Published to coincide with the Fourth United Nations Environmental Assembly, UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook calls on decision makers to take bold and urgent action to address pressing environmental issues in order to protect the planet and human health. By bringing together hundreds of scientists, peer reviewers and collaborating institutions and partners, the GEO reports build on sound scientific knowledge to provide governments, local authorities, businesses and individual citizens with the information needed to guide societies to a truly sustainable world by 2050. GEO-6 outlines the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of policies. This flagship report shows how governments can put us on the path to a truly sustainable future - emphasising that urgent and inclusive action is needed to achieve a healthy planet with healthy people. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This is the second comprehensive report on the state of Africa's environment, produced in collaboration with the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN). This report highlights the central position Africa's environment continues to play in sustainable development, as well as its potential to achieve progress in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. The report profiles Africa's environmental resources as an asset for the continent's development. It highlights the opportunities presented by the region's natural resource base to support the continent's development. It also underscores the concept of sustainable livelihoods, and the importance of the environmental initiatives in supporting them.

This first edition of the Africa Environment Outlook (AEO) report is a significant milestone in the collaboration between UNEP and the African Ministerial Conference on the Enviornment (AMCEN). Africa faces a number of critical challenges, including the deterioration of the environment; increasing social and economic inequality; and worldwide globalization, which is leaving Africa behind. The AEO is a unique tool. It provides an analysis of the state of the environment over the past 30 years, looks at the driving force behind environmental change, and reviews the consequences for social and economic development. It concludes with recommendations about the road that Africa should take to preserve its great natural riches, biodiversity and vast unspoiled landscapes.

This stunning 400-page Atlas is a unique and powerful publication which brings to light stories of environmental change at more than 100 locations spread across every country in Africa. There are more than 300 satellite images, 300 ground photographs and 150 maps, along with informative graphs and charts that give a vivid visual portrayal of Africa and its changing environment that provide scientific evidence of the impact that natural and human activities have had on the continent's environment over the past several decades. The observations and measurements of environmental change help gauge the extent of progress made by African countries towards reaching the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. More importantly, this book contributes to the knowledge and understanding that are essential for adaptation and remediation, and should be of immense value to all those who want to know more about Africa and who care about the future of this continent.

This publication is a complementary document to the Africa Environment Outlook report (ISBN 9280721011) and focuses on the interaction between the local environment and human livelihoods. The publication is divided into two sections: case studies explaining how various types of environmental change impact on people making them vulnerable to poverty, food security and diseases; and examples of interventions carried out to reduce environmental degradation and human vulnerability, providing lessons and recommendations for future actions.