Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director said the report was a timely reminder for world leaders of the areas that continue to need urgent attention such as the rapid build-up of greenhouse gases (GHG), the erosion of biodiversity and the use of natural resources, which increased by 40 per cent from 1992 to 2005, a much faster pace than population growth. Other key issues highlighted by the report include: ongoing forest loss in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, with a decrease of 300 million hectares (741 million acres) of forest areas in the region since 1990, and the diminishing glaciers which have influenced the current rise in sea-levels, threatening the well-being of approximately one sixth of the world's population. Steiner said the report also highlights areas where progress has been made and "underlines how, when the world decides to act it can dramatically alter the trajectory of hazardous trends that threaten human well-being -- action to phase-out ozone-damaging chemicals being a spirited and powerful example."
The report notes that many environmental issues, which were only emerging in 1992, when the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, are now part of mainstream policy-making in many countries due to consumer and civil society demands. Some of these issues include the implementation of recycling practices, the commercialization of renewable energy, the rise in sales of organic products and eco-labeling, and the use of carbon trading as a way to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, the report draws attention to the increase in the support for developing green economies, with more government investment in ways to effectively manage their resources and curb their carbon emissions as part of their broader economic development strategy.
Steiner said the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development Rio+20 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro next June could help address the negative effects mentioned in the report and enhance efforts already having a positive impact. He said, Rio+20, under the two themes of a Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and an institutional framework for sustainable development, can, with the requisite level of leadership, trigger the necessary switches that may ensure that the balance of negative versus positive trends moves from the red into the black and that the right to development is enjoyed by the many rather than the few."
The report points out that as the world's population has now reached 7 billion, urban population has grown by 45 per cent since 1992. Yet, the percentage of slum dwellers has dropped from 46 per cent in 1990 to a third in 2010, thanks to improved housing and sanitation. The number of megacities with at least 10 million people has grown from 10 in 1992 to 21 last year -- a 110 per cent increase; and 1.4 billion people globally have no access to reliable electricity or the power grid.
The authors of the report point out that the lack of sufficient, solid data and monitoring systems to measure progress remains an obstacles to achieving the environmental goals set by the international community. The report highlights the missing pieces in our knowledge about the state of the environment, calling for global efforts to collect scientifically-credible data for environmental monitoring. The Eye on Earth Summit, to be held in Abu Dhabi next month (December 12-15), presents one such opportunity, where scientists, policymakers and governments will work together to define the key challenges and solutions related to environmental data access and sharing.
Access a release from the UN with links to related information (click here). Access a more detailed release from UNEP (click here). Access the complete 111-page report (click here). Access more information on the Eye on Earth Summit (click here). [#All]
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