Publication: Monitoring Environmental Sustainability: Trends, Challenges and the Way Forward
Date
2010-12-09
ISSN
Published
2010-12-09
Author(s)
Ruta, Giovanni
Abstract
This report presents a concise review of
the major environmental and natural resources issues at the
global and national level over the coming two decades. The
environmental issues reviewed include air pollution and
deterioration of air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and
climate change, water quality, scarcity and access, land and
soil degradation, deforestation and forest degradation,
natural disaster, loss of biodiversity and protected areas,
and governance and institutions for environmental and
natural resource management. Besides providing an
environment outlook, the report tackles the issue of
monitoring also from the supply side. It identifies the
relevant data and indicator sets available at the global
level and country level to capture the global and locally
relevant environmental issues with the underlying objective
of pinpointing at data gaps. It concludes with a set of
recommendations for moving forward on the monitoring agenda.
Overall, the threats from climate change caused by Green
House Gas (GHG) emissions, biodiversity loss, water
pollution and scarcity as well as pressure on land as well
as worsening ocean's state and biodiversity have to be
taken under close observation in the period over the next 20
years. The environment challenges that the world faces are
not trivial and some of them require immediate action.
Action, in turn, requires reliable and accurate information.
The second part of the report looks at information from the
supply side. It identifies the relevant data and indicator
sets available at the global level and country level to
capture the global and locally relevant environmental issues
with the underlying objective of informing and advising
decision making and to identify the data gaps.
Citation
“Ruta, Giovanni. 2010. Monitoring Environmental Sustainability : Trends, Challenges and the Way Forward. 2010 Environmental Strategy Analytical Background Papers;. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27445 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”