UNEP Releases Foresight Report - Biodiversity Policy & Practice. 20 February 2012: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a report titled the “Foresight Report,” which outlines the findings of UNEP's Foresight Process aimed at identifying and ranking the most pressing emerging environmental issues.
The report outlines 21 emerging issues and provides governments, civil society and business with scientific assessments to forge a forward-looking outcome at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). According to UNEP, the Foresight Panel involved 400 international scientists and experts. After reviewing and analyzing emerging issues, the Foresight Process concluded that the most pressing one is the need to align governance to the challenges of global sustainability.
The second most pressing issue identified is the need to transform human capacities for the 21st century, and to move towards a green economy. The third most pressing issue is the need to ensure food safety and security for nine billion people. Overhaul of Global Environmental Governance to Meet 21st Century Challenges Tops Emerging Issues Selected by UN Scientific Panel.
Nairobi, 20 February 2012-A complete overhaul of the way the planet is managed is urgently needed if the challenges of global sustainability are to be met for seven billion people.
This is the conclusion of a wide-ranging Foresight Process conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), involving a Foresight Panel and 400 leading scientists and experts from around the world. UNEP's Foresight Process was an eight-month process to identify and rank the most pressing emerging issues in the sphere of the environment- issues which perhaps do not currently receive the attention they deserve - but which have a huge impact on the planet and on human well-being. While the scientific community is on the frontline of assessing emerging threats and finding innovative solutions to environmental challenges, the report reveals that they need more support from international political and delivery structures if real progress is to be made and a sustainable century realized. Notes to Editors. 'Green deal' will fail, government's climate advisers warn. The government's flagship programme to transform the energy efficiency of 14m homes in the next decade will fail and only reach only 2-3m households, according to an unprecedented attack from the government's own climate advisers.
The warning comes from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which on Tuesday for the first time published an open letter criticising government policy. It follows soaring energy bills and the news that one in four homes are now in fuel poverty. The "green deal" plan, which will start in October 2012, will allow homeowners to take out loans to pay for insulation, with the guarantee that the savings on their energy bills will be greater than the loan repayments. Currently, energy companies have a legal obligation to enable their customers to improve their energy efficiency. "The [green deal] proposal is to take away that obligation and say 'let's leave it to the market'," said David Kennedy, the CCC chief executive. Extending Montreal Protocol (item 1) News Alert Issue 288, 15 June 2012 Science for Environment Policy About this service Contact the Editor Subscribe to this News Alert In this issue Extending ozone treaty would support GHG reduction goals Extending the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) could have important benefits for climate change action, say scientists in a recent analysis.
Raising the profile of soil’s essential contribution to society Soils play a vital role in the Earth's life-support system, yet their importance and value to society is not always recognised. Concern over communication of nanotechnology in Slovenia The Slovenian government treats nanotechnology as a national research priority, but the topic is virtually non-existent in the national mass media, according to new research. Synthetic biology’s potential controversy assessed Major controversy surrounding synthetic biology is possible but unlikely in the near future, according to the results of a new study.