The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
This report provides estimates of drinking water and sanitation coverage in 2004, by country and MDG region. It shows how many people have gained access since the MDG baseline year (1990) and identifies the challenges to meet the MDG drinking water and sanitation target over the coming decade. It compares …
Global Environmental Governance (GEG) is the sum of organizations, policy instruments, financing mechanisms, rules, procedures and norms that regulate the processes of global environmental protection. Since environmental issues entered the international agenda in the early 1970s, global environmental politics and policies have been developing rapidly. This book identifies a number …
Global environmental change (GEC) is among the most severe challenges facing mankind today. It is a suite of environmental change problems, climate change being the most studied of all. Global environment includes physical, chemical, and biological processes that are necessary for life-supporting services on the earth. No studies on a …
With globalization fast becoming an irreversible process, it is necessary to pay increased attention to the implications for environmental sustainability. However, the so-called environmental Kuznets curve argument implies that rapid economic growth in many developing countries should be environmentally unsustainable. Environmental Sustainability addresses this dichotomy and articulates a notion of …
European Union (eu) farm ministers once again revealed their long-standing rift over genetically modified ( gm ) food. At a recent meet in Luxembourg, proposals to approve new gm imports and to ask Greece to lift its gm ban could not be passed. All the gmos under discussion are maize …
Climate change poses a major risk to the global economy: It affects the wealth of societies, the availability of resources, the price of energy and the value of companies. The financial industry has a two-fold responsibility. On the one hand, it needs to prepare itself for the negative effects that …
• More than 1,500 new chemicals are introduced annually the world over, that is, more than 4 chemicals daily • Total number of chemicals known to exist
This report examines greenhouse gas emissions at the global, national, sectoral, and fuel levels and identifies implications of the data for international cooperation on global climate change. Emissions are assessed within the broader socioeconomic context faced by countries, inclduing factors such as economic output, population size, trade, investment, and sectoral …
Since the 1960s, the world's population has more than doubled and agricultural production per person has increased by a third. Yet this growth in production has masked enormous hidden costs arising from widespread pesticide use - massive ecological damage and high incidences of farmer poisoning and chronic health effects. Whereas …
Environmentalists have launched a global movement to encourage nitrogen management in view of the fact that reactive nitrogen can considerably improve but equally damage the quality of life on the planet. Through their call Nanjing Declaration on Nitrogen Management, 400 green experts have urged policy makers at all levels of …
The International Union for the Conversation of Nature (IUCN) is the lead organization in the selection, establishment and management of protected areas. In order to accomplish its advisory management function, IUCN maintains a worldwide list of protected areas. Each protected area on the list is placed into one of 6 …
When national leaders from all over the world gathered at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Earth Summit, 1992, management and protection of the world’s forests was among the most contentious issues on their agenda. Since then, the term sustainable forest management (sfm) has become a matter of multilateral bedlam. Simply …
Trade interests always reign supreme, usually disastrously so: the Rotterdam Convention on hazardous chemicals might soon be rendered purposeless if the trend spearheaded by Russia and Canada at the convention's first Conference of Parties (cop-1), held on September 20-24 in Geneva, is any indication. The two countries, along with India …
International relations have historically been characterised by coalitions of nation states. Even the present day un was born out of the deliberations of a post World-War ii (ww-ii) coalition of nations. Today, we have a plethora of coalitions
The United Nations (UN) is set to take center-stage in the longstanding controversy over new sources of innovative funding for the world's poorer nations. The proposals on the table include a carbon tax on fuel use, the
Attacks by large carnivores on humans can occasionally help to generate significant resistance to carnivore conservation efforts. The authors have reviewed research addressing concerns for human safety in large carnivore conservation, and have evaluated statements about the frequencies and causes of attacks based on our findings concerning i) existing data …
A pact aimed at ensuring sustainable food supply across the world has become international law. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture will ensure continuous availability of the genetic resources of plants needed to improve the quality and productivity of food and feed crops through a …
Renewed attempts were made to advance negotiations on environmental issues at the special session of the World Trade Organization's (wto) Committee on Trade and Environment (ctess), held in Geneva. While the us introduced a proposal aimed at resolving the conflicts between wto rules and multilateral environmental agreements (meas), the eu …
