Environment for development

A Section
Overview
Chapter 1 Environment for Development

“The ‘environment’ is where we live; and
development is what we all do in attempting
to improve our lot within that abode.
The two are inseparable.”
Our Common Future

Chapter1
Environment for Development
Coordinating lead authors: Diego Martino and Zinta Zommers
Lead authors: Kerry Bowman, Don Brown, Flavio Comim, Peter Kouwenhoven, Ton Manders, Patrick Milimo,
Jennifer Mohamed-Katerere, and Thierry De Oliveira
Contributing authors: Dan Claasen, Simon Dalby, Irene Dankelman, Shawn Donaldson, Nancy Doubleday,
Robert Fincham, Wame Hambira, Sylvia I. Karlsson, David MacDonald, Lars Mortensen, Renata Rubian,
Guido Schmidt-Traub, Mahendra Shah, Ben Sonneveld, Indra de Soysa, Rami Zurayk, M.A. Keyzer, and
W.C.M. Van Veen
Chapter review editor: Tony Prato
Chapter coordinators: Thierry De Oliveira, Tessa Goverse, and Ashbindu Singh
Credit: fotototo/Still Pictures

Main messages
It is 20 years since the report of the World
Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED), Our Common Future, emphasized
the need for a sustainable way of life which
not only addresses current environmental
challenges but also ensures a secure society
well into the future. This chapter analyses
the evolution of such ideas as well as global
trends in relation to environment and socio-economic
development. The following are its
main messages:
The world has changed radically since
1987 – socially, economically and
environmentally. Global population has
grown by more than 1.7 billion, from
about 5 billion people. The global economy
has expanded and is now characterized
by increasing globalization. Worldwide,
GDP per capita (purchasing power parity)
has increased from US$5 927 in 1987 to
US$8 162 in 2004. However, growth has
been distributed unequally between regions.
Global trade has increased during the past
20 years, fuelled by globalization, better
communication, and low transportation
costs. Technology has also changed.
Communications have been revolutionized
with the growth of telecommunications and
the Internet. Worldwide, mobile phone
subscribers increased from 2 people per
1 000 in 1990 to 220 per 1 000 in 2003.
Internet use increased from 1 person per
1 000 in 1990 to 114 per 1 000 in 2003.
Finally, political changes have also been
extensive. Human population and economic
growth has increased demand on resources.
The World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED) recognized 20 years
ago that the environment, economic and social
issues are interlinked. It recommended that the
three be integrated into development decision
making. In defining sustainable development,
the Commission acknowledged the need
for both intra- and intergenerational equity
– development that meets not only today’s
human needs but also those of more people in
the future.
Changing drivers, such as population growth,
economic activities and consumption patterns,
have placed increasing pressure on the
environment. Serious and persistent barriers
to sustainable development remain. In the past
20 years, there has been limited integration of
environment into development decision making.
Environmental degradation is therefore
undermining development and threatens
future development progress. Development is
a process that enables people to better their
well-being. Long-term development can only
be achieved through sustainable management
of various assets: financial, material, human,
social and natural. Natural assets, including
water, soils, plants and animals, underpin
people’s livelihoods.
Environmental degradation also
threatens all aspects of human well-being.
Environmental degradation has
been demonstrably linked to human health
problems, including some types of cancers,
vector-borne diseases, emerging animal to
human disease transfer, nutritional deficits
and respiratory illnesses. The environment
provides essential material assets and an
economic base for human endeavour. Almost
half the jobs worldwide depend on fisheries,
forests or agriculture. Non-sustainable use
of natural resources, including land, water,
forests and fisheries, can threaten individual
livelihoods as well as local, national and
international economies. The environment
can play a significant role in contributing to
development and human well-being, but can
also increase human vulnerability, causing
human migration and insecurity, such as in
the case of storms, droughts or environmental

mismanagement. Environmental scarcity can
foster cooperation, but also contribute to
tensions or conflicts.
Environmental sustainability, Millennium
Development Goal 7, is critical to the
attainment of the other MDG goals. Natural
resources are the basis of subsistence in many
poor communities. In fact, natural capital
accounts for 26 per cent of the wealth of
low-income countries. Up to 20 per cent of
the total burden of disease in developing
countries is associated with environmental
risks. Poor women are particularly vulnerable
to respiratory infections related to exposure
to indoor air pollution. Acute respiratory
infections are the leading cause of death in
children, with pneumonia killing more children
under the age of five than any other illness.
A combination of unsafe water and poor
sanitation is the world’s second biggest killer
of children. About 1.8 million children die
annually and about 443 million school days
are missed due to diarrhoea. Clean water
and air are powerful preventative medicines.
Sustainable management of natural resources
contributes to poverty alleviation, helps
reduce diseases and child mortality, improves
maternal health, and can contribute to gender
equity and universal education.
Some progress towards sustainable
development has been made since 1987 when
the WCED report, Our Common Future, was
launched. The number of meetings and summits
related to the environment and development
has increased (for example, the 1992 Rio
Earth Summit and the 2002 World Summit on
Sustainable Development), and there has been
a rapid growth in multilateral environmental
agreements (for example, the Kyoto Protocol
and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants). Sustainable development
strategies have been implemented at local,
national, regional and international levels. An
increasing number of scientific assessments
(for example, the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change) have contributed to a greater
understanding of environmental challenges. In
addition, proven and workable solutions have
been identified for environmental problems that
are limited in scale, highly visible and acute,
(for example, industrial air and water pollution,
local soil erosion and vehicle exhaust emission).
However, some international negotiations
have stalled over questions of equity and
responsibility sharing. Interlinkages between
drivers and pressures on the global environment
make solutions complex. As a result, action
has been limited on some issues, for example,
climate change, persistent organic pollutants,
fisheries management, invasive alien species
and species extinction.
Effective policy responses are needed at all
levels of governance. While proven solutions
continue to be used, action should also be
taken to address both the drivers of change and
environmental problems themselves. A variety of
tools that have emerged over the past 20 years
may be strategic. Economic instruments, such
as property rights, market creation, bonds and
deposits, can help correct market failures and
internalize costs of protecting the environment.
Valuation techniques can be used to understand
the value of ecosystem services. Scenarios can
provide insights on the future impacts of policy
decisions. Capacity building and education are
critical to generate knowledge and inform the
decision making process.
Society has the capacity to make a difference
in the way the environment is used to
underpin development and human well-being.
The following chapters highlight many of the
challenges society faces today and provides
signposts towards sustainable development.

INTRODUCTION
Imagine a world in which environmental change
threatens people’s health, physical security, material
needs and social cohesion. This is a world beset
by increasingly intense and frequent storms, and
by rising sea levels. Some people experience
extensive flooding, while others endure intense
droughts. Species extinction occurs at rates never
before witnessed. Safe water is increasingly limited,
hindering economic activity. Land degradation
endangers the lives of millions of people.
This is the world today. Yet, as the World
Commission on Environment and Development
(Brundtland Commission) concluded 20 years ago
“humanity has the ability to make development
sustainable.” The fourth Global Environment
Outlook highlights imperative steps needed to
achieve this vision.
The fourth GEO assesses the current state of the
world’s atmosphere, land, water and biodiversity,
providing a description of the state of environment,
and demonstrating that the environment is essential
for improving and sustaining human well-being.
It also shows that environmental degradation
is diminishing the potential for sustainable
development. Policies for action are highlighted to
facilitate alternative development paths.
This chapter examines developments since the
landmark 1987 Brundtland Commission report
– Our Common Future – placed sustainable
development much higher on the international policy
agenda. It examines institutional developments
and changes in thought since the mid-1980s, and
explores the relationships involving environment,
development and human well-being, reviews
major environmental, social and economic trends,
and their impacts on environment and human
well-being, and provides options to help achieve
sustainable development.
Subsequent chapters will analyse of environmental
changes in the atmosphere, land, water and
biodiversity, both at global and regional levels,
and will highlight human vulnerability and strategic
policy interlinkages for effective responses. Positive
developments since 1987 are described. These
include progress towards meeting the goals of the
Montreal Protocol, and the reduction in emissions of
6 SECTION A: OVERVIEW
chemicals that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer.
Yet, the chapters also highlight current environmental
trends that threaten human well-being:
® In some cases, climate change is having severe
effects on human health, food production, security
and resource availability.
® Extreme weather conditions are having an
increasingly large impact on vulnerable human
communities, particularly the world’s poor.
® Both indoor and outdoor pollution is still causing
many premature deaths.
® Land degradation is decreasing agricultural
productivity, resulting in lower incomes and
reduced food security.
® Decreasing supplies of safe water are
jeopardizing human health and economic activity.
® Drastic reductions of fish stocks are creating both
economic losses and a loss of food supply.
® Accelerating species extinction rates are threatening
the loss of unique genetic pools, possible sources
for future medical and agricultural advances.
Choices made today will determine how these
threats will unfold in the future. Reversing such
adverse environmental trends will be an immense
challenge. Ecosystem services collapse is a distinct
possibility if action is not taken. Finding solutions to
these problems today is therefore urgent.
This chapter provides a message for action today:
The Earth is our only home. Its well-being, and
our own, is imperilled. To ensure long-term well-being,
we must take an alternative approach
to development, one that acknowledges the
importance of environment.
OUR COMMON FUTURE: EVOLUTION OF
IDEAS AND ACTIONS
Two decades ago the Brundtland Commission report
– Our Common Future – addressed the links between
development and environment, and challenged
policy-makers to consider the interrelationships
among environment, economic and social issues
when it comes to solving global problems. The report
examined emerging global challenges in:
® population and human resources;
® food security;
® species and ecosystems;
® energy;
® industry; and
® urbanization.

Gro Harlem Brundtland
introduces to the General
Assembly, the report of the World
Commission on Environment
and Development in 1987,
which she chaired. The work
of the Brundtland Commission
challenged policy-makers to
consider the interrelationships
among environment, economic
and social issues in efforts to
solve global problems.
Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant
ENV I RONMENT FOR DE V E LOPMENT 7
The commission recommended institutional and
legal changes in six broad areas to address these
challenges:
® getting at the sources;
® dealing with the effects;
® assessing global risks;
® making informed choices;
® providing the legal means; and
® investing in our future.
Recommendations emphasized the expansion of
international institutions for cooperation, and the
creation of legal mechanisms for environmental
protection and sustainable development, and also
stressed the links between poverty and environmental
degradation. They also called for increased capacity
to assess and report on risks of irreversible damage to
natural systems, as well as threats to human survival,
security and well-being.
The work of the commission was built on the
foundation of, among others, the 1972 UN
Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm
and the 1980 World Conservation Strategy,
which emphasized conservation as including
both protection and the rational use of natural
resources (IUCN and others 1991). The Brundtland
Commission is widely attributed with popularizing
sustainable development internationally (Langhelle
1999). It defined sustainable development as
“development that meets the needs of the present
generation without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.” The
commission further explained that, “the concept
of sustainable development implies limits – not
absolute limits but limitations imposed by the present
state of technology and social organization on
environmental resources and by the ability of the
biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities.”
It was argued that, “technology and social
organization can be both managed and improved
to make way for a new era of economic growth”
(WCED 1987).
The most immediate and perhaps one of the most
significant results of Our Common Future was the
organization of the UN Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), also known as the
Earth Summit, which gathered many heads of
state in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Not only did this
meeting bring together 108 government leaders,
more than 2 400 representatives from non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) attended, and
17 000 people participated in a parallel NGOs
event. The Earth Summit strengthened interaction
among governments, NGOs and scientists,
and fundamentally changed attitudes towards
governance and the environment. Governments
were encouraged to rethink the concept of
economic development, and to find ways to halt the
destruction of natural resources and reduce pollution
of the planet.
The summit resulted in several important steps
towards sustainable development. Through the
adoption of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21,
it helped formalize an international institutional
framework to implement the ideas highlighted
in Our Common Future. The Rio Declaration
contains 27 principles that nations agreed to
follow to achieve the goals articulated by the

Brundtland Commission. Key commitments in the
Rio Declaration included integration of environment
and development in decision making, provision for
polluters to pay for costs of pollution, recognition
of common but differentiated responsibilities, and
application of the precautionary approach to
decision making.
Agenda 21 articulated a comprehensive plan
of action towards sustainable development. It
contains 40 chapters, which can be divided into
four main areas:
® social and economic issues, such as poverty,
human health and population;
® conservation and management of natural resources
including the atmosphere, forests, biological
diversity, wastes and toxic chemicals;
® the role of nine major groups in implementing the
sustainable development agenda (local authorities,
women, farmers, children and youth, indigenous
peoples, workers and trade unions, NGOs,
the scientific and technological community, and
business and industry); and
® means of implementation, including technology
transfer, financing, science, education and public
information.
Embedded in these four main areas of Agenda
21 are the environmental challenges, as well as
the broad governance issues highlighted in the
Brundtland Commission report. As the blueprint
for sustainable development, Agenda 21 remains
the most significant non-binding instrument in the
environmental field (UNEP 2002).
Funding for the implementation of Agenda 21 was
to be obtained from the Global Environment Facility
(GEF). As a partnership involving the UNEP, UNDP
and World Bank, GEF was established the year
before the Earth Summit to mobilize resources for
projects that seek to protect the environment. Since
1991, the GEF has provided US$6.8 billion in
grants, and generated more than US$24 billion in
co-financing from other sources to support about
2 000 projects that produce global environmental
benefits in more than 160 developing countries and
countries with economies in transition. GEF funds
are contributed by donor countries, and in 2006,
32 countries pledged a total of US$3.13 billion to
fund various environment-related initiatives over four
years (GEF 2006).
The turn of the century brought a sense of
urgency to attempts to address environment and
development challenges. World leaders sought to
ensure a world free from want. In the Millennium
Declaration, adopted in 2000, world leaders
committed to free their people from the “threat of
living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human
activities, and whose resources would no longer
be sufficient for their needs” (UN 2000). The
Millennium Summit, adopted the declaration
and created time-bound goals and targets – the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – to better
human well-being.
Two years after the Millennium Declaration and a
decade after the Rio Earth Summit, world leaders
reaffirmed sustainable development as a central goal
on the international agenda at the 2002 Johannesburg
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
More than 21 000 participants attended the
summit, along with representatives of more than 191
governments. The UN Secretary-General designated
five priority areas for discussion: water, including
sanitation, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity.
These became to be known by the acronym WEHAB.
These issues can also be traced back to initiatives such
as the Brundtland Commission. The WSSD outcomes
include the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
Development, and a 54-page plan of implementation.
World leaders committed themselves, “to expedite
the achievement of the time-bound, socio-economic
and environmental targets” contained within the Plan
of Implementation (Johannesburg Declaration on
Sustainable Development). This historic summit also
achieved new commitments on water and sanitation,
poverty eradication, energy, sustainable production
and consumption, chemicals, and management of
natural resources (UN 2002).
The last 20 years has also seen a growth in the
number of scientific assessments, such as the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Global
Environment Outlook. The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change was established in 1988 to assess
on an objective, open and transparent basis the
scientific, technical and socio-economic information
relevant to climate change. In 2007, the IPCC
released its Fourth Assessment Report. The Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment was called for by the then
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, to assess the

consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being.
These scientific assessments reflect the work
of thousands of experts worldwide, and have led to
greater understanding of environmental problems.
As a result of the conferences and assessments
highlighted above, a diversity of multilateral
environmental agreements (MEAs) have been adopted
(see Figure 1.1), and these and several others are
analysed in relevant chapters throughout this report.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was
signed by 150 government leaders at the Rio Earth
Summit. The CBD sets out commitments for conserving
biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components,
and fair and equitable sharing of its benefits. The
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is based on the
precautionary approach from the Rio Declaration.
Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration states that, “where
there are threats of serious and irreversible damage
lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as
a reason for postponing cost effective measures to
prevent biological degradation” (UNGA 1992). The
Protocol promotes biosafety in the handling, transfer
and use of living modified organisms.
Two agreements that have drawn significant attention
during the last 20 years are the Montreal Protocol to
the Vienna Convention on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer and the Kyoto Protocol to the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The Montreal Protocol, which became effective in
1989 and had 191 parties at the beginning of
2007, has helped decrease or stabilize atmospheric
concentrations of many of the ozone-depleting
substances, including chlorofluorocarbons. The protocol
is regarded as one of the most successful international
agreements to date. By contrast, despite the urgency
of climate change, it has been much more difficult to
get some countries responsible for significant emissions
of greenhouse gases to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Environmental governance has changed since the
Brundtland Commission. Today, a broader scope of
issues related to environment and development are
discussed. The issues of trade, economic development,
good governance, transfer of technology, science and
education policies, and globalization, which links
them together, have become even more central to
Different levels of government participate in
environmental policy. The post-WCED period saw a
strong increase in sub-national and local government
action, for example, through local Agenda 21
processes. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
stressed that the role of national policies and
development strategies “cannot be overemphasized.”
It also strengthened the role of the regional level,
Figure 1.1 Ratification of major multilateral environmental agreements
Source: GEO Data Portal,
compiled from various MEA
secretariats
Number of parties
200
175
125
75
50
25
0
1971
2007
100
1981
Basel
CBD
CITES
CMS
World Heritage
Kyoto
1979
1983
1975
Ozone
1985
2003
1999
1989
1995
1987
1991
1997
2001
1993
2005
1997
Ramsar
Rotterdam
Stockholm
UNCCD
UNCLOS
UNFCCC
Cartagena
150
1973

for example by giving the regional UN economic
commissions new tasks, and establishing a regional
preparation process for the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD) (UN 2002).
The number of non-governmental stakeholders involved
in environmental governance has grown considerably,
with organizations playing key roles from local to
global levels. NGOs and advocacy groups devoted
to public interest and environmental causes have
multiplied exponentially, particularly in countries
undertaking democratic transitions (Carothers and
Barndt 2000).
The private sector should also take action to help
protect the environment. Even though business was
“given little attention by the WCED …, more boards
and executive committees are trying to consider all
dimensions of their impacts at once, on the same
agenda, in the same room” (WBCSD 2007). As
consumer demand for “green” products arose,
some businesses developed voluntary environmental
codes, or followed codes developed by non-governmental
Box 1.1 Environment as the foundation for development
organizations and governments
(Prakash 2000). Other companies began to monitor
and report on their sustainability impacts. A study
by eight corporate leaders on what business
success would look like in the future concluded
that it would be tied to helping society cope
with challenges such as poverty, globalization,
environmental decline and demographic change
(WBCSD 2007).
Finally, decision making is increasingly participatory.
Stakeholder groups interact with each other and
with governments through networks, dialogues and
partnerships. Interaction among groups at local,
national and global levels was institutionalized in
the action plans of UNCED and WSSD. Chapter 37
of Agenda 21 urged countries to involve all possible
interest groups in building national consensus on
Agenda 21 implementation, and Chapter 28
encouraged local authorities to engage in dialogue
with their citizens.
Environment as the foundation for development
Before the Brundtland Commission, “development
progress” was associated with industrialization,
and measured solely by economic activity and
increases in wealth. Environmental protection
was perceived by many as an obstacle to
development. However, Our Common Future
recognized “environment or development” as a
false dichotomy. Focus shifted to “environment
and development,” and then to “environment for
development (see Box 1.1).” Principle 1 of Agenda 21
states: “Human beings are at the centre of concerns for
sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy
and productive life in harmony with nature.”
The normative framework for human development is
reflected by the MDGs (UNDP 2006). In signing on to
the MDGs, nations explicitly recognized that achieving
Goal 7 on environmental sustainability is key to
achieving poverty eradication. However, environmental
issues are not highly integrated into other MDGs
(UNDP 2005a). A healthy environment is essential for
achieving all the goals (see Table 1.1). To achieve real
progress, the interlinkages between MDG 7 and the
other MDGs need to be acknowledged and integrated
into all forms of planning.
While a healthy environment can support
development, the relationship is not always reciprocal.
Many alternative views exist on the benefits and
disadvantages of modern development (Rahnema
1997). It has been argued that development is
destructive, even violent, to nature (Shiva 1991). As
GEO-4 illustrates, past development practices have
often not been beneficial to the environment. However,
opportunities exist to make development sustainable.
Environmental degradation due to development raises
deep ethical questions that go beyond economic
Development is the process of furthering people’s well-being. Good development entails:
® increasing the asset base and its productivity;
® empowering poor people and marginalized communities;
® reducing and managing risks; and
® taking a long-term perspective with regard to intra- and intergenerational equity.
The environment is central to all four of these requirements. Long-term development
can only be achieved through sustainable management of various assets: financial,
material, human, social and natural. Natural assets, including water, soils, plants
and animals, underpin the livelihoods of all people. At the national level, natural
assets account for 26 per cent of the wealth of low-income countries. Sectors such
as agriculture, fishery, forestry, tourism and minerals provide important economic
and social benefits to people. The challenge lies in the proper management of these
resources. Sustainable development provides a framework for managing human and
economic development, while ensuring a proper and optimal functioning over time
of the natural environment.
Sources: Bass 2006, World Bank 2006a

Livelihood strategies and food security of the poor often depend directly on healthy ecosystems, and the diversity of goods
and ecological services they provide. Natural capital accounts for 26 per cent of the wealth of low-income countries.
Climate change affects agricultural productivity. Ground-level ozone damages crops.
Table 1.1 Links between the environment and the Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goal Selected environmental links
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger
cost-benefit ratios. The question of justice is perhaps
the greatest moral question emerging in relation to
environmental change and sustainable development.
Growing evidence indicates that the burden
of environmental change is falling far from the
greatest consumers of environmental resources,
who experience the benefits of development.
Often, people living in poverty in the developing
world, suffer the negative effects of environmental
degradation. Furthermore, costs of environmental
degradation will be experienced by humankind
in future generations. Profound ethical questions
are raised when benefits are extracted from the
environment by those who do not bear the burden.
Barriers to sustainable development
Despite changes in environmental governance,
and greater understanding of the links between
environment and development, real progress
towards sustainable development has been slow.
Many governments continue to create policies
concerned with environmental, economic and
social matters as single issues. There is a continued
failure to link environment and development in
decision making (Dernbach 2002). As a result,
development strategies often ignore the need to
maintain the very ecosystem services on which
long-term development goals depend. A notable
example, made apparent in the aftermath of
2. Achieve universal primary
education
Cleaner air will decrease the illnesses of children due to exposure to harmful air pollutants. As a result, they will miss fewer
days of school.
Water-related diseases such as diarrhoeal infections cost about 443 million school days each year, and diminish learning
potential.
3. Promote gender equality, and
empower women
Indoor and outdoor air pollution is responsible for more than 2 million premature deaths annually. Poor women are
particularly vulnerable to respiratory infections, as they have high levels of exposure to indoor air pollution.
Women and girls bear the brunt of collecting water and fuelwood, tasks made harder by environmental degradation, such as
water contamination and deforestation.
4. Reduce child mortality Acute respiratory infections are the leading cause of death in children. Pneumonia kills more children under the age of 5 than
any other illness. Environmental factors such as indoor air pollution may increase children’s susceptibility to pneumonia.
Water-related diseases, such as diarrhoea and cholera, kill an estimated 3 million people/year in developing countries,
the majority of whom are children under the age of five. Diarrhoea has become the second biggest killer of children, with
1.8 million children dying every year (almost 5 000/day).
5. Improve maternal health Indoor air pollution and carrying heavy loads of water and fuelwood adversely affect women’s health, and can make women
less fit for childbirth and at greater risk of complications during pregnancy.
Provision of clean water reduces the incidence of diseases that undermine maternal health and contribute to maternal
mortality.
6. Combat major diseases Up to 20 per cent of the total burden of disease in developing countries may be associated with environmental risk factors.
Preventative environmental health measures are as important and at times more cost-effective than health treatment.
New biodiversity-derived medicines hold promises for fighting major diseases.
7. Ensure environmental
sustainability
Current trends in environmental degradation must be reversed in order to sustain the health and productivity of the world’s
ecosystems.
8. Develop a global partnership
for development
Poor countries and regions are forced to exploit their natural resources to generate revenue and make huge debt repayments.
Unfair globalization practices export their harmful side-effects to countries that often do not have effective governance
regimes.
Source: Adapted from DFID and others 2002, UNDP 2006, UNICEF 2006

the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, is the failure of some
government agencies to see the link between
destruction of coastal wetlands and the increased
vulnerability of coastal communities to storms (Travis
2005, Fischetti 2005). For many, acknowledging
that environmental change could endanger future
human well-being is inconvenient, as it requires an
uncomfortable level of change to individual and
working lives (Gore 2006).
International negotiations on solutions to global
environmental problems have frequently stalled
over questions of equity (Brown 1999). For instance,
in the case of climate change, international
negotiations have slowed down over the question
on how to share responsibilities and burden among
nations, given different historic and current levels of
national emissions.
Providing widespread participation in sustainable
development decision making called for by
Agenda 21 has also raised significant challenges.
The enormous diversity of issues that need to be
considered in sustainable development policy
making, together with aspirations for transparency,
make public participation design daunting. If
participation is treated superficially, and embodied
merely as a quota of specified groups in decision
making processes, it could easily be no more than
“lip service.” The task of designing modern, cross-cutting,
transparent, evidence-based interdisciplinary
decision making is not only conceptually
challenging, but also necessitates a huge increase
in local capacity for democracy and decision
making (MacDonald and Service 2007).
Many social, economic and technological
changes described later in this chapter have made
implementation of the recommendations in Our
Common Future difficult. As also illustrated in other
chapters, changes such as a growing population and
increased consumption of energy have had a huge
impact on the environment, challenging society’s ability
to achieve sustainable development.
Finally, the nature of the environmental problems
has influenced the effectiveness of past responses.
Environmental problems can be mapped along a
continuum from “problems with proven solutions” to
“less known emerging (or persistent) problems” (Speth
2004). With problems with proven solutions, the cause-and-
effect relationships are well known. The scale tends
to be local or national. Impacts are highly visible and
acute, and victims are easily identified. During the past
20 years, workable solutions have been identified for
several such problems, for example industrial air and
water pollution, local soil erosion, mangrove clearance
for aquaculture, and vehicle exhaust emissions.
However, progress has been limited on harder to
manage environmental issues, which can also be
referred to as “persistent” problems (Jänicke and
Volkery 2001). These are deeply rooted structural
problems, related to the ways production and
consumption are conducted at the household, national,
regional and global levels. Harder to manage
problems tend to have multiple dimensions and be
global in scale. Some of the basic science of cause-and-
effect relationships is known, but often not enough
to predict when a tipping point or a point of no return
will be reached. There is often a need to implement
measures on a very large-scale. Examples of such
problems include global climate change, persistent
organic pollutants and heavy metals, ground level
ozone, acid rain, large-scale deterioration of fisheries,
extinction of species, or introductions of alien species.
Women and girls bear the brunt
of collecting fuelwood, tasks
made harder by environmental
degradation.
Credit: Christian Lambrechts

Awareness of the nature of an environmental problem
provides a basis for creating strategies, targeting
efforts, and finding and implementing a sustainable
solution. Possible solutions to different types of
environmental problems are introduced in the last
section of this chapter, highlighted in the rest of the
report, and discussed further in Chapter 10.
HUMAN WELL-BEING AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
For sustainable development to be achieved, links
between the environment and development must
be examined. It is also important to consider the
end point of development: human well-being. The
evolution of ideas on development has made the
concept of human well-being central to the policy
debate. Human well-being is the outcome of
development. Human well-being and the state of
the environment are strongly interlinked. Establishing
how environmental changes have impacts on
human well-being, and showing the importance of
environment for human well-being, are among the
core objectives of this report.
Defining human well-being
Defining human well-being (see Box 1.2) is not
easy, due to alternative views on what it means.
Simply put, human well-being can be classified
according to three views, each of which has
different implications for the environment:
® The resources people have, such as money
and other assets. Wealth is seen as conducive
to well-being. This view is closely linked to the
concept of weak sustainability, which argues
that environmental losses can be compensated
for by increases in physical capital (machines)
(Solow 1991). The environment can only
contribute to development as a means to
promote economic growth.
® How people feel about their lives (their
subjective views). Individuals’ assessments of
their own living conditions take into account
the intrinsic importance that environment has
for life satisfaction. According to this view,
people value the environment for its traditional
or cultural aspects (Diener 2000, Frey and
Stutzer 2005).
® What people are able to be and to do.
This view focuses on what the environment
allows individuals to be and to do (Sen
1985, Sen 1992, Sen 1999). It points out
that the environment provides the basis for
many benefits, such as proper nourishment,
avoiding unnecessary morbidity and
premature mortality, enjoying security and
self-respect, and taking part in the life of the
community. The environment is appreciated
beyond its role as income generator, and its
impacts on human well-being are seen as
multidimensional.
Human well-being is the extent to which individuals have the ability and
the opportunity to live the kinds of lives they have reason to value.
People’s ability to pursue the lives that they value is shaped by a
wide range of instrumental freedoms. Human well-being encompasses
personal and environmental security, access to materials for a good
life, good health and good social relations, all of which are closely
related to each other, and underlie the freedom to make choices and
take action:
® Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being,
and not merely the absence of disease or illness. Good
health not only includes being strong and feeling well, but also
freedom from avoidable disease, a healthy physical environment,
access to energy, safe water and clean air. What one can be and
do include among others, the ability to keep fit, minimize health-related
stress, and ensure access to medical care.
® Material needs relate to access to ecosystem goods-and-services.
The material basis for a good life includes secure and adequate
livelihoods, income and assets, enough food and clean water at all
times, shelter, clothing, access to energy to keep warm and cool,
and access to goods.
® Security relates to personal and environmental security. It includes
access to natural and other resources, and freedom from violence,
crime and wars (motivated by environmental drivers), as well as
security from natural and human-caused disasters.
® Social relations refer to positive characteristics that define
interactions among individuals, such as social cohesion,
reciprocity, mutual respect, good gender and family relations, and
the ability to help others and provide for children.
Increasing the real opportunities that people have to improve their
lives requires addressing all these components. This is closely linked
to environmental quality and the sustainability of ecosystem services.
Therefore, an assessment of the impact of the environment on
individuals’ well-being can be done by mapping the impact of the
environment on these different components of well-being.
Box 1.2 Human well-being
Sources: MA 2003, Sen 1999

The evolution of these ideas has progressed from
the first to the third, with increasing importance
being given to the real opportunities that people
have to achieve what they wish to be and to do.
This new understanding of human well-being has
several important aspects. First, multidimensionality
is viewed as an important feature of human well-being.
Consequently, the impact of the environment
on human well-being is seen according to many
different dimensions.
Second, autonomy is considered a defining feature
of people, and of well-being. Autonomy can be
defined broadly as allowing people to make
individual or collective choices. In other words,
to know whether an individual is well requires
considering his or her resources, subjective views,
and the ability to choose and act. This concept
of human well-being highlights the importance
of understanding whether individuals are simply
passive spectators of policy interventions, or, in
fact, active agents of their own destiny.
Context of human well-being
The potential for individuals, communities and nations
to make their own choices, and maximize opportunities
to achieve security and good health, meet material
needs and maintain social relations is affected by
many interlinked factors, such as poverty, inequality
and gender. It is important to note how these factors
relate to each other, and to the environment.
Poverty and inequality
Poverty is understood as a deprivation of basic
freedoms. It implies a low level of well-being, with
such outcomes as poor health, premature mortality
and morbidity, and illiteracy. It is usually driven by
inadequate control over resources, discrimination
(including by race or gender), and lack of access
to material assets, health care and education
(UN 2004).
Inequality refers to the skewed distribution of an
object of value, such as income, medical care or
clean water, among individuals or groups. Unequal
access to environmental resources remains an
important source of inequality among individuals.
Equity is the idea that a social arrangement
addresses equality in terms of something of value.
Distributive analysis is used to assess features of
human well-being that are unequally distributed
among individuals according to arbitrary factors,
such as gender, age, religion and ethnicity. When
an analysis of this distribution focuses on its lower
end, it refers to poverty.
Mobility
When seen in a dynamic perspective, inequality and
poverty are better understood through the concepts
of social mobility and vulnerability. Mobility relates to
the ability of people to move from one social group,
class or level to another. Environmental degradation
may be responsible for locking individuals within low-mobility
paths, limiting opportunities to improve their
own well-being.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability involves a combination of exposure and
sensitivity to risk, and the inability to cope or adapt to
environmental change. Most often, the poor are more
vulnerable to environmental change. Broad patterns
of vulnerability to environmental and socio-economic
changes can be identified so that policy-makers
can respond, providing opportunities for reducing
Individuals’ assessments of their
own living conditions take into
account the intrinsic importance
that the environment has for life
satisfaction.
Credit: Mark Edwards/Still Pictures

Box 1.3 Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services include provisioning services, such as food and water; regulating
services, such as flood and disease control; cultural services, such as spiritual,
recreational and cultural benefits; and supporting services, such as nutrient cycling that
maintain the conditions for life on Earth (see Table 5.2 in Chapter 5 for details).
vulnerability, while protecting the environment. Chapter
7 assesses the vulnerability of the human-environment
system to multiple stresses (drivers and pressures).
Gender inequality
An analysis of distributive impacts of the environment
on human well-being cannot ignore features such as
gender. Gender inequality is one of the most persistent
inequalities in both developed and developing
countries, with the majority of people living in poverty
being women (UNDP 2005b). Women and girls often
carry a disproportionate burden from environmental
degradation compared to men. Understanding the
position of women in society, and their relationship
with the environment is essential for promoting
development. In many cases, women and girls assume
greater responsibilities for environmental management,
but have subordinate positions in decision making
(Braidotti and others 1994). Women need to be at
the centre of policy responses (Agarwal 2000). At the
same time, it is important to avoid stereotyping these
roles, and to base responses on the complexities of
local realities (Cleaver 2000).
Environmental change and human well-being
One of the main findings of the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment is that the relationship between human
well-being and the natural environment is mediated
by services provided by ecosystems (see Box 1.3).
Changes to these services, as a result of changes
in the environment, affect human well-being through
impacts on security, basic material for a good life,
health, and social and cultural relations (MA 2003).
All people – rich and poor, urban and rural, and in all
regions – rely on natural capital.
The world’s poorest people depend primarily on
environmental goods-and-services for their livelihoods,
which makes them particularly sensitive and vulnerable
to environmental changes (WRI 2005). Furthermore,
many communities in both developing and developed
countries derive their income from environmental
resources, which include fisheries, non-timber forest
products and wildlife.
Health
Shortly before the publication of Our Common
Future, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl illustrated
the catastrophic impact pollution can have on health.
Twenty years later, as victims of Chernobyl still
struggle with disease, the health of countless other
people around the world continues to be affected by
human-induced changes to the environment. Changes
The relationship between human
well-being and the natural
environment is influenced by
services provided by ecosystems.
Credit: Joerg Boethling/Still Pictures
Source: MA 2005a

affecting provisioning services, including water, can
influence human health. Changes affecting regulating
services influence health via the distribution of disease
transmitting insects or pollutants in water and air (MA
2003). Almost one-quarter of all diseases are caused
by environmental exposure (WHO 2006).
As described in Chapter 2, urban air pollution is one of
the most widespread environmental problems, affecting
health in almost all regions of the world. While
Sources: Bell and others 2004, Brown 2006, Goodall 2005, Fa and others 2007, Karesh and others 2005, Leroy and others 2004, Li and others 2005, Peiris and others 2004,
Peterson 2003, Wolfe and others 2004, Wolfe and others 2005
air pollution has decreased in many industrialized
countries, it has increased in other regions, particularly
in Asia. Here, rapid population growth, economic
development and urbanization have been associated
with increasing use of fossil fuels, and a deterioration
of air quality. WHO estimates that more than 1 billion
people in Asian countries are exposed to air pollutant
levels exceeding their guidelines (WHO 2000). In
2002, WHO estimated that more than 800 000
people died prematurely due to PM10 (particulate
The bushmeat trade in Central Africa, and wildlife markets in Asia are
examples of activities that both have impacts on the environment, and
carry risk of disease emergence. In Viet Nam, the illegal trade in wildlife
currently generates US$20 million/year. Wild meat is a critical source
of protein and income for forest dwellers and rural poor. However,
commercial demand for wild meat has been growing as a result of urban
consumption, from wildlife restaurants and medicine shops, but also
from markets in neighbouring countries. Rates of wildlife harvesting are
unsustainable, and threaten species such as the small-toothed palm civet
with extinction.
In wildlife markets, mammals, birds and reptiles come in contact with
dozens of other species and with countless numbers of people, increasing
opportunity for disease transmission. Not surprisingly, during the 2003
Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, several of the
early patients in Guangdong Province, China, worked in the sale or
preparation of wildlife for food. The disease may have first spread to
humans from civet cats or bats in local wildlife markets. Through human
air travel, SARS quickly spread to 25 countries across five continents.
With more than 700 million people travelling by air annually, disease
outbreaks can easily grow into worldwide epidemics.
It is estimated that every year between 1.1 and 3.4 million tonnes of
undressed wild animal biomass, or bushmeat, are consumed by people
living the Congo Basin. The wild meat trade, commercial hunting of wild
animals for meat, has decimated endangered populations of long-lived
species such as chimpanzees. Trade is global in nature, and primate meat
has even been found in markets in Paris, London, Brussels, New York,
Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal and Toronto. Contact with primate blood
and bodily fluids during hunting and butchering has exposed people to
novel viruses. Between 2000 and 2003, 13 of 16 Ebola outbreaks in
Gabon and the Republic of Congo resulted from the handling of gorilla or
chimpanzee carcasses. A recent study documents simian foamy virus (SFV)
and human T-lymphotic (HTLV) viruses in individuals engaged in bushmeat
hunting in rural Cameroon.
Box 1.4 Wild meat trade
Commercial demand for wild meat has been growing and rates of wildlife harvesting are unsustainable.
Credit: Lise Albrechtsen

Box 1.5 Material well-being from fisheries
matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometers)
outdoor pollution and 1.6 million due to PM10 indoor
air pollution (WHO 2002) (see Chapter 2).
Chapter 4 highlights how the overexploitation and
pollution of freshwater ecosystems – rivers, lakes,
wetlands and groundwater – has direct impacts on
human well-being. Although access to clean water
and sanitation has improved, in 2002 more than
1.1 billion people lacked access to clean water,
and 2.6 billion lacked access to improved sanitation
(WHO and UNICEF 2004). Annually, 1.8 million
children die from diarrhoea, making the disease the
world’s second biggest killer of children (UNDP 2006).
Many heavy metals, such as mercury and lead, are
found in water and sediments, and are a major concern
as they can accumulate in the tissues of humans and
other organisms (UNESCO 2006). Numerous activities
contribute to heavy metal contamination. Burning coal,
incineration, urban and agricultural run-off, industrial
discharges, small-scale industrial activities, mining, and
landfill leakages are among the main ones described in
Chapters 2, 3 and 4.
Changes in the environment have also resulted in
the emergence of diseases. Since 1980, more than
35 infectious diseases have emerged or taken on
new importance. These include previously unknown,
emerging diseases, such as HIV, SARS and avian
influenza (H5N1), as well as diseases once thought
controllable, such as dengue fever, malaria and
bubonic plague (Karesh and others 2005, UNEP
2005a). Human-induced changes to the environment,
such as climate change, land use change and
interaction with wildlife (see Box 1.4), have driven this
recent epidemiological transition (McMichael 2001,
McMichael 2004). Growing human contact with
wildlife, caused by population pressure on remaining
relatively undisturbed environmental resources, increases
the opportunity for pathogen exchange (Wolfe and
others 1998). Globalization, in turn, has an effect
on disease emergence as disease agents have the
opportunity to move into new niches, and meet new,
vulnerable populations. A recent UNEP report on Avian
Influenza and the Environment states: “If the transfer of
Asian lineage H5N1 between domestic flocks and wild
birds is to be reduced, it will become essential to take
measures to minimize their contact. Restoring wetland
health will reduce the need for migrating wild birds to
share habitat with domestic poultry” (UNEP 2006).
Material needs
People depend on natural resources for their basic
needs, such as food, energy, water and housing.
In many communities, particularly in developing
countries, environmental resources, including
fisheries, timber, non-timber forest products and
wildlife, directly contribute to income and other
material assets required to achieve a life that one
values. The ability to meet material needs is strongly
linked to the provisioning, regulating and supporting
services of ecosystems (MA 2003).
More than 1.3 billion people depend on fisheries,
forests and agriculture for employment – close to half
of all jobs worldwide (see Box 1.5) (FAO 2004a). In
Asia and the Pacific, small-scale fisheries contributed
25 per cent to the total fisheries production of
Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand for the decade
ending in 1997 (Kura and others 2004). In Africa,
more than 7 in 10 people live in rural areas, with
most engaged in resource-dependent activities (IFAD
2001). The corresponding small-scale production
accounts for a significant percentage of the GDP in
many African countries (IFPRI 2004). Moreover, small-scale
agriculture accounts for more than 90 per cent
of Africa’s agricultural production (Spencer 2001).
A study of households in the Masvingo province in
southeast Zimbabwe indicates that 51 per cent of
incomes are from agriculture, and that the total income
from the environment averages 66 per cent (Campbell
and others 2002). Where resources are degraded,
livelihoods are placed at risk. Forest loss may reduce
The fisheries sector plays an important role in material well-being, providing income
generation, poverty alleviation and food security in many parts of the world. Fish
is an important protein source, especially in the developing world, providing more
than 2.6 billion people with at least 20 per cent of their average per capita animal
protein intake. The world’s population growth outpaced that of total fish supply and
FAO projections indicate that a global shortage is expected (see Chapter 4).
While fish consumption increased in some regions, such as South East Asia, Europe and
North America, it declined in others, including sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe.
The collapse of the Canadian east coast cod fishery in the late 1980s had devastating
impacts on local fishing communities, and illustrates that developed countries are not
immune to the economic implications of mismanaging natural resources. It resulted in
unemployment for 25 000 fishers and 10 000 other workers (see Box 5.2 and Figure
7.17 in Chapters 5 and 7 respectively).
Sources: Delgado and others 2003, FAO 2004b, Matthews 1995

the availability of food, energy resources and other
forest products, which, in many communities, support
trade and income earning opportunities.
Increasing evidence shows that investment in ecosystem
conservation, such as watershed management, results
in increased income for the rural poor. In the Adgaon
watershed in India, the annual days of employment
(wage labour) per worker increased from 75 days
before watershed rehabilitation to 200 days after
restoration was completed (Kerr and others 2002). In
Fiji, strengthening the traditional “no-take” management
system to promote recovery of marine life has resulted
in a 35–43 per cent increase in income over a
period of three years (see Box 7.13) (WRI 2005).
In a pioneering people-led watershed management
project in India, the implementation of a participatory
restoration scheme led to halving the distance to
the water table, a doubling of land under irrigation,
and an increase in the total agricultural income of
the village from about US$55 000 in 1996, before
watershed regeneration, to about US$235 000 in
2001 (D’Souza and Lobo 2004, WRI 2005).
Security
Security incorporates economic, political, cultural,
social and environmental aspects (Dabelko and others
2000). It includes freedom from threats of bodily
harm, and from violence, crime and war. It means
South Pacific
Western Indian Ocean
millions
1.8
1.4
1.0
having stable and reliable access to resources, the
ability to be secure from natural and human disasters,
and the ability to mitigate and respond to shocks and
stresses. Environmental resources are a critical part
of the livelihoods of millions of people, and when
these resources are threatened through environmental
change, people’s security is also threatened. “At the
centre of sustainable development is the delicate
balance between human security and the environment”
(CHS 2006).
The Earth has shown clear signs of warming
over the past century. Eleven of the last 12 years
(1995–2006) rank among the 12 warmest
years in the instrumental record of global surface
temperature (since 1850) (IPCC 2007). As
Chapter 2 describes, climate change is very likely
to affect ecological regulating services, resulting
in increased frequency and intensity of extreme
weather hazards in many regions around the globe
(IPCC 2007), and greater insecurity for much
of the world’s population (Conca and Dabelko
2002). The impacts of extreme weather events will
fall disproportionately upon developing countries,
such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
(see Figure 1.2), as well as on the poor in all
countries (IPCC 2007). During Hurricane Katrina
in the United States in 2005, impoverished people
without access to private transportation were unable
Figure 1.2 Number of people affected by disasters of natural origin in SIDS
Note: Excluding earthquakes,
insect infections and volcanic
eruptions.
compiled from EM-DAT undated
2.0
0
1987
0.8
Caribbean
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2004
2002
2003
1.6
1.2
0.6
0.4
0.2
3.03
5.92

to leave the city. People in poor health or lacking
bodily strength were less likely to survive the Indian
Ocean tsunami in 2004. For example, in villages
in North Aceh, Indonesia, women constituted up to
80 per cent of deaths (Oxfam 2005). In Sri Lanka,
a high mortality rate was also observed among
other vulnerable groups: children and the elderly
(Nishikiori and others 2006).
Environmental change can also affect security
through changes in provisioning services, which
supply food and other goods. Scarcity of shared
resources has been a source of conflict and social
instability (deSombre and Barkin 2002). Disputes
over water quantity and quality are ongoing in
many parts of the world. The apparent degradation
of Easter Island’s natural resources by its Polynesian
inhabitants, and the ensuing struggle between clans
and chiefs, provides a graphic illustration of a
society that destroyed itself by overexploiting scarce
resources (Diamond 2005). Natural resources can
play an important role in armed conflicts. They have
often been a means of funding war (see Box 1.6).
Armed conflicts have also been used as a means
to gain access to resources (Le Billion 2001), and
they can destroy environmental resources.
Natural resources, including diamonds and timber, helped fuel civil war
in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the 1990s. Diamonds were smuggled
from Sierra Leone into Liberia and onto the world market. In the mid-
1990s, Liberia’s official diamond exports ranged between US$300 and
US$450 million annually. These diamonds have been referred to as
“blood diamonds,” as their trade helped finance rebel groups and the
continued hostilities. By the end of the war in 2002, more than 50 000
people had died, 20 000 were left mutilated and three-quarters of the
population had been displaced in Sierra Leone alone.
As civil wars raged in Sierra Leone and Liberia, hundreds of thousands
of refugees fled to safety in Guinea. In 2003, about 180 000 refugees
resided in Guinea. Between Sierra Leone and Liberia, there is a small strip
of land belonging to Guinea known as the “Parrot’s Beak,” because of
the parrot shape contour of the international border between the countries
(depicted as a black line on both images). This strip is where refugees
constituted up to 80 per cent of the local population.
The 1974 image shows small, evenly spread, scattered flecks of
light green in the dark green forest cover of the Parrot’s Beak and
surrounding forests of Liberia and Sierra Leone. These flecks are
village compounds, with surrounding agricultural plots. The dark areas
in the upper left of the image are most likely burn scars.
In the 2002 image Parrot’s Beak is clearly visible as a more evenly
spread light grey and green area surrounded by darker green forest
of Liberia and Sierra Leone. The light colours show deforestation
in the “safe area” where refugees had set up camp. Many of the
refugees integrated into local villages, creating their own family plots
by cutting more trees. As a result the isolated flecks merged into one
larger area of degraded forest. The forest devastation is especially
obvious in the upper left part, where areas that were green in 1974
now appear grey and brown, also due to expanded logging.
Box 1.6 Conflict in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and refugee settlement in Guinea
Sources: Meredith 2005, UNEP 2005b, UNHCR 2006a
Credit: UNEP 2005b

Insecurity caused by bad governance or war can
contribute to environmental degradation. Security
requires the current and future availability of
environmental goods-and-services, through good
governance, mechanisms for conflict avoidance and
resolution, and for disaster prevention, preparedness
and mitigation (Dabelko and others 2000, Huggins and
Box 1.7 Chemicals affect Arctic peoples
Ocean currents
Surface water circulation
River inflow
Note: Rivers and ocean currents are
important pathways for water-soluble
contaminants and those that are attached
to particles in the water.
Note: Winds provide a fast route for
contaminants from industrial areas to
the Arctic especially in winter.
others 2006, Maltais and others 2003). Inequitable
governance and institutions may prevent people from
having secure livelihoods, as illustrated by land tenure
conflicts in Southern Africa (Katerere and Hill 2002),
and by poor management in Indonesia’s peat swamps
(Hecker 2005). In both examples, the resource is
closely linked to local livelihoods, and insecurity is a
result not so much of scarcity but of unequal access to
and distribution of these vital resources. In other cases,
as illustrated in Box 1.6, degradation may result from
changes in settlement patterns as people are forced to
flee an area due to hostilities or war.
It has become clear in recent years that joint
management on environmental matters is needed to
facilitate cooperation across societal and international
boundaries to avoid conflict (Matthew and others
2002; UNEP 2005b). The case of cooperative
endeavours to deal with fisheries decline in Lake
Victoria is an excellent example. Cooperation on water
management and transnational ecosystems can also
foster diplomatic habits of consultation and dialogue
with positive political results, suggesting that human
and environmental security are very closely linked
(Dodds and Pippard 2005).
Social relations
The environment also affects social relations by
providing cultural services, such as the opportunity to
express aesthetic, cultural or spiritual values associated
with ecosystems (MA 2005a). The natural world
provides opportunities for observation and education,
recreation and aesthetic enjoyment, all of which are
of value to a given society. In some communities,
the environment underpins the very structure of social
relations. As described in Chapter 5, many cultures,
particularly indigenous ones, are deeply interwoven
with the local environment.
Climate change is a major concern for SIDS and their
high cultural diversity; SIDS are imperilled by sea-level
rise and increases in the intensity and number of storms
(Watson and others 1997) (see Chapter 7). Tuvalu is
an example of an island vulnerable to environmental
change. Even though its culture is strongly related
to the local environment, the islanders may have
to consider relocating to other countries to escape
rising sea level as a result of climate change. Coping
mechanisms embedded in such cultures might be lost,
making society less resilient to future natural disasters
(Pelling and Uitto 2001).
As described in Chapters 5 and 6, the relationships that indigenous peoples have
with the environment play an important role in their identity and overall well-being.
Scientific assessments have detected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy
metals in all components of the Arctic ecosystem, including in people. The majority of
these substances are present in the ecosystems and diets of Arctic peoples as a result of
choices (such as using the insecticide toxaphene on cotton fields) by industrial societies
elsewhere. Contaminants reach the Arctic from all over the world through wind, air and
water currents (see Figure 1.3), entering the food chain.
Inuit populations in the eastern Canadian Arctic and Greenland have among the highest
exposures to POPs and mercury from a traditional diet of populations anywhere. A
sustainable lifestyle, with ancient roots in the harvesting, distribution and consumption of
local renewable resources, is endangered as a result.
Sources: Doubleday 1996, Van Oostdam 2005
Beaufort Gyre Transpolar Drift
Wind frequencies
Winter: 25%
Summer: 5%
Wind frequencies
Winter: 15%
Summer: 5%
Wind frequencies
Winter: 40%
Summer: 10%
Arctic front, summer
Arctic front, winter
Figure 1.3 Pollutants paths to the Arctic
Credit: AMAP 2002

Figure 1.4 Population by region
2003
A diet of traditional foods plays a particularly important
role in the social, cultural, nutritional and economic
health of indigenous peoples living in the Arctic
(Donaldson 2002). Hunting, fishing, and the gathering
of plants and berries are associated with important
traditional values and practices that are central to their
identity as indigenous peoples. Their traditional food is
compromised by environmental contaminants (see Box
1.7 and Figure 1.3) and climate change (see Chapter
6), and this affects all dimensions of indigenous well-being.
The issue becomes magnified in light of the lack
of accessible, culturally acceptable and affordable
alternatives. Store food is expensive, and lacks cultural
significance and meaning. Long-term solutions require
that Arctic lifestyles be considered when development
choices are made in industrial and agricultural regions
around the world (Doubleday 2005).
DRIVERS OF CHANGE AND PRESSURES
Environmental changes and the effects on human well-being
are induced by various drivers and pressures.
Drivers such as demographic changes, economic
demand and trade, science and technology, as well
as institutional and socio-political frameworks induce
pressures which, in turn, influence the state of the
environment with impacts on the environment itself,
and on society and economic activity. Most pressures
on ecosystems result from, for example, changes in
emissions, land use and resource extraction. Analyses
of the linkages shown by the drivers-pressures-state-impacts-
responses (DSPIR) framework (described in
the Reader’s Guide to the report) form the foundation
on which the GEO-4 assessment is constructed. In
the two decades since the Brundtland Commission,
these drivers and pressures have changed, often at an
increasing rate. The result is that the environment has
changed dramatically. No region has been spared the
reality of a changing environment, and its immediate,
short- and long-term impacts on human well-being.
Population
Population is an important driver behind environmental
change, leading to increased demand for food,
water and energy, and placing pressure on natural
resources. Today’s population is three times larger than
it was at the beginning of the 20th century. During
the past 20 years global population has continued to
rise, increasing from 5 billion in 1987 to 6.7 billion
in 2007 (see Figure 1.4), with an average annual
growth rate of 1.4 per cent. However, large differences
in growth are evident across regions, with Africa
billions
3.5
3.0
2.5
1.5
1.0
0.5
and West Asia recording high growth rates, and the
European population stabilizing (see Chapter 6 for more
detail). Although the world population is increasing, the
rate of increase is slowing (see Box 1.8).
Forced and economic migrations influence demographic
changes and settlement patterns, particularly at the
regional level. There were 190 million international
migrants in 2005, compared to 111 million in 1985.
About one-third of migrants in the world have moved
from one developing country to another, while another
third have moved from a developing country to a
developed country (UN 2006). Many migrants are
refugees, internally displaced or stateless persons. At
the end of 2005, more than 20.8 million people were
classified as “of concern” to the UN High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR 2006b). These included
refugees, internally displaced and stateless persons.
Worldwide refugee numbers have decreased since
2000, but there has been an upward trend in numbers
of other displaced groups (UNHCR 2006b).
The term ecomigrant has been used to describe
anyone whose need to migrate is influenced
by environmental factors (Wood 2001). It has
been claimed that during the mid-1990s up
to 25 million people were forced to flee as a
result of environmental change, and as many as
200 million people could eventually be at risk
of displacement (Myers 1997). Other analyses
indicated that while the environment may play a
role in forced migration, migration is usually also
linked to political divisions, economic interests and
ethnic rivalries (Castles 2002). A clear separation
between factors is often difficult.
compiled from UNPD 2007
4.0
0
1987
2007
1989
1995
2.0
1999
Africa
Asia and the Pacific
Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
North America
West Asia
1991
1993
1997
2001
2005

Box 1.8 Demographic transition
The annual global population growth rate declined from
1.7 per cent in 1987 to 1.1 per cent in 2007. Significant
regional variations are analysed in chapter 6. Demographic
transition, the change from high birth and death rates to
low birth and death rates, can explain these changes in
population. As a result of economic development, fertility
rates are falling in all regions. In the period between 2000
and 2005, the world recorded a fertility rate of 2.7 children
per woman, compared to a fertility rate of 5.1 children
per woman 50 years before. Ultimately, fertility may even
drop below 2, the replacement rate, leading to a global
population decline. Some European countries are at this
stage, and have ageing populations.
Sources: GEO Data Portal, from UNPD 2007, UNAIDS 2006
Figure 1.5 Life expectancy by region
Africa
Europe
North America
West Asia
Figure 1.6 Urban population by region, per cent of total population
per cent
90
70
60
50
30
20
0
1985
40
10
Africa
Europe
North America
West Asia
80
Improved health has led to lower mortality rates and
higher life expectancies in most regions (see Figure
1.5). However, life expectancy in many parts of
Africa has decreased during the last 20 years, partly
as a result of the AIDS pandemic. Around the world,
more than 20 million people have died since the first
cases of AIDS were identified in 1981. It is estimated
that 39.5 million adults and children where living
with HIV in 2005, of which 24.7 million were in sub-
Saharan Africa. In hardest-hit countries, the pandemic
has reduced life expectancy, lessening the number of
healthy agricultural workers and deepening poverty.
years
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1985–90
1990–95 1995–2000 2000–05
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

Urbanization continues around the world,
particularly in developing countries, where rural
migration continues to fuel urban growth (see
Figure 1.6). By the end of 2007, more people
will be living in cities than in rural areas for the
first time in history (UN-HABITAT 2006). In North
East Asia and South East Asia, the population
living in urban areas increased from 28–29 per
cent in 1985 to 44 per cent in 2005, and is
projected to reach 59 per cent by 2025 (GEO
Data Portal, from UNPD 2005). In some places,
the urban area is increasing faster than the urban
population, a process known as urban sprawl.
For example, between 1970 and 1990, the total
area of the 100 largest urban areas in the United
States increased by 82 per cent. Only half of
this increase was caused by population growth
(Kolankiewicz and Beck 2001) (see Box 1.9).
A growing number of people living in urban areas
are living in slums – inadequate housing with no
or few basic services (UN-HABITAT 2006). In
many sub-Saharan African cities, children living in
slums are more likely to die from water-borne and
respiratory illnesses than rural children. For 2005,
the number of slum dwellers was estimated at
almost 1 billion (UN-HABITAT 2006).
Migration and urbanization have complex relationships
with environmental change. Natural disasters, and
degradation of land and local ecosystems are among
the causes of migration (Matutinovic 2006). Changing
demographic patterns, caused by migration or
urbanization, alter land use and demand for ecosystem
services (see Box 1.9).
Las Vegas, the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States,
exemplifies the problems of rampant urban sprawl. As the gaming
and tourism industry blossomed, so has the city’s population. In 1985,
Las Vegas was home to 557 000 people, and was the 66th largest
metropolitan area in the United States. In 2004, the Las Vegas-Paradise
area was ranked 32nd in size, with a permanent population nearing
1.7 million. According to one estimate, it may double by 2015.
Population growth has put a strain on water supplies.
Satellite imagery of Las Vegas provides a dramatic illustration of the
spatial patterns and rates of change resulting from the city’s urban sprawl.
The city covers the mainly green and grey areas in the centre of these
images recorded in 1973 and 2000. Note the proliferation of roads
and other infrastructure (the rectangular pattern of black lines) and the
dramatic increase in irrigated areas.
Box 1.9 Urban sprawl, Las Vegas
Source: UNEP 2005b
Credit: UNEP 2005b

Figure 1.7 Gross domestic product – purchasing power parity per capita
thousand US$
35
30
25
20
15
5
Urbanization in particular can exert significant
pressure on the environment (see Chapter 6).
Coastal urban areas often cause offshore water
pollution. Coastal populations alone are expected
to reach 6 billion by 2025 (Kennish 2002).
In these areas, large-scale development results
in excessive nutrient inputs from municipal and
industrial waste. As described in Chapter 4,
eutrophication contributes to the creation of dead
zones, areas of water with low or no dissolved
oxygen. Fish cannot survive, and aquatic
ecosystems are destroyed. Dead zones are an
emerging problem in Asia, Africa and South
America, but are present around the world. With
Box 1.10 Debt repayments continue to be a major impediment to growth
population growth, and increasing industrialization
and urbanization, dead zones can only continue to
expand. Properly managed, cities can also become
a solution for some of the environmental pressures.
They provide economies of scale, opportunities for
sustainable transport and efficient energy options.
Economic growth
Global economic growth has been spectacular
during the last two decades. Gross domestic
product per capita (at purchasing power parity)
increased by almost 1.7 per cent annually, but
this growth was unevenly spread (see Figure 1.7).
People in Africa, Eastern Europe and Central
Asia, and certain areas of Latin America and
the Caribbean are worse off than those in North
America and Central and Western Europe. Many
countries in these regions experienced no growth
and some even a clear economic decline between
1987 and 2004. Especially in Africa there are
large differences within the region, and even where
there is growth, countries are faced with a heavy
debt burden (see Box 1.10). Income in Asia and
the Pacific is still well below the global average,
but its growth rate was twice the global average.
These sub-regional differences are highlighted in
Chapter 6.
Economic growth and unsustainable consumption
patterns represent a growing pressure on the
environment, though this pressure is often distributed
unequally. Dasgupta (2002) argues that economic
growth is unsustainable in poor countries, partly
40
0
1987
2004
Africa Asia and the Pacific Europe Latin America and the Caribbean North America
compiled from World Bank
2006b
10
Even though Africa has only 5 per cent of the developing world’s income, it carries
about two-thirds of the Global South’s debt burden – over US$300 billion. Despite
extreme poverty, sub-Saharan Africa transfers US$14.5 billion a year to rich nations
in external debt repayments. The average sub-Saharan African country, therefore,
spends three times more on repaying debt than it does on providing basic services to
its people. By the end of 2004, Africa spent about 70 per cent of its export earnings
on external debt servicing. At the 2005 Gleneagles Summit, G8 countries cancelled
100 per cent of debts of a number of eligible Heavily Indebted Poor Countries to
three multilateral institutions – the International Monetary Fund (IMF), International
Development Association (IDA) and African Development Fund. This was a step
towards relieving the burden that debt repayment places on growth and social
services. As a result of debt cancellation and targeted aid increases between 2000
and 2004, 20 million more children in Africa are in school. While G8 countries
reaffirmed Gleneagles commitments at the 2007 Heiligendamm Summit, their ability to
fulfill these promises has been questioned.
Sources: Christian Reformed Church 2005, DATA 2007, Katerere and Mohamed-Katerere 2005

because it is sustainable in wealthy countries.
Countries that export resources are subsidizing the
consumption of importing countries (Dasgupta 2002).
However, consumption patterns among regions are
changing with the emergence of new economies
and powers such as China, India, Brazil, South
Africa and Mexico. China, for example, is expected
to become the world’s largest economy between
2025 and 2035. Its rapid economic development
is influencing global patterns of resource production
and consumption, with both environmental and
geopolitical consequences (Grumbine 2007). Vehicle
ownership patterns illustrate the impact of changing
consumption patterns (see Chapter 2). China had
some 27.5 million passenger vehicles and 79 million
motorcycles in use by 2004 (CSB 1987–2004).
The growing trend in vehicle ownership affects
urban air quality, which has clear consequences
for human health.
Globalization
The world’s economy has been characterized by
growing globalization, which is spurring the increasing
integration of the global economy through trade and
financial flows, and in the integration of knowledge
through the transfer of information, culture and
technology (Najam and others 2007). Governance
has also become globalized, with increasingly
complex interstate interactions, and with a growing
role for non-state actors. International companies
have become influential economic actors in a global
governance context traditionally dominated by
nations. While states “rule the world,” corporations
have publicly sought the global political stage at
gatherings such as the World Economic Forum and
at multilateral negotiations, such as the Multilateral
Agreement on Investment (De Grauwe and Camerman
2003, Graham 2000). Advances in technology
and communications, such as the Internet, have also
boosted the role of individuals and organizations as
key players in a globalized world (Friedman 2005).
Globalization raises both fears and expectations.
Some suggest that increasing interdependence is
good for cooperation, peace and solving common
problems (Bhagwati 2004, Birdsall and Lawrence
1999, Russett and Oneal 2001). Economic
integration may offer dynamic benefits, such as
higher productivity. The exchange of goods-and-services
also helps the exchange of ideas and
knowledge. A relatively open economy is better
able to learn and adopt foreign, state-of-the-art
technologies than is a relatively closed economy
(Coe and Helpman 1995, Keller 2002). Others,
however, view growing economic interdependence
as destabilizing. They say that rapid flows of
investment into and out of countries cause job
losses, increase inequality, lower wages (Haass and
Litan 1998) and result in harm to the environment.
It is argued that globalization is exploitative, and is
creating a murkier future for global cooperation and
justice (Falk 2000, Korten 2001, Mittelman 2000).
The environment and globalization are intrinsically
linked. The globalization of trade has facilitated
the spread of exotic species, including the five
most important freshwater suspension feeding
invaders (Dressena polymorpha, D. bugensis,
Corbicula fluminea, C. fluminalis and Limoperna
fortunei). The zebra mussel (Dressena polymorpha)
has spread through North America during the last
20 years, resulting in significant ecological and
economic impacts. Its introduction corresponds with
dramatic increase in wheat shipments between
the US, Canada and the former Soviet Union
(Karatayev and others 2007). In a globalized
world, important decisions related to environmental
protection may have more to do with corporate
management and market outcomes than with state-level,
political factors. Countries may be reluctant
to enforce strict environmental laws, fearing that
companies would relocate elsewhere. However,
it is often forgotten that the environment itself can
have an impact on globalization. Resources fuel
global economic growth and trade. Solutions to
environmental crises, such as climate change, require
coordinated global action and greater globalization
of governance (Najam and others 2007).
Trade
World trade has continued to grow over the
past 20 years, as a result of lower transport and
communication costs, trade liberalization and
multilateral trade agreements, such as the North
American Free Trade Agreement. Between 1990
and 2003, trade in goods increased from 32.5
to 41.5 per cent of world GDP. Differences exist
between regions. In North East Asia, trade in
goods increased from 47 to 70.5 per cent of GDP,
and high technology exports increased from 16 to
33 per cent of manufactured exports. By contrast,
trade in goods in West Asia and Northern Africa

only increased from 46.6 per cent to 50.4 per cent
of GDP. High technology exports only accounted
for 2 per cent of manufactured exports in 2002
(World Bank 2005). Since 1990, least developed
countries (LDC) have increased their share of world
merchandise trade, but still accounted for only
0.6 per cent of world exports and 0.8 per cent of
world imports in 2004 (WTO 2006).
As with globalization, a two-way relationship exists
between the environment and trade. Transport has
increased as a result of increasing flows of goods and
global production networks. Transport is now one of
the most dynamic sectors in a modern economy, and
has strong environmental impacts (Button and Nijkamp
2004) (see Chapters 2 and 6). Trade itself can exert
pressures on the environment. Increases in international
Source: UNEP 2005b
grain prices may increase the profitability of
agriculture, and result in the expansion of farming into
forested areas in Latin America and the Caribbean,
for example (see Box 1.11). The wildlife trade in
Mongolia, valued at US$100 million annually, is
contributing to the rapid decline of species such as
saiga antelope (World Bank and WCS 2006). In the
presence of market or intervention failures, international
trade may also exacerbate environmental problems
indirectly. For example, production subsidies in the
fishing sector can promote overfishing (OECD 1994).
Natural disasters, in turn, can have an impact on
trade at the national level, when exports fall as a result
of physical damage. One example of this linkage
is the hurricane damage to oil refineries in the Gulf
of Mexico in 2005. Oil production in the Gulf of
Mexico, which supplies 2 per cent of the world’s crude
In recent years, Chile has been considered one of the most economically
competitive countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Rapid growth in
Chile’s production and export of forest products is based on the expansion
and management of exotic species in newly planted forests over the past
30 years. To do so, the traditional land-use practices in small-scale logging
of native forests, livestock raising and agricultural cultivation have been
replaced by large-scale timber production. Many endangered tree and
shrub species have been affected by this growth of planted forest, which
has also led to a dramatic reduction of landscape diversity as well as
goods-and-services from forests. The two images, taken in 1975 (left) and
2001 (right), show clear reductions in forested land on the one hand (red
arrows), and new forest areas on the other (yellow arrows).
Box 1.11 Trade, growth and the environment
Credit: UNEP 2005b

oil, slowed following Hurricane Katrina, and crude oil
prices jumped to over US$70 a barrel (WTO 2006).
Trade may also be positive for the environment.
Debate rages over whether or not free trade will
raise incomes to a point where environmental
protection becomes a priority (Gallagher 2004).
At the 2002 WSSD in Johannesburg, commitments
were made to expand markets for environmental
goods-and-services. Liberalization of trade in goods
that protect the environment may help spur the
creation of industry dedicated to environmental
improvements (OECD 2005). Consumer
preferences can influence production standards,
which can be used to improve environmental
conditions. In 2006, a large grain distributor
imposed a moratorium on the purchase of soy
produced on deforested areas of the Amazon,
as a result of a Greenpeace campaign in Europe
(Cargill 2006, Greenpeace 2006).
Energy
The world is facing twin threats: inadequate
and insecure supplies of energy at affordable
prices, and environmental damage due to
overconsumption of energy (IEA 2006a). Global
demand for energy keeps growing, placing an
ever-increasing burden on natural resources and
the environment. For about three decades, world
primary energy demand grew by 2.1 per cent
annually, rising from 5 566 million tonnes oil
equivalent (Mtoe) in 1971 to 11 204 Mtoe in
2004 (IEA 2006b). Over two-thirds of this increase
came from developing countries, but OECD
countries still account for almost 50 per cent of
world energy demand. In 2004, primary energy
use per capita in OECD countries was still 10
times higher than in sub-Saharan Africa. Figure 1.8
highlights primary energy supply per capita.
Global increases in carbon dioxide emissions are
primarily due to fossil fuel use (IPCC 2007), the
fuels that met 82 per cent of the world’s energy
demand in 2004. Traditional biomass (firewood
and dung) remains an important energy source in
developing countries, where 2.1 billion people rely
on it for heating and cooking (IEA 2002). Use of
cleaner energy sources, such as solar and wind
power, remains minimal overall (see Figure 5.5,
Chapter 5 for energy supply by source). The need
to curb growth in energy demand, increase fuel
kg of oil equivalent per person
8 000
7 000
6 000
4 000
3 000
2 000
supply diversity and mitigate climate destabilizing
emissions is more urgent than ever (IEA 2006a).
However, expansion of alternative energy sources,
such as biofuels, must also be carefully planned.
Brazil expects to double the production of ethanol,
a “modern” biofuel, in the next two decades
(Government of Brazil 2005). In order to produce
enough crops to reach production targets, the
cultivated area is increasing rapidly. The growth
of farming jeopardizes entire ecoregions, like the
Cerrado, one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots
(Klink and Machado 2005).
Global demand for energy
keeps growing, placing an ever-increasing
burden on natural
resources and the environment.
Credit: Ngoma Photos
Figure 1.8 Primary energy supply per capita
from IEA 2006a
9 000
0
1987
2004
1989
1995
2003
5 000
1999
Africa
Europe
North America
West Asia
1991
1993
1997
2001
1 000

Technological innovation
Advances in agriculture, energy, medicine and
manufacturing have offered hope for continued
human development and a cleaner environment.
New farming technologies and practices related
to water use, fertilizer and plant breeding have
transformed agriculture, increasing food production
and addressing undernutrition and chronic famine
in some regions. Since 1970, food consumption
is increasing in all regions, and is expected to
continue to increase as a result of economic
development and population growth. Concerns
have been raised over the ability to meet future
demand: 11 per cent of the world’s land is already
used for agriculture, and in many places little room
exists for agricultural expansion due to land or
water shortages. Biotechnology, including genetic
modification, as well as nanotechnology, has the
potential to increase production in agriculture and
contribute to advances human health (UNDP 2004),
but remains subject to much controversy over effects
on health and the environment. Earlier lessons from
new technologies show the importance of applying
the precautionary approach (CIEL 1991), because
unintended effects of technological advances can
lead to the degradation of ecosystem services. For
example, eutrophication of freshwater systems and
hypoxia in coastal marine ecosystems result from
excess application of inorganic fertilizers. Advances
Number of subscribers
500
300
200
100
in fishing technologies have contributed significantly
to the depletion of marine fish stocks.
Communications and cultural patterns have
also been revolutionized in the last 20 years,
with the exponential growth of the Internet and
telecommunications (see Figure 1.9). Worldwide,
mobile phone subscribers increased from 2 per
1 000 people in 1990 to 220 per 1 000 in 2003
and worldwide Internet use increased from 1 in
1 000 in 1990 to 114 per 1 000 in 2003 (GEO
Data Portal, from ITU 2005). Many developed
countries lead the way in the number of Internet
users, hosts and secure servers, prompting some
to claim that there is a digital divide between
different regions of the world. In Australia and
New Zealand, for example, only 4 per cent of the
population used Internet in 1996, but by 2003,
that had risen to 56 per cent of the population
By contrast in 2003, in poor countries such as
Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia, Myanmar and
Tajikistan only 1 or 2 people per 1 000 used the
Internet (GEO Data Portal, from ITU 2005).
Governance
The global and regional political context has
changed considerably since the Brundtland
Commission, with the end of the Cold War
triggering renewed optimism in multilateral and
Figure 1.9 (a) Mobile phones, per 1 000 people and (b) Internet users, per 100 people, by region
compiled from ITU 2005
600
0
1990
2003
1995
2002
400
1999
Africa
Europe
North America
West Asia
1991
1993
1997
2001
a
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
Number of users
60
50
30
20
10
0
1990
2003
1995
2002
40
1999
1991
1993
1997
2001
b
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000

global governance. The 1990s was a decade of
global summits on a diversity of issues, including
children (1990), sustainable development (1992),
human rights (1994), population (1994), social
development (1995), gender equality (1995) and
human settlements (1996). The new millennium
has been equally active and agenda-setting,
starting with the Millennium Summit in 2000, and
its follow-up in 2005. Normative declarations
and ambitious action plans from all these summits
illustrate an emerging unity in how governments and
the international community understand complex
and global problems and formulate appropriate
responses. The establishment of the World Trade
Organization in 1994 strengthened global
governance through its considerable authority in
the areas of trade, while the establishment of the
International Criminal Court of Justice in 2002
attempted to do the same for crimes against
humanity. Some important reforms have happened
within the UN system, including an approach that
increasingly uses partnerships (such as the Global
Water Partnership) and institutionalized processes to
strengthen the participation of civil society (such as
the UNEP’s Global Civil Society Forum and Global
Women’s Assembly on Environment).
At the regional level, countries have expanded or
established institutions to enhance cooperation,
including the European Union (EU), the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Southern
Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the African
Union (AU). Regions became more visible in global
deliberations, through, for example, the emphasis on
regional preparation meetings for the World Summit on
Sustainable Development.
The national level remains central in governance,
despite discussions in the context of globalization
and regionalization. Some countries are adopting
innovative governance systems and there has
been a trend towards both political and fiscal
decentralization of governance to sub-national
levels. This does not necessarily mean that local
authorities have been empowered. It has been
argued that decentralization without devolution of
power can be a way to strengthen the presence
of the central authority (Stohr 2001). Local
governments have also engaged much more widely
in international cooperation in various arenas,
and their role has been strengthened at the global
level through the establishment in 2000 of the UN
Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA)
and the World Urban Forum in 2002, as well
as the founding of the United Cities and Local
Governments Organization in 2004.
RESPONSES
Interactions between drivers and pressures, and
their consequent impacts on ecosystem services
and human well-being present challenges that
could not be foreseen in 1987. There is an urgent
need for effective policy responses at all levels
– international, regional, national and local. As
highlighted in the other chapters of this report, the
range and scope of response options available
to policy-makers has progressively evolved over
the past 20 years (see Box 1.12), with a diversity
of multilateral environmental agreements and
institutions now involved in trying to address the
challenges. The increase in governance regimes
has brought about its own challenges, including
competition and overlap. An interlinkages approach
is essential to managing the environment, not in its
individual parts but more holistically. This approach
recognizes that the environment itself is interlinked;
land, water and atmosphere are connected in many
ways, particularly through the carbon, nitrogen
and water cycles. Chapter 8 highlights both the
biophysical and governance regimes interlinkages.
Chapter 10 highlights the evolution of policy
response measures – from a focus on command-and-
Box 1.12 Types of responses
Command-and-control regulation includes standards, bans, permits and quotas,
zoning, liability systems, legal redress, and flexible regulation.
Direct provisions by government deal with environmental infrastructure, eco-industrial
zones or parks, protected areas and recreation facilities, and ecosystem rehabilitation.
Public and private sector engagement relates to public participation, decentralization,
information disclosure, eco-labelling, voluntary agreements and public-private
partnerships.
Market use includes environmental taxes and charges, user charges, deposit-refund
systems, targeted subsidies, and the removal of perverse subsidies.
Market creation addresses issues of property rights, tradeable permits and rights,
offset programmes, green programmes, environmental investment funds, seed funds and
incentives.

control policies to creating markets and incentives,
particularly for industry to implement voluntary
measures aimed at minimizing environmental
damage. For conventional, well-known
environmental problems with proven solutions, it
is necessary to continue to apply, and to further
improve upon previously successful approaches.
Countries that have yet to address such problems
should apply these proven, workable solutions to
current problems. Previously successful approaches
have generally addressed changes to pressures, for
example by regulating emission levels, land use or
resource extraction. In order to address less-known
persistent (or emerging) problems, transformative
policies are needed. These policies address
the drivers of environmental problems, such as
demographic change and consumption patterns.
Adaptive management is essential, to enable policy-makers
to learn from previous experience as well
as to make use of a variety of new tools that may
be needed.
Economic instruments
Today, greater emphasis is being placed on the
potential use of economic instruments to help
correct market failures. These instruments were
promoted by Principle 16 of the Rio Declaration:
“National authorities should endeavour to promote
the internalization of environmental costs and the
use of economic instruments.”
Natural resources can be seen as a capital
asset belonging to a general portfolio, which
is comprised of other assets and capitals,
including material, financial, human and social.
Managing this portfolio in a good and sustainable
manner to maximize its returns and benefits over
time is good investment. It is also central to
A variety of economic instruments exist, including
property rights, market creation, fiscal instruments,
charge systems, financial instruments, liability
systems, and bonds and deposits. There is a mix
of so-called market-based instruments (MBIs) and
command-and-control instruments to enable policy-makers
to better manage and get more accurate
information regarding the portfolio of capital
assets. Table 1.2 summarizes different economic
instruments, and how they can be applied to
different environmental sectors. One of the tools is
valuation, which can be used to help better assess
the value of ecosystem services, and the costs of
human-induced changes to the environment.
Valuation
Environmental ministries and agencies are often the
last to benefit from investments, because economics
and growth generation take precedence in government
spending decisions. This is often due to lack of
information on the value and carrying limits of the
Earth’s ecosystems. Measurement of economic
development and progress has often been linked to
measures of economic output such as Gross National
Product (GNP). Such aggregate measurements do not
consider the depletion of natural capital caused by the
consumption and production of goods-and-services.
National accounting systems need revision to better
include the value of the changes in the environmental
resource base due to human activities (Mäler 1974,
Dasgupta and Mäler 1999).
Valuing different goods-and-services involves
comparisons across different sets of things. How
these things are accounted for, and how the
services provided by the ecosystems, for example,
improve well-being is called the accounting
price. Table 1.3 illustrates different approaches
to valuation, and how these approaches might
be used to help assess the impact of policies on
environmental change and human well-being.
A “set of institutions capable of managing the
natural resources, legal frameworks, collecting
resource rents, redirecting these rents into profitable
investments” is key to effective use of valuation
(World Bank 2006a). Valuing natural resources
and evaluating policies where institutions such as
markets do not exist, and where there is a lack
of individual property rights, pose challenges.
Under such uncertainties, and where divergent sets
of values exist, the economic value of common
resources can be measured by the maximum
amount of other goods-and-services that individuals
are willing to give up to obtain a given good
or service. Therefore, it is possible to weigh the
benefits from an activity such as the construction
of a dam against its negative impacts on fishing,
livelihoods of nearby communities, and changes
to scenic and aesthetic values. Box 1.13 provides
an example of non-market valuation using the
contingent valuation method (CVM).

Table 1.2 Economic instruments and applications
Property rights Market creation
Fiscal
instruments Charge systems
Financial
instruments
Liability
systems
Bonds and
deposits
Forests Communal
rights
Concession
building
Taxes and
royalties
Reforestation
incentives
Natural
resource
liability
Reforestation
bonds, forest
management
bonds
Water
resources
Water rights Water shares Capital gains tax Water pricing
Water protection
charges
Oceans and
seas
Fishing rights,
Individual
transferable quotas
Licensing
Oil spill bonds
Minerals Mining rights Taxes and
royalties
Land
reclamation
bonds
Wildlife Access fees Natural
resource
liability
Biodiversity Patents
Prospecting
rights
Transferable
development rights
Charges for scientific
tourism
Natural
resource
liability
Water
pollution
Tradeable effluent
permits
Effluent charges Water treatment fees Low-interest
loans
Land and soils Land rights, use
rights
Property taxes,
land-use taxes
Soil
conservation
incentives (such
as loans)
Land
reclamation
bonds
Air pollution Tradeable emission
permits
Emission charges Technology subsidies,
low-interest loans
Hazardous
waste
Collection charges Deposit refund
systems
Solid waste Property taxes Technology subsidies,
low-interest loans
Toxic
chemicals
Differential
taxation
Legal liability,
liability
insurance
Deposit refund
Climate Tradeable
emission
entitlements
Tradeable
forest
protection
obligations
Tradeable CO2
permits
Tradeable CFC
quotas
CFC quota auction
Carbon offsets
Carbon taxes
BTU tax
CFC
replacement
incentives
Forest compacts
Human
settlements
Land rights Access fees
Tradeable
development quotas
Transferable
development rights
Property taxes,
land-use taxes
Betterment charges
Development charges
Land-use charges
Road tolls
Import fees
Development
completion
bonds
Source: Adapted from Panayotou 1994

Valuation presents a set of challenges beyond
conflicting value systems or lack of existing market
institutions. It uses notional and proxy measures
to estimate the economic values of tangible and
intangible services provided by the environment.
An increasing body of valuation work has been
undertaken on provisioning services of ecosystems.
It has produced estimates of the value of non-timber
forest products, forestry, and the health impacts of
air pollution and water-borne diseases. However,
studies on less tangible but yet important services,
such as water purification and the prevention of
natural disasters, as well as recreational, aesthetic
and cultural services, have been hard to get. To get
objective monetary estimates of these services remains
a challenge. Market data is limited to a small number
of services provided by ecosystems. Furthermore,
methodologies such as cost-benefit analysis and CVM
may raise problems of bias.
The use of market and non-market-based instruments
has also shown gaps in addressing distributional and
intergenerational equity issues (MA 2005b), notably
with regard to poverty-related issues. Finally, many
valuation studies estimating the impact of policies
or projects on human well-being fail due to the lack
of sufficiently precise estimates of the consequences
of these policies or projects now and in the future.
Despite these flaws, valuation may be a useful tool
with which to examine the complex relationships and
feedback involving the environment, economic growth
and human well-being.
Table 1.3 Purpose and application of different valuation approaches
Approach Why it is done How it is done
Determining the total value of
the current flow of benefits from
an ecosystem.
To understand the contribution that
ecosystems make to society and
to human well-being.
Identify all mutually compatible services provided.
Measure the quantity of each service provided, and multiply by the value of each service.
Determining the net benefits
of an intervention that alters
ecosystem conditions.
To assess whether the intervention
is worthwhile.
Measure how the quantity of each service would change as a result of the intervention,
as compared to their quantity without the intervention.
Multiply by the marginal value of each service.
Examining how the costs and
benefits of an ecosystem (or an
intervention) are distributed.
To identify winners and losers, for
ethical and practical reasons.
Identify relevant stakeholder groups.
Determine which specific services they use, and the value of those services to that group
(or changes in values resulting from an intervention).
Identifying potential financing
sources for conservation.
To help make ecosystem
conservation financially self-sustaining.
Identify groups that receive large benefit flows from which funds could be extracted, using
various mechanisms.
Source: Adapted from Stephano 2004
An environmental impact analysis using CVM was conducted in
the 1990s to explore the removal of the Elwha and Glines dams in
Washington State in the United States. These two 30- and 60-metre-high
dams, respectively, are old, and block the migration of fish to 110 km of
pristine water located in the Olympic National Park. The dams also harm
the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe which relies on the salmon and river for
their physical, spiritual and cultural well-being. Dam removal could bring
substantial fishing benefits, more than tripling the salmon populations.
The cost of removing the dams, and especially the sediment build-up is
estimated at about US$100–$125 million. Recreational and commercial
fishing benefits resulting from dam removal would not be sufficient to
cover these costs.
A CVM survey was conducted and yielded a 68 per cent response in
Washington State, and 55 per cent response for the rest of the United
States. Willingness to pay for dam removal ranged from US$73 per
household for Washington to US$68 for the rest of the United States.
If every household in Washington State were to pay US$73, the cost
of dam removal and river restoration could be covered. If the return
stemming from Washington residents’ willingness to pay was added to
the rest of the US willingness to pay (the 86 million households and their
willingness to pay an average of US$68 per head) in excess of US$1
billion dollars would result.
After years of negotiations it has been decided that the dams will be
removed, and the Elwha Restoration Project will go forward. This is
the biggest dam-removal project in history, and an event of national
significance in the United States. It is expected that the two dams will
be removed in stages over the course of three years, between 2009
and 2011.
Box 1.13 Valuing the removal of the Elwha and Glines Dams
Source: American Rivers 2006, Loomis 1997, USGS 2006

Box 1.14 The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development
Non-economic instruments
In addition to economic instruments, a variety of non-economic
instruments have been employed to address
both well-known proven and less clear emerging
(or persistent) environmental problems. Today,
the emerging understanding of human well-being
increasingly influences our choice of instruments.
Public participation
Human well-being depends on the unconstrained
ability of people to participate in decisions, so
that they can organize society in a way that is
consistent with their highest values and aspirations.
In other words, public participation is not only a
matter of procedural justice, but also a precondition
for achieving well-being. While this is challenging,
managers should involve civil society in policy
interventions. The Convention on Biological Diversity
offers several examples of possible stakeholder
engagement in decision making. These include
CBD VII/12, The Addis Ababa Guidelines on the
sustainable use of the components of biodiversity;
CBD VII/14 guidelines on sustainable tourism
development; and the CBD VII/16 Akwe, on
voluntary guidelines for the conduct of cultural,
environmental and social impact assessments for
development proposals on sacred sites, lands
and waters traditionally occupied or used by
indigenous and local communities. The development
of similar agreements and protocols that enhance
effective engagement of all sectors of society
should be encouraged.
Education
Access to information and education is a basic
human right, and an important aspect of human
well-being. It is also an important tool for
generating knowledge that links ecological analyses
to societal challenges, and is critical to the decision
making process. Women and marginalized
communities must be ensured access to education.
The United Nations launched its Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) in
2005 and designated UNESCO as lead agency
for the promotion of the Decade (see Box 1.14).
Justice and ethics
Since the environment affects the very basis of human
well-being, it is a matter of justice to consider the
impacts of environmental degradation on others, and
attempt to minimize harm for both current and future
generations. It has been argued that a “global ethic”
is required to address the problems of the 21st century
(Singer 2002). The intrinsic value of species has also
been recognized (IUCN and others 1991). The pursuit
of some people’s opportunities and freedoms may
harm or limit those of others. It is important that policy-makers
consider the adverse effects their decisions
have on people and the environment in other areas or
regions, since such communities do not participate in
local decision making.
Scenario development
The use of scenarios to inform policy processes is
growing, providing policy-makers with opportunities
to explore the likely impacts and outcomes of various
policy decisions. The goal of developing scenarios “is
often to support more informed and rational decision
making that takes both the known and unknown into
account” (MA 2005c). Their purpose is to widen
perspectives and illuminate key issues that might
The overall goal of the DESD is “to integrate the
principles, values, and practices of sustainable
development into all aspects of education and
learning.”
This educational effort will encourage changes in
behaviour that will create a more sustainable future
in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability,
and a just society for present and future generations.
In the long-term, education must contribute to
government capacity building, so that scientific
expertise can inform policy.
Source: UNESCO 2007

otherwise be missed or dismissed. Chapter 9 uses four
plausible scenarios to explore the impact of different
policy decisions on environmental change and future
human well-being.
CONCLUSION
Two decades after Our Common Future emphasized
the urgency of sustainable development, environmental
degradation continues to threaten human well-being,
endangering health, physical security, social cohesion
and the ability to meet material needs. Analyses
throughout GEO-4 also highlight rapidly disappearing
forests, deteriorating landscapes, polluted waters and
urban sprawl. The objective is not to present a dark
and gloomy scenario, but an urgent call for action.
While progress towards sustainable development
has been made through meetings, agreements and
changes in environmental governance, real change
has been slow. Since 1987, changes to drivers,
such as population growth, consumption patterns
and energy use, have placed increasing pressure on
the state of the environment. To effectively address
environmental problems, policy-makers should design
policies that tackle both pressures and the drivers
behind them. Economic instruments such as market
creation and charge systems may be used to help spur
environmentally sustainable behaviour. Valuation can
help policy-makers make informed decisions about
the value of changes to ecosystem services. Non-economic
instruments should be used to address both
well-known problems with proven solutions and less
clear emerging problems. This chapter has provided
an overview of the challenges of the 21st century,
highlighted conceptual ideas that have emerged to
analyse and understand these environmental problems,
and indicated options on the way forward.
The following chapters highlight areas where society
has contributed to environmental degradation and
human vulnerability. Everyone depends on the
environment. It is the foundation of all development,
and provides opportunities for people and society as a
whole to achieve their hopes and aspirations. Current
environmental degradation undermines natural assets,
and negatively affects human well-being. It is clear
that a deteriorating environment is an injustice to both
current and future generations.
The chapters also emphasize that alternative development
paths that protect the environment are available. Human
ingenuity, resilience and capacity to adapt are powerful
forces from which to draw to effect change.
Imagine a world in which human well-being for all is
secure. Every individual has access to clean air and
water, ensuring improvements in global health. Global
warming has been addressed, through reductions
in energy use, and investment in clean technology.
Assistance is offered to vulnerable communities.
Species flourish as ecosystem integrity is assured.
Transforming these images into reality is possible, and
it is this generation’s responsibility to start doing so.
Imagine a world in which
human well-being for all is
secure. Transforming this into
reality is possible, and it is this
generation’s responsibility to start
doing so.
Credit: T. Mohr/Still Pictures

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