its regional presence in response to recent Governing Council decisions. In addition to the Regional Office for North America in New York, several specialized UNEP offices operate in the US and Canada.

-- Global Resource Information Database (GRID) Centre in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Located at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) EROS Data Center,) is the North American GRID node and a joint partnership of UNEP with USGS and NASA. As part of a global network, GRID-Sioux Falls assists UNEP and its partners by processing and analyzing geographically-referenced and remotely-sensed environmental data for use by decision-makers.

-- Global Environment Facility (GEF) Liaison located in Washington, D.C. UNEP's GEF office provides a link between the UNEP GEF Coordination Unit in Nairobi and the GEF Secretariat, as well as UNEP's two partner implementing agencies -- the World Bank and UNDP. The GEF is a three-year fund of $2 billion to finance environmental activities in developing countries in areas of global concern: biodiversity conservation, climate change, ozone depletion and international waters.

-- Convention on Biological Diversity (Secretariat located in Montreal) is one of several international environmental agreements administered by UNEP. Others include the Ozone Secretariat in Nairobi, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species in Geneva, the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes in Geneva and the Convention on Migratory Species in Bonn. Convention Secretariats handle the day-to-day administrative operations, including all financial and personnel responsibilities. On programme matters, Convention Secretariats implement the decisions of the respective Conferences of the Parties.

-- Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Secreatriat located in Montreal) was established to help developing countries meet the costs of complying with the Protocol and to provide for the necessary transitional technology. UNEP provides the Secretariat and jointly administers the Fund with the World Bank, UNDP and UNIDO . Over $400 million has been distributed since the Fund's creation in 1991. The Secretariat for the Ozone Treaty is located at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi.

UNEP also has collaborative agreements with international research and non-governmental institutions in North America: for example, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Smithsonian Institutions and the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters.