The third UNEP Global Environment Outlook report (GEO-3) provided an opportune brief for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It is a feat of collaboration between UNEP and some 1 000 individuals and 40 institutions from around the world. It picks up and weaves together the strands of debate and action on the environment that lead forward from that linchpin of modern environment and development thinking, the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, and through the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) to where we stand today.
An important aspect of the GEO process is capacity building for the collaborating centres directly involved in this initiative and for a wider range of individuals and institutions whose work forms the foundation of environmental assessment — from national through global levels. For example, UNEP has, through a comprehensive Internet-based data portal, made relevant data more accessible to collaborating centres to strengthen analysis and reporting. Capacity building has also involved formal and practical training in integrated environmental assessment, and such training will be expanded in the coming years.
The Outlook chapter of GEO-3 is ground-breaking in several ways. It goes beyond the earlier reports in assessing long-range global and regional environmental prospects in a coherent and comprehensive scenario framework. It is the result of an intensive two-year process...
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Global Environment Outlook (GEO) process incorporates evaluation and improvement on a regular basis to live up to expectations as a learning and adaptive process. This evaluation, conducted by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD
The third Global Environment Outlook (GEO-3) was published on the eve of the Johannesburg summit. At that moment in time (autumn 2002), GEO-3 looked back thirty years and forward thirty years. As set of what-if scenarios was used to explore the ways our society can advance, including implications for environmental and social goals..
