The Global Environment Outlook: Environment for the future we want (GEO-5) was part of this broad sweep of history and is a major contribution to the public understanding of the way ecosystems and the atmosphere are responding to patterns of unprecedented consumption and production – patterns taking place on a planet of 7 billion people, rising to more than 9 billion by 2050. Its findings on the state of the planet, globally and regionally, are unsurprisingly sobering and cause for profound concern – they should serve as a reminder to world leaders and delegates attending the Rio+20 Summit in June as to why they are there.
Bridging the science-policy interface remains problematic – translating the findings of science into environmental law and policy making has been a challenge stretching back through Rio 1992 to the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment of 1972. Encouragingly, a growing scientific understanding and technological progress have not fallen on deaf ears; they have inspired a myriad of treaties and agreements covering such issues as the trade in endangered species, the protection of the ozone layer, climate change, biodiversity loss and the banning of persistent organic pollutants.
Global environmental trends are creating new risks and new opportunities for businesses in every industry. Indeed the transition to a green economy, now in its early stages, will open up great opportunities for companies that understand the implications of these trends and account for them in...
Over the past century, the word ‘environment’ has evolved in meaning and substance. Ask your grandparents what they thought of the environment when they were your age. They would probably refer to their surroundings, their local forests or simply keeping their neighborhood free from visible...
The GEO-5 for Local Authorities report has been developed by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in col la - boration with UNEP, and draws on the findings of GEO-5. The report shows that pressures on the global environment affect the local level. Conversely, local decisions and...
The GEO-5 assessment report has three distinct, yet related parts: Part 1 is an assessment of the state and trends of the global environment in relation to key internationally agreed goals such as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed in 2000 and goals of various multilateral...
This publication was conceived with the idea of showing how the planet has changed in two decades—just twenty years— since decision-makers met at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
