Effective sustainable development policies and programmes are not created in a vacuum, which is why UNEP has for years been providing cutting-edge science to governments to assist them in bridging the science-policy gap. Despite UNEP's best efforts, access to quality data and sound knowledge has been constrained by many factors, including lack of investment and mechanisms for regular data sharing. In an effort to change this situation, UNEP has developed UNEP Live, a cutting-edge, dynamic platform to share environmental science and research in a timely manner.