For more than 10 years, UNEP has sought to identify and draw attention to emerging issues of environmental concern. The UNEP Frontiers’ report continues to advance this work, signaling environmental issues and solutions for effective and timely responses. Some issues may be local, relatively small-scale issues today, with a potential to become an issue of regional or global concern if not addressed early.
What emerging issues are presented the Frontiers’ 2018/19 report?
A per chapter breakdown of this report is available on the right column of this page. To view this report in other UN languages, please click on "Languages" on top right of header
Large-scale industrialization has resulted in widespread fragmentation of previously intact landscapes around the globe. From the clearance of richly populated rainforests to the damming of mighty, arterial rivers, the knock-on effect of isolated, impacted ecosystems is detrimental to the health of flora and fauna alike, and in severe cases, threatens species extinction.
Nitrogen is one of the most abundant natural elements and largely benign in its unreactive forms. However, too much of a good thing can be detrimental, and excess nitrogen pollution has grave impacts on ecosystems and humans alike. In the form of nitrous oxide, it is 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide
Synthetic biology could indirectly benefit conservation efforts by allowing the development of artificial alternatives to commercial products normally sourced from the wild. For example, the blood of the horseshoe crab is a major biomedical commodity used to test pharmaceuticals for bacterial contamination.
