The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released the seventh edition of its flagship Global Environment Outlook (GEO) – the product of 287 multi-disciplinary scientists from 82 countries. “The most comprehensive scientific assessment of the global environment ever carried out,” according to UNEP, the report calls for whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches to achieve transformative change in economy and finance, materials and waste, energy, food, and the environment.
Titled, ‘A Future We Choose,’ the report warns that global environmental crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation and desertification, and pollution and waste have already plunged our planet into “uncharted territory.” Undermining human well-being and costing trillions of dollars annually, these interconnected crises stem primarily from unsustainable systems of production and consumption, it finds. As these crises reinforce and exacerbate each other, they need to be addressed together, according to the report.
GEO-7 recommends whole-of-society and whole-of-government approaches to transform the economic and financial systems. This, it argues, will unlock transformations in the materials/waste, energy, and food systems, and improve environmental management. In this context, the report highlights moving away from gross domestic product (GDP) to indicators that also track human and natural capital as a key enabler that would “incentivize economies to move towards circularity, decarbonization of the energy system, sustainable agriculture, [and] ecosystem restoration.”
GEO-7 cautions against current development pathways, characterized by intensifying climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, land degradation and desertification, and pollution. Instead, it points to a better path, whereby transformation towards less material consumption and more technological development and efficiency is projected to lead to global macroeconomic benefits by 2050. These are expected to grow to USD 20 trillion per year by 2070 and to USD 100 trillion per year thereafter.
However, solution pathways need to be designed in alignment with the social, economic, and environmental context of each region, according to the report. The report calls for all actors to use diverse knowledge systems to co-develop and co-implement solutions across the areas of:
- Economy and finance, by moving beyond GDP to comprehensive wealth metrics, pricing positive and negative externalities to value goods correctly, and phasing out harmful subsidies;
- Materials and waste, by implementing circular product design, shifting investments to circular business models, and moving consumption patterns towards circularity;
- Energy, by decarbonizing the energy supply, increasing energy efficiency, advancing social and environmental sustainability in critical minerals value chains, and addressing energy poverty and access;
- Food systems, by shifting to healthy and sustainable diets, enhancing circularity and production efficiency, and reducing food loss and waste; and
- Environment, by accelerating conservation and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, supporting climate change adaptation and resilience through Nature-based Solutions (NbS), and implementing climate change mitigation strategies.
Some 1,240 pages long, the 2025 assessment was launched on 9 December, during the seventh session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. [Publication: Global Environment Outlook 2025: A Future We Choose: How Investing in Earth Now Can Lead to a Trillion Dollar Benefit for All] [Executive Summary] [Key Messages] [Publication Landing Page] [UNEP Press Release] [UN News Story] [SDG Knowledge Hub Stories on GEO-6 and GEO-5]