UNEP`s GEO-5: world is speeding down an unsustainable path
Baku, June 8 (AZERTAC). The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched Global Environment Outlook 5 (GEO-5) on June 6, including the main launch in Rio de Janeiro, with parallel launches in cities around the world: Beijing, Addis Ababa, Panama City, Nairobi, Lima, New York, London, Washington, Brussels, Geneva, Bahrain and New Delhi.
From the 90 most important environmental goals and objectives assessed in the GEO report, only four (eliminating the production and use of substances that deplete the ozone layer; removal of lead from fuel; increasing access to improved water supplies; and boosting research to reduce pollution of the marine environment) showed evidence of significant progress. A lack of data prevented the assessment of 14 goals, including on chemicals/waste and freshwater pollution. The 90 environmental goals assessed in the report are not even a fifth of the over 500 internationally agreed goals and objectives that aim to support the sustainable management of the environment and improve human well-being. According to GEO-5 humanity should urgently change its ways in order to avoid exceeding several critical thresholds - beyond which abrupt and generally irreversible changes to the life-support functions of the planet could occur.
The report explains that - if current policies and strategies are changed and strengthened - meeting an ambitious set of sustainability targets by the middle of the century is still feasible. But it also welcomes collaborative cross-border initiatives, such as the network of marine protected areas emerging along parts of the West African coast, and notes that - if scaled-up and accelerated, such initiatives could assist the region`s transition to a green economy. Finally, the report finds that Europe continues to have a disproportionally high environmental footprint, despite integrated and cross-sectoral efforts to tackle climate change, establish protected areas, reduce air pollution, and improve waste management.
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