Introduction
Environmental governance at the national, regional and global levels is critical for the achievement of environmental sustainability.
Strengthened environmental governance should be in place at all levels to respond quickly and effectively to emerging environmental challenges, and to
address agreed environmental priorities. Actions are required:
- To support coherent international decision-making processes for environmental governance;
- To catalyze international efforts to pursue the implementation of internationally agreed objectives;
Objective
To ensure the environmental governance at the country, regional and global levels is strengthened to address agreed environmental priorities.
- To support regional, subregional and national environmental governance processes and institutions;
- To promote and support the environmental basis for sustainable development at the national level.
A new eye in the sky: Eco-drones
Drones can provide a low-cost, low-impact solution for environmental managers working in a variety of ecosystems. [Read More]
The impact of corruption on climate change: threatening emissions trading mechanisms?
This bulletin provides an overview of recent discussions about the impact of corruption on environmental governance, with a focus on emissions trading.
[ Read more ]
Transnational Environmental Crime - a common crime in need of better enforcement
Environmental crime typically refers to any breach of a national or international environmental law
or convention that exists to ensure the conservation and sustainability of the world's environment.
[ Read more ]
Measuring progress - environmental goals and gaps
Over the last few decades, a great number of environmental goals and objectives have been adopted and a few success
stories can be told. [ Read more ]
Early Warning Systems - A State of the Art Analysis and Future Directions
This in-depth bulletin introduces the basic concepts of early warning systems, the role of earth observation for disasters and environment and it focuses on the existing early warning/monitoring systems while addressing the need to fill in the operational gaps for slow-onset hazards bot...
One Planet, How Many People? A Review of Earth's Carrying Capacity
It is estimated that global population reached seven billion in late 2011 or early 2012. As global population has doubled since the 1960s, per capita GDP has grown to more than ten times what it was then. The human impact has grown to such a scale that it has become a major geophysical ...
Keeping Track of Our Changing Environment-From Rio to Rio +20 (1992-2012)
A timely update on what has occurred since the Earth Summit of 1992 and are part of the wider Global Environment Outlook-5 (GEO-5) preparations leading up to the release of the landmark GEO-5 report in June 2012. It underlines how in just twenty years, the world has changed more than most of us coul...
The Need for Numbers-Goals, Targets and Indicators for the Environment
In the run-up to the June 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20), it has become increasingly clear that we need to put "sustainable development" into practice by setting time bound, measurable goals and targets and monitor progres...
The Drying of Iran's Lake Urmia and its Environmental Consequences
Lake Urmia, in the northwestern corner of Iran, is one of the largest permanent hypersaline lakes in the world and the largest lake in the Middle East. A combination of drought and increased water diversion for irrigated agriculture within the lake&rspuo;s watershed has decreased the once 100 kmē la...
The Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors and Related Environmental Consequences
A few decades ago, it was said that the debate on nuclear power had "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies" (Kitschelt 1986). However, the controversy over nuclear power has resurfaced today with a similar gravity. Advocates point to nuclear power as...
The Rush for Land and Its Potential Environmental Consequence
To feed a global population of 9.3 billion by 2050 (2.4 billion more than today, UNPD 2011) FAO estimates that global food demand will increase by 70 per cent (FAO 2009). Net investment in agriculture needs to exceed US$83 billion per year (50 per cent above current levels) to meet future demand (FA...
One Small Planet, Seven Billion People by Years End and 10.1 Billion by Centurys End
The two most widely cited estimates of global population project that Earth will be home to seven billion people sometime in late 2011 or early 2012 (US Census Bureau 2011, UNPD 2011a). The most recent billion was added in about 13 years; it took 12 years for the billion before that; 13 years for th...
Geoengineering to Combat Global Warming
As average temperatures continue to climb because of climate change, some scientists are proposing quick fixes to buy time. Recent overviews of geoengineering schemes show that tampering with large-scale natural systems can have unintended side effects and their environmental, social and legal impli...
Largest Fire in Israel's History Consistent with Climate Change Predictions
A wildfire in early December, described as the largest in Israel's history, burned nearly 2000 ha of pine and oak forest surrounding Mt. Carmel. The fire is consistent with predictions made by Israel's ministry of environment in a report released over a decade ago, and reiterated in a follow-up repo...
Pakistan's Flood of the Century is a Global Disaster
Northwestern Pakistan experienced its worst flooding in a century in late-July and early-August 2010. Unusually heavy monsoon rains led the Indus River to inundate areas far beyond its banks affecting the densely populated Punjab and other regions. More than 1 600 people have died, 2 million are hom...
Carp Aquaculture Overwhelms Lake Kolleru Andhra Pradesh, India
Lake Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary, a vast shallow wetland habitat, is the sole Ramsar-designated wetland in Andhra Pradesh, India (Ramsar 2002, FAO 2006). It serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir between the deltas of the Krishna and Godavari Rivers (Nagabhatla and others 2009) and is a source...
Environmental 
