geo-5 summary for policy makers

8/2/2019 GEO-5 Summary for Policy Makers

1/20

GEO5Global Environment Outlook

Summary forPolicy Makers

atmosphere

environmental governancecritical thresholds

adaptive management and governance

chemicals

cooperation

consumptionmonitoring

human well-being

options

waste

wat

er

energy

energy biodiversitychange

oceans

information

policyaccess

data

sustainability land

drivers

earth system

participation

environmental goals

visioncapacity

accelerationnatural capital


2/20

Frst publshed by the Unted Natons Envronment Programme n 2012

Copyrght 2012, Unted Natons Envronment Programme

Ths publcaton may be reproduced n whole or n part and n any orm or

educatonal or non-prot servces wthout specal permsson rom the copyrght

holder, provded acknowledgement o the source s made.

UNEP would apprecate recevng a copy o any publcaton that uses ths publcaton

as a source.

No use o ths publcaton may be made or resale or any other commercal purpose

whatsoever wthout pror permsson n wrtng rom the Unted Natons Envronment

Programme.

Applcatons or such permsson, wth a statement o the purpose and extent o the

reproducton, should be addressed to the

Drector, DCPI, UNEP, P.O. Box 30552, Narob, 00100, Kenya.

The desgnatons employed and the presentaton o materal n ths publcaton do

not mply the expresson o any opnon whatsoever on the part o UNEP concernng

the legal status o any country, terrtory or cty or ts authortes, or concernng the

delmtaton o ts ronters or boundares.

Menton o a commercal company or product n ths publcaton does not mply

endorsement by the Unted Natons Envronment Programme. The use o normaton

rom ths publcaton concernng propretary products or publcty or advertsng s

not permtted.

Prntng: Publshng Servces Secton, UNON, Narob, ISO 10041:2004 certcaton.

UNEP promotes

environmentally sound practices

globally and in its own activities. This

report is printed on paper rom sustainable

orests including recycled fbre. The paper is

chlorine ree and the inks vegetable-based.

Our distribution policy aims to reduce

UNEPs carbon ootprint.


3/20

GEO5

Global Environment Outlook

Summary for

Policy Makers

atmosphere

environmental governancecritical thresholds

adaptive management and governance

chemicals

cooperation

consumptionmonitoring

human well-being

options

w

aste

water

en

ergy

energy biodiversitychange

ocean

s

information

policy access

data

sustainabilityla

nd

drivers

earth system

participation

environmental goals

visioncapacity

accelerationnatural capital


4/20

Wth ts core mandate o keepng the global envronment under

revew, UNEP coordnates ntegrated envronmental assessments,

whch nvolve extensve consultatons and partcpatory

processes. Four Global Envronment Outlook (GEO) assessment

reports have been produced, n 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2007.

The 25th sesson o UNEPs Governng Councl n Decson25/2: III requested the Executve Drector, through the

Programme o Work, to contnue to conduct a comprehensve,

ntegrated and scentcally credble global envronmental

assessment (GEO-5), avodng duplcaton and buldng on

on-gong assessment work, to support decson-makng

processes at all levels, n the lght o the contnung need or

up-to-date, scentcally credble, polcy-relevant normaton on

envronmental change worldwde, and ncludng the analyses

o cross-cuttng ssues and ndcator-based components. It was

urther approved by UNGAs 2nd Commttee (Economc and

Fnancal) resoluton (A/C.2/66/L.57).

As a sgncant contrbuton to the 2012 Unted Natons

Conerence on Sustanable Development (Ro+20), the th

Global Envronment Outlook bulds on prevous reports and

contnues to provde an analyss o the state, trends and outlook

o the global envronment. It ders rom prevous GEO reports

n ts emphass on nternatonally agreed goals and a sht rom

assessng problems to provdng possble solutons.

The GEO-5 assessment report has three dstnct, yet related parts:

Part 1 s an assessment o the state and trends o the global

envronment n relaton to key nternatonally agreed goals

such as Mllennum Development Goals (MDGs) agreed n 2000

and goals o varous multlateral envronmental agreements

(MEAs) based on natonal, regonal and global analyses and

datasets. It provdes an evaluaton o the gaps n achevng

nternatonally agreed goals and ther ndcatve mplcatons

or human well-beng.

Part 2 o the assessment prortzes a varyng number o

envronmental themes per regon and selected nternatonally

agreed goals under each theme through a consultatve process.

The regonal assessments ocus on dentyng polcy responses

that would help speed up the achevement o nternatonally

agreed goals. It has been observed that there are many polcesthat have been shown to work n more than one country, but

these polces need to be more wdely supported, adopted and

mplemented accordng to natonal condtons to speed up the

achevement o nternatonally agreed goals. The analyss s

presented usng case studes that llustrate the applcaton o

polces at a natonal or transboundary level wthn each regon

and presents the benets and drawbacks o mplementng the

polces and the enablng actors and barrers that enhance or

mpede ther uptake.

Lmted evdence o the potental or polcy transer to other

countres or other regons s documented, as oten there s

nsucent emprcal evdence to make categorcal statementson polcy success or transerablty.

Among the long lst o polcy responses ound to be eectve,

some hghly promsng approaches are descrbed n the

regonal chapters. Together, these orm a possble polcy

agenda that would support an nclusve green economy

approach and are worthy o closer analyss by governments

when examnng new polcy optons.

Part 3 dentes possble optons or acton to transton

towards sustanable development ncludng through ncreased

coordnaton, partcpaton and cooperaton requred tosupport the achevement o nternatonally agreed goals and

work towards sustanable development at the global level.

The development o GEO-5 nvolved extensve collaboraton

between UNEP and a mult-dscplnary network o experts, all

o whom made ther valuable tme and knowledge avalable to

the process n recognton o ts mportance.

For the rst tme, authors, revewers and members o three

specalzed groups were nomnated by governments and

other stakeholders. UNEP then ollowed a selecton process.

The ollowng three GEO-5 specalzed advsory bodes were

convened to support the assessment process:

TheGEO-5HighLevelIntergovernmentalAdvisoryPanel:

The Panel dented the nternatonally agreed goals

that underpn the assessment. The Panel also provded

gudance to authors n the dratng o ths Summary or

Polcy Makers (SPM).

TheScienceandPolicyAdvisoryBoard: The Board was

responsble or strengthenng the scentc credblty

and polcy relevance o the assessment by provdng

gudance throughout and undertakng an evaluaton o the

assessment process.

TheDataandIndicatorsWorkingGroup: The Groupprovded support to the assessment process on core data.

The SPM s based on and consstent wth the ndngs o the

GEO-5 assessment. The GEO-5 Summary or Polcy Makers was

negotated and endorsed at an ntergovernmental meetng rom

29 to 31 January 2012 n the Cty o Gwangju, Republc o Korea.

TheGEO-5assessmentprocess


5/20

This Summary or Policy Makers highlights the ndings o the th

Global Environment Outlook (GEO-5) report and is prepared by the

UNEP Secretariat with:

Guidance from members of the GEO-5 High-level Intergovernmental

Advisory Panel

Hussen A. Al-Guned, Mohammed Sa Al-Kalban, Burcu Bursal,

Mantang Ca, Sandra De Carlo, Jorge Laguna Cels, Gulherme da Costa,Lana Bratasda, Raou Dabbas, Idunn Edhem, Prudence Galega,

Nlkanth Ghosh, Rosaro Gomez, Han Huskamp, Jos Lubbers,

John Mchael Matuszak, Samra Nateche, Km Th Thuy Ngoc, Van Ta Nguyen,

Jose Raael Almonte Perdomo, Majd Shae-Pour- Motlagh, Jang We,

Albert Wllams, Danel Zegerer

Technical inputs from the Coordinating Lead Authors

Ivar Baste, Ncola Dronn, Tom Evans, Maxwell Fnlayson, Kesha Garca,

Carol Hunsberger, Mara Ivanova, Jll Jaeger, Jenner Katerere, Peter Kng,

Bernce Lee, Marc Levy, Alexandra Morel, Frank Murray, Amr El-Sammak,

Begum Ozynayak, Laszlo Pnter, Walter Rast, Roy Watknson

and

all authors whose contrbuton n the GEO-5 man assessment report served

as a bass or the GEO-5 Summary or Polcy Makers

It was negotiated and endorsed on 31 January 2012 by:

The Intergovernmental Meetng on the th Global Envronment Outlook

Summary or Polcy Makers

Azerbaian, Belarus, Belze, Bhutan, Brazl, Burund, Camboda, Canada,

Chna, Colomba, Comoros, Cook Islands, Czech Republc,

Democratc Republc o Congo, Egypt, Ethopa, Germany, Georga, Ghana,

Gunea Bssau, Inda, Indonesa, Iran (Islamc Republc o), Iraq, Kenya,

Kyrgyzstan, Mexco, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nger, Ngera, Norway,

Pakstan, Palau, Peru, Phlppnes, Poland, Republc o Korea, South Sudan,

Romana, Serba, Span, Sweden, Swtzerland, Thaland, Togo, Turkey, Uganda,

Ukrane, Unted Republc o Tanzana, Unted States o Amerca, Yemen

Palestne attended the meetng as an observer

The ollowng ntergovernmental organsaton (IGO)-the League o Arab States

also attended the meetng

The UNEP Secretariat included

Joseph Alcamo, Matthew Bllot, Ludgarde Coppens, Volodymyr Demkne,Lnda Dusquenoy, Sandor Frgyk, Peter Glruth, Tessa Goverse, Jason Jabbour,

Fatoumata Keta-Ouane, Masa Naga, Nck Nuttall, Brgtte Ohanga,

Young-Woo Park, Naln Sharma, Anna Stabrawa, Ron Wtt

Production team

Helen de Mattos, Neeyat Patel, Rccardo Pravetton (GRID-Arendal),

Audrey Rngler, Petter Sevaldsen (GRID-Arendal),

Janet Fernandez Skaalvk (GRID-Arendal), Bartholomew Ullsten


6/20

GEO-5 SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS6

1.Criticalthresholds

The currently observed changes to the Earth System are

unprecedented n human hstory. Eorts to slow the

rate or extent o change ncludng enhanced resource

ecency and mtgaton measures have resulted n

moderate successes but have not succeeded n reversng

adverse envronmental changes. Nether the scope othese nor ther speed has abated n the past ve years.

As human pressures on the Earth System accelerate,

several crtcal global, regonal and local thresholds

are close or have been exceeded. Once these have

been passed, abrupt and possbly rreversble changes

to the le-support unctons o the planet are lkely

to occur, wth sgncant adverse mplcatons or

human well-beng. An example o an abrupt change at

a regonal scale s the collapse o reshwater lake and

estuary ecosystems due to eutrophcaton; an abruptand rreversble example s the accelerated meltng o

the Arctc ce-sheet, as well as glacal melt, due to an

amplcaton o global warmng (Fgure 1).

The mpacts o complex, non-lnear changes n the Earth

System are already havng serous consequences or

human well-beng such as:

multple and nteractng actors, ncludng droughts

combned wth soco-economc pressures, aect

human securty; ncreases o average temperature above threshold

levels n some places has led to sgncant human

health mpacts such as ncreased ncdences o malara;

ncreased requency and severty o clmatc events,

such as oods and droughts, to an unprecedented

level aect both natural assets and human securty;

acceleratng changes o temperature and sea level rse are

aectng human well-beng n some places. For example,

they aect the socal coheson o many communtes

ncludng ndgenous and local ones, and sea level rse

poses a threat to some natural assets and the oodsecurty o the small sland developng states; and

substantal bodversty loss and on-gong extncton

o speces are aectng the provson o ecosystem

-. -. -.

Change in annual mean surface air temperature, C

. . . . . . No dataSource: NASA GISS

Figure 1: Change in annual mean surace air temperature, 19602009


7/20

GEO-5 SUMMARY FOR POLICY MAKERS 7

The lack o relable and consstent tme-seres data

on the state o the envronment s a major barrer to

ncreasng the eectveness o polces and programmes.

Addtonally, many o the most mportant drvers

o envronmental change or even ther mpacts are

not systematcally montored. All countres shouldundertake to montor and assess ther own envronment

and ntegrate socal, economc and envronmental

normaton to norm decson-makng processes. As

standardzed approaches to data collecton are needed,

nternatonal cooperaton and capacty buldng or

collectng data must be strengthened. Improvng access

to normaton s also essental.

2.Evidence-basedpolicymakingrequiresmore,reliabledata

Many sub-natonal, natonal and nternatonal

nstruments now n place are contrbutng to

envronmental mprovements. There s evdence,

however, o contnung deteroraton n many places

and or most o the global envronmental ssues

reported on n GEO-5. For such ssues as exposure

pathways and eects o chemcals, and the trends

n land degradaton a better understandng would

support better responses. For others, such as

reducng partculate matter (PM) concentratons n

the atmosphere, more consstent mplementaton o

exstng nstruments s needed.

Atmosphere

Some atmospherc ssues have been solved eectvely as

a result o a varety o mechansms and where successul

acton has been taken, the benets ar exceed the costs.

Sgncant progress has, or example, been made n

reachng the nternatonally agreed goal o the Montreal

Protocol to protect the stratospherc ozone (ozone n

the upper atmosphere) layer. A drastc reducton n both

the producton and use o ozone-depletng substances

(ODS) has been acheved, resultng n a 31 per cent

mprovement n ODS ndcators at md lattudes snce

1994, and the predcted avodance o 22 mllon cases o

cataract or people born between 1985 and 2100 n the

Unted States o Amerca alone.

For other ssues, such as the reducton o ndoor and

outdoor PM and emssons o sulphur and ntrogen

compounds, progress has been mxed. Tropospherc

ozone (ozone n the lower atmosphere) remans a

sgncant problem and s provng dcult to address.

3.Environmentaldeteriorationdemonstratesinternationallyagreedgoalshaveonlybeenpartiallyachieved

servces, such as, the collapse o a number o sheres

and the loss o speces used or medcnal purposes.

The prospect o mprovng human well-beng s

crtcally dependent on the capacty o ndvduals,

countres and the nternatonal communty to respond

to envronmental changes whch ncrease rsks and

reduce opportuntes or the advancement o human

well-beng, n partcular eorts to eradcate poverty

amongst poor and vulnerable populatons. Because o

the complextes o the Earth System, responses need

to ocus on the root causes, the underlyng drvers o

envronmental changes, rather than only the pressures

or symptoms.


8/20


HADGL

NOAA

NASA

JMA

0 = 19611990 global mean, C CO2 part per million

280

260

300

320

340

360

380

400

1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010

Sources: Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (HADGL), NOAA NCDC,

NASA GISS, Japan Meteorological Agency

Sources: Scripps Institute of Oceanography, NOAA

Fish andseafood

Meat

GlobalPopulation

+%

+%

+%

Source: UNEP/FAO

Change, %

Figure 2: Trends in temperature change and atmospheric CO2 concentrations, 18502010

Figure 3: Change in global population and in meat,sh and seaood supplies, 19922007

In parts o Arca, Asa and Latn Amerca, where

urban PM levels reman ar n excess o nternatonal

gudelnes, the concern s hgh. Smlarly, the dust-haze

phenomenon n the Mddle East s o concern. Improved

publc normaton on local ar qualty could contrbute to

rasng awareness o ths ssue.

The nternatonally agreed goal o avodng the adverse

eect o clmate change s presentng the global

communty wth one o ts most serous challenges

(Fgure 2) that s threatenng overall developmentgoals. As progress n reducng the carbon ntensty o

consumpton and producton s beng outstrpped by

ncreased levels o consumpton, reachng the clmate

goal under the Unted Natons Framework Conventon on

Clmate Change (UNFCCC) o reducng global greenhouse

gas (GHG) emssons so as to hold the ncrease n global

average temperature below 2 C above pre-ndustral

levels wll requre not only the ullment o current

pledges but also transormatve change towards a low-

carbon global economy.

In addton, progress s necessary on preparng and

mplementng natonal plans o acton on clmate change,

ncludng natonally approprate mtgaton acton and

natonal adaptaton plans o acton. Complementary acton

to address short-lved clmate orcers black carbon,

methane and tropospherc ozone, whch are ar pollutants

that also warm the planet can cost-eectvely reduce

the rate o temperature ncrease n the near term whle

reducng rsks to human health and ood producton.

Land

The pressure on land resources has ncreased n

recent years. Economc growth has come at the

expense o natural resources and ecosystems, or

example, due to perverse ncentves, deorestaton

and orest degradaton alone wll lkely cost the global


9/20


economy more than the losses n the 2008 nancal

crss. Improvng land-resource and sustanable land

management systems to prevent land degradaton,

ncludng sol eroson, has been ncreasngly recognzed

as an mportant goal, and there are many examples o

eectve progress. Coordnated eorts n the Brazlan

Amazon have shown that nnovatve polces on orest

montorng, land tenure and law enorcement, together

wth consumer-drven ntatves, can have a sgncant

mpact on lowerng deorestaton rates.

Some orestry and agroorestry systems, as well

as eorts to reduce land converson to other uses,

oer examples that can result n the mantenance

and enhancement o terrestral carbon stocks and

contrbute to conservaton and the sustanable use

o bodversty. Approprate orest management could

nclude natural regeneraton o degraded orests and

reorestaton, regulatng the dverson o orest land or

non-orest purposes wth comprehensve mechansms

or compensatory aorestaton and the adopton o

agroorestry. Eorts to better understand ecosystem

servces provded by varous land uses, as well as the

valuaton o natural captal, are at an early stage o

development and should be strengthened.

Overall, however, the challenges are severe and

successes relatvely ew n number. The rate o orest

loss, partcularly n the tropcs, remans alarmngly hgh.

The burgeonng populaton, economc development

and global markets are mportant drvers o change that

collectvely ntensy pressure on land by rasng demands

or ood, lvestock eed, energy, and raw materals

(Fgure 3 on prevous page). Smultaneous growth n

demand s causng land-use converson, land degradaton,

sol eroson and pressure on protected areas. The need

to ncrease agrcultural productvty due, or nstance,

to populaton growth, and to compensate or the loss o

arable land due to urbanzaton, nrastructure buldng

and desertcaton, has to be weghed aganst potental

envronmental costs. Land-use decsons oten al to

recognze the non-market value o ecosystem servcesand overlook bophyscal lmts to productvty, ncludng

the addtonal stress on productve areas caused by

clmate change. Many nterventons ntended to protect

ecosystems have also aled to engage adequately wth

ndgenous, local communtes and the prvate sector, or

to take local values nto account. In addton, an ntegrated

approach to conservaton and development s not always

easly reconcled wth local land-use legslaton.

The potental to create more sustanable land

management systems nevertheless exsts. Land polcesrepresent some o the most actve areas o polcy

nnovaton, ncludng payment or ecosystem servces

(PES) and ntegrated place-based management.

For these to be extended, some decences need to

be addressed:

data and montorng are severely nadequate; and

clear, more tangble nternatonally agreed goals

or land are needed as most o those that exst are

mprecse and non-quantable.


10/20


Source: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Note: the term irrigation eciency is used to

express which percentage of irrigation water is

used eciently and which percentage is lost

Irrigation eciency

HighLow

Freshwater

The world s on track to reach the Mllennum

Development Goal (MDG) on access to sae drnkng

water, but not that o santaton 2.6 bllon people stll

lack access to basc santaton and some progress

has been made n meetng water ecency goals.

Despte the progress, there are concerns that the lmt

o sustanablty o water resources, both surace- and

ground-water, has already been reached or surpassed

n many regons, that demand o water contnues

to ncrease and that water-related stress on both

people and bodversty s escalatng rapdly. Global

water wthdrawals have trpled over the last 50 years;

aquers, watersheds and wetlands are ncreasngly at

rsk yet are oten poorly montored and managed. The

rate at whch global groundwater stocks are decreasng

more than doubled between 1960 and 2000. Today, 80

per cent o the worlds populaton lves n areas wth

hgh levels o threat to water securty, wth the most

severe threat category aectng 3.4 bllon people,

almost all n developng countres. By 2015, some 800

mllon people are expected stll to lack access to an

mproved water supply, even though mprovng the

drnkng water supply and santaton s stll a cost-

eectve way o reducng water-related dsease and

death. In many countres, data collecton, montorng

and assessment o hydrology, water avalablty and

water qualty, whch are crtcal to ntegrated water

resource management and sustanable development,

are lackng and must be mproved.

Water, energy, soco-economc development and

clmate change are undamentally lnked. For example,

tradtonal energy producton sources result n

ncreased GHG emssons and clmate change that

contrbute to water scarcty, extreme clmatc events

such as ood and droughts, sea-level rse, and loss

o glacal and polar sea ce. Responses to clmate

change, ncludng developng energy sources wth

lower carbon ootprnts, can also have mplcatons

or the water envronment. Hydropower producton

can contrbute to ragmentaton o rver systems, whle

the constructon o some solar-energy nrastructure

consumes sgncant quanttes o water, oten

n ard envronments already experencng water

scarcty. As water scarcty ncreases, some regons

wll be orced to rely more on water harvestng and

watershed management. Desalnaton may also make

a contrbuton but currently requres large amounts

o energy, nancal and human resources, as well as

techncal assstance or ts mplementaton.

There s a need to use water more ecently. Nnety-two

per cent o the total global water ootprnt s related to

agrculture. Irrgaton ecency and water reuse could

be ncreased by about a thrd smply by mplementng

exstng technology (Fgure 4). Preventon and reducton

Figure 4: Global irrigation efciencies, c. 2000


11/20


o aquatc polluton rom both pont and non-pont

sources are also vtal steps n mprovng water avalablty

or multple uses. Though sgncant progress has been

made on ntegrated water-management over the past 20

years, the overall pace o ncreasng pressures on water

supples and use needs to be matched by accelerated

mprovements n governance at all levels.

Oceans

A number o global, regonal and sub-regonal

conventons, protocols and agreements have been

establshed to protect the marne envronment

rom polluton. They also support an ntegrated and

sustanable use o marne and coastal resources as well

as ecosystem based water management.

Despte global agreements, there are contnung sgns

o degradaton. For example, the number o eutrophc

coastal areas has ncreased dramatcally snce 1990

at least 415 coastal areas have exhbted serous

eutrophcaton and only 13 o these are recoverng.

Instances o reported outbreaks o paralytc shellsh

posonng (PSP), one example o whch s the toxn

produced by algal blooms n eutrophc waters, have

ncreased rom ewer than 20 n 1970 to more than 100

n 2009. O the 12 seas surveyed between 2005 and

2007, the coasts o the East Asan Sea, North Pacc,

Southeast Pacc and Wder Carbbean contaned

the most marne ltter. In contrast, the Caspan,

Medterranean, and Red Seas had the least. Excessve

absorpton o CO2 rom the atmosphere s causng

acdcaton o the oceans whch s postulated to be a

major threat to coral ree communtes and shellsh.

Addtonal studes are needed, to better understand the

extent, dynamcs and consequences o ths process.

Sustanable management o coastal areas and ocean

resources, ncludng through marne protected areas,

requres natonal acton, eectve coordnaton and

cooperaton at all levels.

Biodiversity

Protected areas now cover nearly 13 per cent o the total

land area, wth ncreasng recognton o ndgenous

and local communty-managed areas. Concern remans,

however, because protected areas are oten solated

rom one another. Ths can be addressed by establshng

bologcal corrdors between protected areas. Less than

1.5 per cent o total marne area s currently protected,

whle the nternatonally agreed goal n the Conventon

on Bologcal Dverstys (CBD) Ach Bodversty Target s

10 per cent o coastal and marne areas by 2020.

Polces, regulatons and actons have been adopted

to mnmze the pressures on bodversty, ncludng

reducng habtat loss, land converson, polluton loads


12/20


0.0

1970 1980 1990 2000 2007

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

Index 1970=1.0

Global Living Planet Index

The Global Living Planet Index is based on the change in

size of 7 953 populations of 2 544 species of birds,mammals, amphibians, reptiles and sh, relative to 1970,

from around the globe. The shaded area on either side ofthe line shows 95 per cent condence intervals

Source: WWF

Figure 5: Global Living Planet Index, 19702007and the llegal trade n endangered speces. These

measures also encourage speces recovery, sustanable

harvestng, habtat restoraton and the management o

nvasve alen speces.

Nevertheless, substantal and on-gong losses o

speces contrbute to ecosystem deteroraton. Up

to two thrds o speces n some taxa are threatenedwth extncton; speces populatons are declnng,

snce 1970, vertebrate populatons have allen by 30

per cent (Fgure 5); and snce 1970 converson and

degradaton has resulted n declnes o 20 per cent

o some natural habtats. Clmate change wll have

proound mpacts on bodversty, partcularly n

combnaton wth other threats.

Habtat loss and degradaton, ncludng rom

unsustanable agrculture and nrastructure

development; unsustanable explotaton; pollutonand nvasve alen speces reman predomnant

threats to terrestral and aquatc bodversty. All

contrbute to a declne n ecosystem servces, whch

may lead to ncreasng ood nsecurty and endanger

poverty reducton and the mprovement n human

health and well-beng.

The CBD Ach Bodversty Targets and the entry nto

orce o the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benet

Sharng provde opportuntes to develop a concerted

global approach to reverse the declne o bodversty.

To acheve ths, t would be helpul to sharpen polcy

makers awareness o the contrbuton o bodversty

and ecosystem servces to human well-beng, as well asto urther ntegrate polces and nsttutonal responses.

These nclude ncentves or and eectve engagement

wth ndgenous and local communtes as well as the

prvate sector.

ChemicalsandWaste

The development o the chemcals ndustry has brought

many benets that underpn advances n agrculture

and ood producton, crop pest control, ndustral

manuacturng, sophstcated technology, medcneand electroncs. Around 248 000 chemcals are now

commercally avalable and the pace o ther producton

and use contnues to grow (Fgure 6).

Nonetheless, some chemcals pose rsks to the

envronment and human health because o ther ntrnsc

hazardous propertes. The negatve eects on human

health and the envronment, and consequently the cost

o nacton, are lkely to be substantal. Chemcals and


13/20


waste management are currently addressed through a

number o regonal and global multlateral envronmental

agreements, ncludng the Basel, Rotterdam and

Stockholm Conventons and, snce 2006, the Strategc

Approach to Internatonal Chemcals Management

(SAICM). Even so, more chemcals o global concern

need to be addressed by such agreements.

Greater urbanzaton has contrbuted to the generaton

o more waste, ncludng e-waste n general and more

hazardous waste rom ndustral and other actvtes.

The countres o the Organsaton o Economc Co-

operaton and Development (OECD) produced some

650 mllon tonnes o muncpal waste n 2007, growng

at around 0.50.7 per cent each year, o whch 515

per cent was e-waste. There are ndcatons that the

nal destnaton o most e-waste s the developng

world and that, at the global scale developng

countres, may generate twce as much e-waste asdeveloped countres by 2016.

Whle polces to manage wastes exst n many countres,

ther mplementaton has met wth mxed success,

and reportng o hazardous waste data has declned.

Problems o managng waste are set to grow wth

recyclng alone not beng a sucent soluton, and

exceed the capacty o countres to deal wth t. Waste

preventon, mnmzaton, reduce-reuse-recycle and

resource recovery all requre attenton.

Many developng countres are at rsk o temporary

regulatory vacuums where shts n the producton or use

o chemcals are out o step wth the mplementaton o

adequate control and management systems, ncludng

cleaner producton and the envronmentally sound

management o the wastes.

There s, however, an acute lack o data to ndcatewhether polces are eectve, where the problems are

most challengng and, perhaps more tellngly, where

problems may be mountng but have yet to be detected.

In many countres, the capacty, n partcular techncal

capacty ncludng nance, technology, nrastructure or

the envronmentally sound management o chemcals

and hazardous wastes, s lackng or nadequate. Ths s

o serous concern snce there s a sht n the producton

o chemcals rom developed to developng countres,

and the use o chemcals n developng countres s

growng rapdly. Due to a lack o data, lttle can be sadabout how well the nternatonally agreed goals n ths

area are beng met and how to mprove programmes and

polces to address these goals.

Emergng ssues, such as endocrne dsruptng

chemcals, plastc n the envronment, open burnng,

and the manuacture and use o nano-materals

and chemcals n products, requre acton to better

understand them and prevent harm to human health and

the envronment.

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Sales US$ (billion)

China

USA

Japan

Germany

France

Brazil

Republic of

Korea

Italy

UK

India

Netherlands

Spain

Belgium

Mexico

Ireland

Canada

Russia Switzerland

Singapore Chile

Australia

Israel

Malaysia

Iran

Indonesia

Thailand

Saudi

Arabia

Argentina

Poland

Source: OECD 2010

Figure 6: Chemical sales by country, 2009


14/20


Index =

Population

Global fossil COemissions

GDP

Emissions embeddedin trade

International trade

Net emission transfersDeveloped to developingcountries

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

inter alia, the negatve aspects o populaton growth,

consumpton and producton, urbanzaton and

globalzaton (Fgure 7).

Oten these drvers combne and nteract. Concerns aboutthe eects o clmate change, or example, ncludng crop

vulnerablty and ood nsecurty, gave rse to clmate

polces that ncluded mandates to ncrease bouel

producton, such as ethanol and bo-desel.

Some drect and ndrect drvers can be controlled

through acton that brngs drect benets to human well-

beng. For example, ncreasng energy ecency to reduce

GHG emssons also reduces ar polluton and ts rsks to

human health, whle reducng consumer energy costs and

ncreasng energy securty.

Because o the rapd growth n drvers, the complexty

o ther patterns and dynamcs, and ther ablty to

generate unexpected mpacts, mproved eorts n

survellance and montorng the drvers may produce

tangble benets. When basc envronmental, socal and

economc data are avalable and ntegrated t becomes

easble to assess the possble envronmental mpacts o

drvers eectvely.

4.Shiftingthepolicyfocus

Figure 7: Growth in population, GDP, trade and CO2 emissions, 19902008

There are compellng reasons to consder polces and

programmes that ocus on the underlyng drvers that

contrbute to ncreased pressure on envronmental

condtons, rather than concentratng only on reducng

envronmental pressures or symptoms. Drvers nclude,


15/20


GEO-5s regonal assessments dented polcy

responses/nstruments based on best practce adopted

successully n one or more regons that would speed up

the achevement o nternatonally agreed goals nclude:

Freshwater

Integrated water resource management; conservaton

and sustanable use o wetlands; promoton o water-

use ecency; water meterng and volumetrc-based

tars mplemented at a natonal or sub-natonal level;

recognzng sae drnkng water and santaton as a basc

human rght/need; efuent charges.

Biodiversity

Market-based nstruments or ecosystem servces,

ncludng Payment or Ecosystems Servces (PES) andReducng Emssons rom Deorestaton and Forest

Degradaton (REDD+); ncreasng the extent o protected

areas; sustanable management o protected areas;

transboundary, bodversty and wldle corrdors;

communty-based partcpaton and management;

sustanable agrcultural practces.

Climate change

Removng perverse/envronmentally harmul subsdes,

especally on ossl uels; carbon taxes; orestry

ncentves or carbon sequestraton; emsson tradngschemes; clmate nsurance; capacty buldng and

nancng; clmate change preparedness and adaptaton

such as clmate proong nrastructure.

Land

Integrated watershed (catchment) management;

smart growth n ctes; protectng prme agrcultural

land and open space; no tll and ntegrated pest

management and/or organc agrculture; mproved

orest management; PES and REDD+; agroorestry and

slvo-pastoral practces.

Chemicals/waste

Regstraton o chemcals; extended producer responsblty;

product redesgn (desgn or the envronment); le cycle

analyss; reduce, reuse and recycle (3Rs) and cleaner

producton; natonal and regonal hazardous waste

treatment systems; control o napproprate export and

mport o hazardous chemcals and waste.

Energy

Increased nternatonal cooperaton n the area o

transer and applcaton o energy savng technologes;

promoton o energy ecency; ncreased use o

renewable energy; eed-n tars; restrcton on ossluels subsdes; low emsson zones wthn ctes;

research and development, especally on batteres and

other orms o energy storage.

Oceans and seas

Integrated coastal zone management (rdge-to-ree);

marne protected areas; economc nstruments such as

user ees.

Environmental governance

Mult-level/mult-stakeholder partcpaton; ncreasedntroducton o the prncple o subsdarty; governance

at local levels; polcy synergy and removal o conct;

strategc envronmental assessment; accountng systems

that value natural captal and ecosystem servces;

mproved access to normaton, publc partcpaton

and envronmental justce; capacty strengthenng o all

actors; mproved goal settng and montorng systems.

Each regon ound, however, that even were such

apparently successul polces more wdely mplemented,

there s lttle condence that some o the currentglobal envronmentally adverse trends would be

reversed nnovatve approaches are dentely needed.

Furthermore, alongsde the wse selecton o polces,

there s an ncreasng need to sht away rom dealng

wth the mpacts o envronmental degradaton and

tackle the underlyng drvers. Regulatory, market- and

normaton-based polces that actually change human

and corporate behavour can become true levers o

transormatve change. In addton, many o the polces

examned were successul, n part, due to the enablng

envronment or local context. It ollows, thereore, thatthe transer and replcaton o polces, although a

commonly observed approach, always requres careul

examnaton o the local context and a ull sustanablty

assessment beore proceedng.

5.Scalinguppromisingpolicies,practicesfromtheregions


16/20


GEO-5 dentes a selecton o nternatonally agreed

goals and targets that address the need to mprove

human well-beng throughout the world, whle protectng

and usng le-supportng envronmental processes.

Achevng these goals and targets or sustanable

development requres urther nnovatve responses at

all levels, as replcatng and up-scalng current polces

alone wll not suce. Exstng sustanablty-scenaro

studes show that both short-term polcy solutons

and long-term structural measures are needed to meet

establshed targets.

Responses at the local, natonal and nternatonal

level nteract and generate ncremental, structural

and transormatonal change. As there s no unversal

soluton to envronmental degradaton, a range o

talored responses s requred to reect the dversty

o regonal needs. In areas o common global concern,

however, coordnaton, partcpaton and cooperaton

are crtcal or jontly meetng nternatonally agreed

goals and targets, whle also addressng the capacty

dects n a range o countres.

In order to be eectve, acton at the sub-global level

can make use o the ollowng our strategc nsghts

derved rom recent scentc understandng o transton

processes n complex soco-ecologcal systems:

a compellng vson o sustanablty buldng on

goals and targets and normed by scence. Socety

at all levels needs to be engaged to dene vsons o

a sustanable uture and what s requred to get on to

the pathway o a successul transton;

reversng what s unsustanable the ntroducton o

nnovatve measures consstent wth a vson o and

pathway to sustanablty must be accompaned by

dentyng and redrectng or reversng polces that

are unsustanable;

applyng leverage a successul transton wll

requre a dverse array o measures that:

strengthen a sustanablty mndset n socety

through educaton and awareness rasng;

change the rules and ncentves to advance

sustanable practces; and

create eedback and make adjustments n the

physcal processes and structures o organzatons

to keep envronmental pressures at acceptable

levels;

Adaptve management and governance

governments and other enttes need mproved

capacty to manage complex transton processes

through contnuous montorng, learnng and course

correcton to reduce the costs o not meetng the

nternatonally agreed goals.

Delverng results requres a combnaton o technology

nvestment, governance and management measures,

together wth sustanable consumpton and producton

patterns. A low carbon and resource ecent green

economy n the context o sustanable development

and poverty eradcaton, wth adequate support or the

development o envronmental nnovaton, oers great

envronmental and economc opportuntes or the

preservaton o the envronment, the creaton o new

jobs, lowerng producton costs and the strengthenng

o compettveness. New measures wll only succeed

accompaned by a reversal or redrecton o polces that

have generated unsustanable outcomes. Transormatons

o such complexty requre a gradual but steady transton

process. Durng such a process, the mpact o responses

needs to be properly montored so that requred,

correctve measures can be taken to keep progress

towards nternatonally agreed goals and targets on

track. At the same tme, t s mportant to strengthen the

structural condtons provdng support or capacty

buldng and creatng an enablng envronment consstent

wth the vson o a sustanable world.

6.Innovativeresponsesanopportunityforcooperation


17/20


A results-based approach to advancng human well-

beng and sustanablty nvolves:

Framingenvironmentalgoalsandmonitoring

environmentaloutcomeswithinthecontextof

settingsustainabledevelopmentgoals

Buldng on the lessons o the MDGs s crtcal to the

possble development o any sustanable development

goals. Metrcs should track sustanablty progress,

strengthen accountablty and acltate learnng. Such

goals could also gude a publc and prvate sector

nvestment roadmap to a green and nclusve economy

to stmulate economc development and job creaton

by the sustanable use o ecosystems and natural

resources, as well as nrastructural nvestments and

technologes. New goals, related to the crtcal drvers

ncludng the consumpton and producton o ood,

energy and water, could be explored. Systematc

montorng and perodc revews o progress on the

agreed unversal goals would promote contnuous

mprovement and socal learnng as well as nsttutonal

and ndvdual accountablty.

Investinginenhancedcapacitiesandmechanisms

atlocal,nationalandinternationallevelstoachieve

sustainability,includingthroughagreeneconomy

inthecontextofsustainabledevelopmentand

povertyeradication

Ths may nvolve mechansms to crculate crtcal polcy

lessons, based on the prortes dented earler and

nputs rom governments and other stakeholders across

the world and strengthened accountablty through data

collecton and assessment ncludng nancal trackng

and regular revews. A stable polcy envronment,

partnershps and the development o an enablng

envronment are key to unleashng the creatvty o the

prvate sector, together wth nnovaton and enhanced

technologcal cooperaton through collaboratve research

and development and knowledge-sharng platorms.

Delverng results wll also requre strengthened natonal

capactes to develop, delver and mplement strateges

to combat envronmental degradaton.

Enhancingtheeectivenessofglobalinstitutions

tofullhumanneedswhileavoidingenvironmental

degradation

Across the world, enttes wthn the nternatonal

envronmental system need to transorm ther

operatonal approach by mprovng eorts to manstream

envronmental concerns nto the development o

economc polces, plans and programmes, delver

results at sub-regonal, regonal, natonal and local

levels, and mprove coordnaton and communcaton. A

Unted Natons system-wde strategy on envronmental

protecton, wthn the context o sustanable

development, could be explored to mprove the algnment

o ts broad range o nstruments, actvtes and capacty,

and support eorts by member states to mplement

the envronmental agenda, ncludng multlateral

envronmental agreements. Other enablng actors

are the enhanced delvery o scence-polcy capacty

development needs across the world, strengthened

montorng systems and data gatherng, as well as

the targeted communcaton o scentc ndngs to

varous audences. In the uture, the Intergovernmental

Platorm on Bodversty and Ecosystem Servces (IPBES)

s expected to make an mportant contrbuton to the

scence-polcy nterace. In addton, the synerges

process or the chemcals and waste conventons Basel,

Rotterdam and Stockholm provdes an opportunty to

enhance awareness rasng, knowledge transer, capacty

buldng and natonal mplementaton that should be

urther explored.

Consistenttimeseries,accessibledatacollection

andassessments

The valuaton o natural captal and ecosystem servces

and the development o evdence-drven envronmental

polces requre tmely, relable, consstent, accessble

and relevant ocal and envronmental data that are

regularly collected. Furthermore, t s mpossble to

judge the eectveness o polces or programmes

wthout regular and repeated data collecton and

assessment. The derved envronmental normaton

should be ntegrated wth socal and economc data or

possble ncluson n natonal accounts. Furthermore,

the normaton s needed to demonstrate to decson

makers and other stakeholders how budgets are

i

ii

iv

iii


18/20


allocated, as well as or better understandng and use.

Fnancal resources and capacty buldng are crtcal

or relable and consstent data collecton, ncludng

n developng countres. Development o techncal

capacty, as well as nsttutonal capacty to embed

regular data collecton, montorng and use wthn the

polcy and plannng process at the natonal level, s also

a hgh prorty.

Strengtheningenvironmentaleducationforand

raisingawarenessofsustainabilityissues

To acltate the mplementaton o nternatonally

agreed goals and objectves, acheve tangble results

at the natonal, regonal and nternatonal level, algn

envronmental polcy and programmes wth sustanable

development goals by strengthenng educaton or and

rasng awareness o sustanablty ssues as one o the

major drvng orces s essental.

Strengtheningaccesstoinformation,public

participationindecisionmakingandaccessto

justiceinenvironmentalmatters

To enhance engagement and develop capacty at

natonal and nternatonal levels, the substantve

nvolvement o cvl socety, the prvate sector and other

relevant actors n polcy-makng processes s crtcal.

The nternatonal communty and government at all

levels could mprove access to normaton, enhance

engagement o and develop capacty or stakeholders

to partcpate n decson makng and mprove access

to justce n envronmental matters n order to meet

envronmental and development challenges.

Notwthstandng the enormous challenges, movng

on to a pathway that leads to meetng nternatonally

agreed envronmental goals and targets s possble and

the transton s already under way. There are, today,

great opportuntes to scale up polces that can help

to reverse negatve envronmental trends and address

nequaltes and nadequate nsttutonal rameworks

wthn whch human socety currently operates. It s also

mperatve or the nternatonal communty to nvest

n structural solutons, rom undamental shts n the

values, desgn and structure o nsttutons to nnovatve

polcy rameworks, that wll help tackle the root causes,

rather than merely the symptoms, o envronmental

degradaton. Solutons are wthn reach, but urgent,

ambtous and cooperatve acton s mperatve to meet

nternatonally agreed goals and targets and to avod

rreversble changes to the le-support unctons o the

planet and urther escalatng economc, envronmental

and human well-beng costs.

v

vi


19/20

Figure1Changeinannualmeansurfaceairtemperature,

19602009

NASA GISS: http://data.gss.nasa.gov/gstemp/

Figure2:TrendsintemperaturechangeandatmosphericCO2

concentrations,18502010

a) Clmate Research Unt at the Unversty o East Angla(HADGL), NOAA NCDC, NASA GISS, Japan Meteorologcal Agency;

b) Scrpps Insttute o Oceanography, NOAA

Figure3:Changeinglobalpopulationandinmeat,shand

seafoodsupplies,19922007

UNEP (2011). Keeping Track of our Changing Environment:

from Rio to Rio+20 (19922012). Unted Natons Envronment

Programme, Narob

Figure4:Globalirrigationeciencies

Rohwer, J., Gerten, D. and Lucht, W. (2007). Development o

unctonal rrgaton types or mproved global crop modellng.Potsdam Insttute or Clmate Impact Research. PIK Report no. 104.

Figure5:LivingPlanetIndex,1970-2007

WWF (2010). Living Planet Report 2010. Biodiversity,

Biocapacity and Development. World Wde Fund For Nature

(WWF), Gland

Figure6:Chemicalsalesbycountry,2009

OECD (2010). Cutting Costs in Chemicals Management: How

OECD helps Governments and Industry. Organsaton or

Economc Co-operaton and Development, Pars

Figure7:Growthinpopulation,GDP,tradeandCO2emissions,

19902008

Peters, G.P., Mnx, J.C., Weber, C.L. and Edenhoer, O. (2011).

Growth n emsson transers va nternatonal trade rom 1990

to 2008. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the

United States of America 108(21), 89038

Referencesources

Photos

Page 7: Stockphoto/Krs Hanke

Page 9: Stockphoto/Vaara

Page 11: Stockphoto/Extreme-Photographer

Page 12: Stockphoto/Ron and Patty Thomas Photography

Page 14: Stockphoto/Su Mn-Hsuan

Page 16: Stockphoto/mayo5


20/20

United Nations Environment Programme

P.O. Box 30552 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya

Tel.: +254 20 762 1234

Fax: +254 20 762 3927

e-mail: [email protected]

www.unep.org

e h Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) provides the scientic analysis as towhy the world needs an urgent switch in its developmental direction 20 years aer theRio Earth Summit of 1992.

GEO-5 underlines not only the severity of the environmental changes and challengesemerging across the globe but will also show that in far too many areas, environmentalchange is accelerating and pushing the planet towards tipping points.

As the UNs most authoritative assessment of the state, trends and outlook of the globalenvironment, the GEO-5 report and the world-wide consultative process underpinningits ndings oers governments and societies, on the eve of Rio+20, the scientic foresightthat can empower positive environmental change as a contribution to achievingsustainable development.

is Summary for Policy-Makers of GEO-5 provides a snapshot of the current state ofthe environment and the worlds performance in meeting key internationally agreed

goals. It also highlights promising approaches, responses and policy options able tosupport a transition towards an inclusive green economy and a sustainable century.

Achim Steiner,

UN Under-Secretary-General andExecutive Director, United Nations Environment Programme

geo-5 summary for policy makers

Documents