21 February 2012
GEO-5 Summary Highlights Continued Deterioration of the Global Environment
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UNEP has released the Global Environment Outlook-5 (GEO-5) Summary for Policy Makers, which highlights: the adverse effects presented by climate change as a serious challenge that threatens overall development goals; the rate of forest loss; the threats to water security facing 3.4 billion people; coastal zone eutrophication; and the fact that up to two thirds of species are currently threatened with extinction.

20 February 2012: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the Global Environment Outlook-5 (GEO-5) Summary for Policy Makers, which was negotiated and endorsed by governments on 31 January 2012. The summary was released as a prelude to the full report, which will be released in June, in advance of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

The Summary warns of the continued deterioration in the state of the global environment, highlighting that internationally-agreed environmental goals have only been partially met. It notes specifically: the adverse effects of climate change as a serious challenge that threatens overall development goals; the rate of forest loss; the threats to water security facing 3.4 billion people; coastal zone eutrophication; and the fact that up to two thirds of species are currently threatened with extinction.

The Summary calls for a focus on the underlying drivers of environmental change – including population growth, consumption and production, and urbanization. It further recommends: the use of timely and accurate data to inform decision making; reversal of policies that generate unsustainable outcomes; incentives to advance sustainable practices; urgent, ambitious and cooperative action by governments to meet internationally-agreed goals; the strengthening of access to information; and the engagement of civil society, the private sector and other relevant actors in policy-making processes.

The GEO-5 Summary was launched on the sidelines of the 12th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GCSS-12/GMEF), taking place from 20-22 February 2012, at the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya. [GEO-5 Summary For Policy Makers] [UNEP Press Release] [IISD RS Coverage of GCSS-12][IISD RS Coverage of GEO-5 Intergovernmental Meeting on the Summary for Policy Makers]

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