The activities undertaken by UNU cover a broad range of issues related to the water crises. A major emphasis area deals with monitoring and management of water pollution in coastal areas. The general objective is to identify coastal areas which are threatened by pollution, recognize the potential land-based sources for such pollution and develop guidelines for management of pollution sources and for rehabilitation of degraded environments.

The UNU-INWEH was created by the U.N. University Governing Council in 1996 with core funding provided by the Government of Canada. Its purpose is to strengthen water management capacity, particularly of developing countries, and to provide on-the-ground project support.

LandBase in an environmental monitoring database developed by UNU. Thematically, it includes activities on coastal environment monitoring, protection, restoration and management in the East Asian and Pacific region.