29 July 2010: The World Bank has released the tenth edition of its Little Green Data Book, which provides evidence of the last decade’s achievements – or lack of progress – on the road towards sustainable development.

The Book reports, for example, that urban air pollution declined in most countries between 2000 and 2006, with the greatest progress in low-income and lower middle-income countries. The Little Green Data Book also finds that during the past decade, the world has become drier as water resources per capita have diminished under the pressure of a fast-growing population, while forest cover has fallen in Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Book contains sections on, inter alia: agriculture; forests and biodiversity; energy; emissions and pollution; and water and sanitation. [The Little Green Data Book] [World Bank Press Release]